April 13 Summary and Analysis

As the Western Flyer heads north, the weather worsens and movements on the vessel become unsteady. It is hard to reconcile the ocean with the Sea of Cortez—they seem like two different entities. As the boat sails on the heaving sea, Steinbeck and Ricketts try to make sense of what they have just experienced. They have found a new place, a new way of thinking and living and being in that place, and were able to observe the life there. Yet, what they had experienced is not yet fully understood, and this will take time. In the meantime, they sail the windswept sea with a cargo of little organisms, and the boat becomes one with the wind.