William Vickart was killed in an accident in 1921, leaving Martin Petrich the sole owner.
[3] In 1937, the company built the Western Flyer as a purse seiner,[4] and in 1940, this boat carried John Steinbeck on the journey which he documented in The Log from the Sea of Cortez.
In 1949, the company launched the largest tuna clipper ever built up to that time, the 150-foot (46 m) Mary E.
[5] Towards the end of World War II, the company founded its Fairliner division, which made high-speed boats.
Before a devastating yard fire in 1950, the company was the largest builder of wooden pleasure boats on the United States West Coast.