How did following Steinbeck and Ricketts' path change your own perceptions of the Sea of Cortez?

We'd spent so much time kayaking there before this trip and had seen the things other people notice -- the birds and dolphins and whales. But we'd camped on same beaches and not seen all these invertebrate species. Once you know what to look for, the more you look and the more you find.

It's not just "The Log"; this trip seems connected to several of Steinbeck's later projects. And I didn't expect that crossover. I thought this trip was separate for him; I didn't realize how it inspired other things he did, or how you could see echoes or mirrors of his other work. But the longer we were down there, the more we saw the other plots and other characters there. It felt like his whole life in microcosm.

There's a famous line that appears at the beginning of "Travels with Charley," a book he wrote long after "The Log": "We do not take a trip; a trip takes us." How did that sentiment color your trip?

I think it was there from very beginning. We were trying to take the trip, to do exactly what John Steinbeck had done. But every time we tried to do exactly what he did, it didn't work -- and when we were more flexible and let the trip take us, it worked much better. Still, you have to have a structure, to start with something. I can't just wander around, or else I end up just sitting around drinking margaritas.

You mentioned that he edited his wife, Carol, out of the book. Why? Was it because of spite, or because of literary considerations?

I don't think anyone knows. He dropped clues as to her presence. He explains in his book that there were seven people onboard, and then there's one mention of her in an appendix [a reference to "the fish that bit Carol"].

His marriage was falling apart, and travel had helped them feel closer before; this was their last try. But I think there was a lot of flirting, a lot of drunken spells, temper tantrums. All that stuff isn't in his book, either. He makes it seem like fun with the boys, a drinking and fishing trip, but when you dig a little deeper into the biographical stuff you find out that it was darker. There was a lot of depression, and there was the fear of war hanging over their heads.

Also, he'd already started the affair with woman who'd be his second wife, Gwyndolyn Conger. And by time he was writing the manuscript he was living with Gwyn. So the whole question of why Carol was written out of it -- he pretended it was because it was a better story, but he was living with his new girlfriend when writing it, so that must have helped a little bit.

It seems as though things got pretty scary when Doug started to lose control on the boat; later, however, the trip became much more peaceful. Did you feel that you had to overdramatize the story -- to be part of that boys' club of adventure travel writers?

I never overdramatized; but I may have under-dramatized it a little. I don't think it was really clear how afraid I was at times on the sailboat, how threatened I felt. I didn't want the story with the captain to take over the book, because it wasn't the whole book. But we were on a small boat, so when Doug would spaz out or lose his temper, I felt completely helpless.

It was first time in my whole life I've tried to appease a man -- to feed him when he was hungry, to bring him water. I so wanted him to be physically well, because I wanted us to be safe, and he was part of our safety.

While Captain Doug was there, it was hard to feel Steinbeck and Ricketts. But once he got out of the way, we felt more connected to the spirit of the trip.

Do you feel like you're done with the Sea of Cortez now?

I'd like to be done with it, because there are other places I'd like to go, but each time I go to another body of water, I'm disappointed. We never see that kind of life anywhere else.

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