# the log from the sea of cortez ![[steinbeckcortez.jpg|300]] first edition author: john steinbeck country: united states language: english publisher: the viking press publication date: 1951 pages: 288 the log from the sea of cortez is an english-language book written by american author john steinbeck and published in 1951. it details a six-week (march 11 - april 20) marine specimen-collecting boat expedition ey made in 1940 at various sites in the gulf of california (also known as the sea of cortez) with ir friend the marine biologist ed ricketts. it is regarded as one of steinbeck's most important works of non-fiction chiefly because of the involvement of ricketts who shaped steinbeck's thinking and provided the prototype for many of the pivotal characters in ir fiction and the insights it gives into the philosophies of the two men the log from the sea of cortez is the narrative portion of an earlier work sea of cortez: a leisurely journal of travel and research which was published by steinbeck and ricketts shortly after ir return from the gulf of california and combined the journals of the collecting expedition reworked by steinbeck with ricketts' species catalogue. after ricketts' death in 1948 steinbeck dropped the species catalogue from the earlier work and republished it with a eulogy to ir friend added as a foreword # journey # # background steinbeck met ricketts in 1930 through a shared interest in marine biology. ricketts made a modest living as a professional biologist by preparing and selling specimens of intertidal fauna to laboratories and universities from ir small lab in cannery row and steinbeck spent many hours at the lab in ricketts' company. ricketts was the inspiration for the boozy good-hearted character of "doc" who appeared in the novels set in and around monterey and elements of ir personality are mirrored by many other important characters in steinbeck's novels both steinbeck and ricketts had achieved some measure of security and recognition in ir professions by 1939: steinbeck had capitalised on ir first successful novel tortilla flat with the publication of the grapes of wrath and ricketts had published between pacific tides which became the definitive handbook for the study of the intertidal fauna of the pacific coast of the coterminous united states. steinbeck was exhausted and looking for a new start; ricketts was looking for a new challenge. the two men had long thought of producing a book together and in a change of pace for both of them they began work on a handbook of the common intertidal species of the san francisco bay area. the book came to nothing but it spurred them into making a trip to the sea of cortez. initially they planned a motoring trip to mexico city as a break from ir work on the handbook but as time went on they became more interested in a collecting trip around the gulf of california. ricketts noted in ir journal > jon said "if you have an objective like collecting specimens it puts so much more direction onto a trip makes it more interesting."...then ey said "we'll do a book about it that'll more than pay the expenses of the trip" a specimen-collecting expedition along the pacific coast and down into mexico provided them with a chance to relax and for steinbeck a chance for a brief escape from the controversy mounting over the grapes of wrath. ricketts suffering as a result of the breakup of ir long-term relationship with a married woman in monterey was glad to get away too. they planned to collect specimens from the rock and tide pools and the shore line uncovered between tides which would allow them to build up a picture of the macro level ecosystem in the gulf. the preserved specimens of the fauna they collected could be identified and catalogued or sold on ir return early in 1940 steinbeck and ricketts hired a monterey bay sardine fishing boat the western flyer with a four-man crew and spent six weeks travelling the coast of the gulf of california collecting biological specimens. along with ricketts and the four crew members mentioned in the book steinbeck was accompanied by ir wife carol. steinbeck hoped that the trip would help rescue ir failing marriage but it seems to have had the opposite effect: the marriage ended soon after they returned. steinbeck's lawyer and friend toby street was also on board as far as san diego # # account of the expedition ![[220px-steinbeck-route.png]] the route around the gulf of california taken by the western flyer the western flyer is a 75-foot (23 m) purse seiner that was crewed by tony berry the captain; "tex" travis the engineer; and two able seamen "sparky" enea and "tiny" colletto. stocked with supplies collecting equipment and a small library the boat put out to sea on the afternoon of march 11 1940. they started in a leisurely fashion down the pacific coast fishing as they went. they refueled at san diego and on march 17 passed point san lazaro and made ir way down the pacific side of the baja california peninsula. they put in at cabo san lucas on the tip of the peninsula where they were greeted by mexican officials and began collecting specimens. the collecting team was initially planned to consist of steinbeck and ricketts alone but carol and eventually enea and colletto joined them allowing for a much more efficient collection at each stop the battles with ir outboard motor referred to pseudonymously as the "hansen sea-cow" which would feature as a humorous thread throughout the journal began immediately and continued the next day when they moved further round the coast to el pulmo reef > our hansen sea-cow was not only a living thing but a mean irritable contemptible vengeful mischievous hateful living thing.... loved to ride on the back