While their vessel is being outfitted, Steinbeck and Ricketts spend time in Monterey Bay, observing the boats of the fishermen and commenting on how the boats reflect their owners. If a fishing vessel is rusting and disorderly, with paint peeling off, the owner is likely to be equally disheveled and careless. If the boat is well-cared for and lovingly maintained, the owner will also be organized, efficient, and in good shape. This leads Steinbeck to expand on his belief that a boat is beyond all other objects in its ability to capture man's soul and shape his mind. The relationship is reciprocal—the boat is a product of the man and visa versa. He then observes that there appear to be some ancestral memories at work in the building of.....
