That John Steinbeck was a pretty good writer.

His stylish and evocative prose really make readers feel as if they’re practically present: toiling next to migrant farm workers, riding shotgun with Charley, or onboard the Western Flyer.

But, good as those experiences are, in the case of that last example at least, Port Ludlow filmmaker Ernie Flowers’ latest production might do the great author one better.

“Inside the Western Flyer,” now streaming as part of the Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories, uses 3-D technology to give audiences an immersive 360-degree look at the historic boat as it undergoes restoration in Port Townsend — virtually standing them on the deck of the storied vessel.

“I’m thrilled about it,” Flowers said of a short film that still somehow addresses literature, science, ecology and history. “The intent of the film and of the script is to show the boat in a way that practically nobody will be able to see it,” he said. “But also to just touch on these subjects and hope that it encourages people to go off and explore any of those fields.”

The movie is about 9 minutes long and has been named an official selection of the festival (called the most cutting-edge movie festival in the world), an incongruously high-tech venue considering its comparatively classic subject.

As previously reported in The Leader: Captained by Tony Berry, the Flyer carried Steinbeck, marine biologist Ed Ricketts, and their guests and crew some 4,000 miles from Monterey, California along the gulf of California as the pair collected specimens before returning home to San Diego in April 1940.

After the expedition, the Flyer returned to its previous duty as a fishing vessel, falling into an obscurity of sorts after it changed hands. 

It wasn’t until 1986 that it was rediscovered, operating in Anacortes as a commercial fishing boat.

Unfortunately, in 2012 the Flyer sprung a leak and sank. After being refloated, it sank again in 2013 before being brought to Port Townsend to undergo repairs.

The vessel was acquired by marine geologist John Gregg in 2015 and shortly thereafter, Gregg founded the Western Flyer Foundation, for which he serves as president. 

Charged with leading the restoration efforts of the Western Flyer are Tim Lee and Pete Rust of the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op. And it was during a visit to that nautical nerve center that Flowers and filmmaking partner Mike Cuales, of LEVR Studios in Raleigh, North Carolina, happened upon the boat — coincidentally, the perfect subject for their movie.

“It really was just pure luck,” Flowers said.

He and Cuales had previously become friends, Flowers explained, while leading tech workshops for AT&T, often about virtual reality, augmented reality and 360-degree photography and filmmaking.

“Mike was coming over to give a workshop for AT&T,” Flowers recalled, “so he decided to spend the weekend ... And he had his fancy camera — this like $5,000 VR camera — and since he was going to be here for the weekend, we said we ought to go out and shoot some VR somewhere or other.”

A third friend was sent out to assist in the location/subject search, and it was he who stumbled upon the Western Flyer. Permission was sought from and granted by the owners, and Flowers and Cuales spent a day documenting the boat.

“I’m a pretty serious amateur photographer, so for me there was the technical challenge, the artistic challenge, the just fun of it,” Flowers said. “We had no intention of doing a film until we got what I considered some really good footage of the Western Flyer before too much work had been done on it.”

“Inside the Western Flyer” pairs 360-degree views of the boat with historical facts and some of Steinbeck’s actual writings to impart the tale of the vessel — a story which Flowers himself had to learn as the project progressed.

“I had never heard of [the boat],” he said. “I knew Steinbeck. I did not know anything about the ‘The Log from the Sea of Cortez.’ But I come from a fishing family on the coast of North Carolina, so that was of interest.

“I’ve always had a great interest in literature. I actually have a zoology degree, it was the very first degree I ever got, and worked at the Museum of Natural Sciences in North Carolina for four years. So this confluence of literature, ecology, biology, even the philosophy part, and then the boat itself, just fit in really well with me and my background and some of my loves,” Flowers said.

Tickets for FIVARS are on sale and the films can be streamed through Monday, Nov. 2.

It’s a Canadian film festival started in 2015 and comprised exclusively of 360-degree, virtual reality, and augmented reality films.

This year, there are 39 official selections from 16 countries — including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Qatar, Spain, and Sweden — chosen from among the more than 200 entries.

Especially of note among the other offerings is an interactive virtual reality project “Rebuilding Notre Dame,” which was filmed a few weeks before and then immediately after the recent devastating fire.

Many (but not all) of the films can be enjoyed without virtual reality headsets or special equipment. A “360 Theatre Pass” is $14.99 CAD; an “All Access Pass” $32.99 CAD. Visit www.fivars.net to learn more and purchase.

* Leader writer Nick Twietmeyer contributed to this article.