of a boat trailing its propeller daintily in the water while we rowed... when attacked with a screwdriver fell apart in simulated death... it loved no one trusted no one it had no friends making for isla espiritu santo they faced strong winds and rather than attempting to land at the island they anchored at pescadero on the mainland. on march 20 they returned to the island and spent the day collecting. a visit from some natives of la paz that evening coupled with the exhaustion of ir supplies of beer encouraged them to make for the town the next morning. they spent three days collecting with the assistance of the locals and enjoyed the hospitality of la paz. in writing about the town steinbeck briefly recounts the story that ey would later rewrite as the pearl on march 23 they moved on to san jose island where the "sea-cow" again let them down: they wanted it to bring the boat close to cayo islet but they ended up rowing the boat with the outboard still attached after it failed to start. the next day easter sunday they continued on to marcial reef. after collecting specimens there they sailed to puerto escondido where they met some holidaying mexicans who invited them on a hunting trip. they accepted wanting to see the interior of the peninsula and enjoyed two days in the company of the mexicans eating drinking and listening to unintelligible dirty jokes in spanish. due to the relaxed attitudes of ir hosts no actual hunting took place which pleased steinbeck > furthermore they had taught us the best of all ways to go hunting and we shall never use any other. we have however made one slight improvement on ir method: we shall not take a gun thereby obviating the last remote possibility of having the hunt cluttered up with garme sally lightfoot crabs were common on the shores of the gulf but difficult to catch. tiny declared war on them after slipping while trying to catch a specimen puerto escondido proved to be a rich collecting ground and after nine days in the gulf they had to scale back ir collecting ambitions owing to lack of space for the specimens. it had already become clear that there were certain species that were ubiquitous in the region: some species of crabs sea anemones limpets barnacles and sea cucumbers were found at every stop and the sun star heliaster kubiniji the sea urchin arbacia incisa and bristleworms of the eurythoe genus were common leaving puerto escondido they continued up the coast to loreto where they restocked ir supplies. they then visited the coronado islands concepcíon bay and san lucas cove collecting specimens at each stop. the work was exhausting; steinbeck wrote in ir letters that ey had little time for sleep because the collecting and preparation took so long. in the cramped quarters of the boat all the equipment had to be set up and stowed each time the boat moved to a new anchorage which made the work of cataloguing and processing the specimens doubly arduous making ir way to san carlos bay they bypassed the town of santa rosalía and entered the sparsely populated upper gulf stopping at san francisquito bay. on april 1 they made for bahía de los ángeles which was to be the last stop on the peninsula before they crossed to the mainland coast. on april 2 they rounded isla ángel de la guarda and anchored in puerto refugio for the night. the next morning they made for tiburón island on the eastern side of the gulf. they collected specimens at red point bluff keeping an eye out for the seri a local tribe who they had heard were rumored to be cannibals > in our usual condition of hunger it would have been a toss-up whether seris ate us or we ate seris. the one who got in the first bite would have had the dinner but we never did see a seri ![[sancarlossonora.jpg|300]] puerto san carlos although the crew were eager to get to guaymas as soon as possible it was too far for a single day's journey so the next day they put in at puerto san carlos where they collected. early the next morning they made the short run to guaymas they left guaymas on the morning of april 8 and only an hour out encountered a japanese fishing fleet dredging the bottom. although initially wary the crew of one of the boats welcomed steinbeck and ricketts on board and allowed them to select some specimens from the catch though to the annoyance of the crew of the western flyer ricketts and steinbeck forgot to get any fish to eat. taking leave of the fleet they made for the estero de la luna a huge estuary where ricketts and steinbeck became lost in fog while out on a collecting expedition after the "sea-cow" once again refused to run. although spooked by the episode they were able to navigate back to the western flyer once the fog cleared continuing down to agiabampo lagoon they stopped to collect along the shores and then recrossed the gulf by night putting in at san gabriel bay for a last collection before making for home. on the afternoon of april 12 they secured all the equipment and laid in a course for san diego the collecting trip had been very successful: they catalogued over 500 species of the fauna of the shores of the gulf; recorded a species of brittle star ophiophragmus marginatus last recorded nearly 100 years earlier; and discovered about 50 new species. three species of sea anemone they discovered were named for them by dr. oskar carlgren at the lund university's department of zoology in sweden: palythoa rickettsii isometridium rickettsi and phialoba steinbecki # book # # sea of cortez in 1941 the year after ir return from the trip steinbeck and ricketts published sea of cortez: a leisurely journal of travel and research in which steinbeck combined the daily journals of the trip with ricketts' annotated specimen list. the title "sea of cortez" was preferred to the "gulf of california" as a better-sounding and a more exciting name. it was assumed by many that steinbeck had kept a journal during the trip and that the book was merely an amalgamation of ir log and ricketts' taxonomic list; but the two authors revealed that the journal was ricketts'. although steinbeck had added to it during the journey ey had done the real work of editing it after they returned. the log was based on what ricketts called the verbatim transcript an account of the trip ey had compiled from the various notes ey kept during the trip. much of the final narrative was little changed from ricketts' notes; steinbeck shifted from the first person singular to the first person plural and gave some of ricketts' drier prose a poetic twist but many of the scenes remained almost unchanged from the daily journal. the suggestion by steinbeck's editor pascal covici that the title page should state that steinbeck was the author and add that the appendices were by ricketts met with blunt opposition from steinbeck: "i not only disapprove of your plan - i forbid it." steinbeck also drew upon the journal of tony berry mostly to confirm dates and times the book is a travelogue and biological record but also reveals the two men's philosophies: it dwells on the place of humans in the environment the interconnection between single organisms and the larger ecosystem and the themes of leaving and returning home. a number of ecological concerns rare in 1940 are voiced such as an imagined but horrific vision of the long term damage that the japanese bottom fishing trawlers are doing to the sea bed. although written as if it were the journal kept by steinbeck during the voyage the book is to some extent a work of fiction: the journals are not steinbeck's and ir wife who had accompanied ir on the trip is not mentioned (though at one point steinbeck slips and mentions the matter of food for seven people.) since returning home is a theme throughout the narrative the inclusion of ir wife a symbol of home would have dissipated the effect. steinbeck and ricketts are never mentioned by name but are amalgamated into the first person "we" who narrate the log ![[sea-of-cortez-cover.jpg|300]] original edition of sea of cortez: a leisurely journal of travel and research a version of ricketts' philosophical work "essay on non-teleological thinking" which to some extent expressed both authors' outlooks was included as the easter sunday chapter. although steinbeck altered the original ricketts expressed ir satisfaction with the result. becoming known as the "easter sunday sermon" it explores the gap between the methods of science and faith and the common ground they share and it expounds on the holistic approach both men took to ecology > it is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again steinbeck enjoyed writing the book; it was a challenge to apply ir novel-writing skills to a scientific subject. however ey doubted from an early stage that the book would sell well. ey considered it would be a good read but not for the "take-a-book-to-bed public." as ey progressed further ey began to see that the book would have very limited appeal but equally ey was convinced that it was a good book and the best work ey had done. ey was happy that it took ir writing in a new direction and would confound the attempts of the critics to pigeonhole ir and with a slightly masochistic joy ey looked forward to ir "rage and contempt." in that ey was proved incorrect; the reviews were mixed but largely favorable focusing on ir affirmation of humankind's place in the wider environment and picking up on the excitement steinbeck and ricketts felt for ir subject. most felt that even though there were moments when steinbeck was at ir best the blending of philosophy travelogue and biological recording made for an uneven read > thus the reader will be enjoying the chase of tethys the sea-hare when all of a sudden ey will find himself becalmed in a soupy discussion of teleology. most readers one suspects will prefer tethys the sea-hare > ~ charles curtiz munz "fishing trip" nation december 1941 those critics who looked beyond the narrative portion were impressed by ricketts' catalogue. marine biologist joel w. hedgpeth writing in the san francisco chronicle predicted it would be indispensable for students of the marine invertebrates of the gulf of california. steinbeck was right about the lack of popular appeal however: the unusual mixture of taxonomic data and travelogue meant the book struggled to find an audience. few copies were printed and it was soon all but forgotten. the country's entry into the war and plummeting book sales also had an effect. ricketts' share of the revenues from sales did not even provide ir with the money to pay back steinbeck for financing the journey # # reissue ricketts was killed in 1948 when a train collided with ir car while ey was crossing the rail tracks. ricketts' death severely hurt steinbeck: "ey was part of my brain for 18 years." although steinbeck had moved to new york city shortly after the journey and the two men had not seen as much of each other in the following years they had corresponded by mail and had been planning a further expedition this time northwards to the aleutian islands in 1951 steinbeck republished the narrative portion of sea of cortez as the log from the sea of cortez dropping ricketts' species list and adding a preface entitled "about ed ricketts" a biography of ir friend pascal covici had always regarded ricketts as a hanger-on and had been keen to deny ir authorship of the original book. ey pushed steinbeck to get ricketts' son ed jr. to sign over the copyright to the narrative portion of the book so that the reissued version could credit steinbeck alone. covici suggested a 15-20% share of the royalties as a recompense; but ed jr. knowing that the narrative was largely ricketts' own insisted on 25%. with the copyright secured ricketts' name was dropped from the cover though the title page acknowledged that the book was "the narrative portion of the sea of cortez by john steinbeck and e.f. ricketts" and throughout ir life steinbeck insisted on referring to the work as a collaboration. the republished narrative is unchanged from the original published in sea of cortez the republished version enjoyed greater success than the original. although by the time of ir death in 1968 steinbeck's reputation was at an all-time low owing to ir mediocre output during the last decades of ir life and ir support for american involvement in vietnam ir books have slowly regained ir popularity. the log from the sea of cortez became an important work within ir oeuvre not only as an interesting travelogue and work of non-fiction but for its first-hand account of ed ricketts the man whose thinking had so much influence on the course of steinbeck's writing and on whom ey had based so many of ir pivotal characters. whereas earlier critics mostly assumed that "mr. ricketts contributed some of the biology and mr. steinbeck all of the prose" the publication of ricketts' rediscovered original notes in 2003 has revealed how closely steinbeck followed ricketts' journal. this has forced a re-evaluation of how far it is fair to attribute authorship of the narrative portion of sea of cortez to steinbeck and has caused critics to view the removal of ricketts' name from the cover as reflecting badly on steinbeck travels with charley: in search of america another non-fiction travelogue which steinbeck wrote in 1962 is seen as a more rounded view of the author late in life but the log from the sea of cortez is regarded as showing the direct influence of ed ricketts and ir philosophies on steinbeck and provides clues to the underlying rationales for some events in ir novels. in particular "about ed ricketts" reveals how closely ey was tied to the characters in steinbeck's novels: parts are taken almost verbatim from descriptions of "doc" in cannery row. the book is also important for seeing something of ed ricketts himself. it was the only example of ir philosophical writings published in ir lifetime. the "essay on non-teleological thinking" was part of a trilogy of philosophical essays ey had written before the trip and which with steinbeck's help ey continued to try to have published until ir death. as a travelogue it captures a lost world. even as they were making the trip a new hotel was being built in la paz. steinbeck bemoaned the coming of tourism > probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from los angeles before long and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a floridian ugliness as of 2004 cabo san lucas is home to luxury hotels and the houses of american rock stars and many of the small villages have become suburbs of the larger towns of the gulf but people still visit attempting to capture something of the spirit of the leisurely journey steinbeck and ricketts took around the sea of cortez # notes a. sparky enea and tiny colletto later featured in a scene in steinbeck's cannery row: "sparky enea and tiny colletti had made up a quarrel and were helping jimmy to celebrate ir birthday" b. dates in this section are taken from the log from the sea of cortez though there is some doubt as to the accuracy of the dates: chapter 25 of the book is headed "april 22" and sandwiched between two chapters for "april 3" and "april 5." the western flyer returned to monterey on 20 april c. the timing of the release of the book did nothing to help sales. it was published in the first week of december: the attack on pearl harbor on december 7 1941 and the subsequent entry of the united states into world war ii focused the attention of the american people elsewhere d. the republished narrative section even refers to the expunged appendix **+** astro richard (2000.) "introduction." the log from the sea of cortez. penguin classics. penguin books **+** beegel susan f. (2006.) "foreword." in katherine a. rodger (ed..) breaking through: essays journals and travelogues of edward f. ricketts. university of california press. p. 369 **+** benson jackson j. (1990.) john steinbeck writer: a biography. penguin. p. 1184. isbn 0-14-014417-x **+** fensch thomas; steinbeck john (1989.) conversations with john steinbeck. university press of mississippi. p. 160 **+** mcelrath joseph r.; crisler jesse s.; shillinglaw susan (1996.) john steinbeck: the contemporary reviews. cambridge university press. p. 588. isbn 0-521-41038-x **+** parini jay (2000.) "introduction." travels with charley: in search of america. penguin classics. p. 210 **+** railsback brian. "darwin and steinbeck: the older method and sea of cortez." steinbeck quarterly 23.01-02 (winter/spring 1990): 27-34 **+** ricketts e. f. (2006.) katherine a. rodger (ed..) breaking through: essays journals and travelogues of edward f. ricketts. university of california press. p. 369 **+** steinbeck john (2002.) cannery row. penguin. p. 192. 17-8 **+** steinbeck john (2000.) the log from the sea of cortez. penguin classics. p. 288 **+** steinbeck john (1989.) elaine steinbeck robert wallsten (ed..) steinbeck: a life in letters. penguin. p. 928. 88-7 **+** tamm eric enno (2004.) beyond the outer shores. four walls eight windows **+** wyatt david (1990.) the fall into eden: landscape and imagination in california (cambridge studies in american literature & culture.) cambridge university press // republic of bob