Attractions:
Friendly Cove
There
has been surprisingly little change in Nootka Sound over the last
two centuries and as you take time to explore this area you will
be treading on largely unchanged ground. Get ready for a history
lesson if you stroll the miles of beach at Friendly Cove, which
also has a view that’s second to none.
Nootka’s first
European visitors were on Captain Perez’s ship from Spain in 1774.
They traded with the natives at Yuquot (known as Friendly Cove) but
did not go ashore.
Captain James
Cook was next in 1778, and he stayed in Nootka for many weeks to
repair his two ships the Resolution and the Discovery.
There are plaques placed on the shore of Bligh Island (where the ships
were repaired) to commemorate this event. They traded small metal
objects and buttons for furs including sea otter pelts. This started
the lucrative sea otter fur trade that resulted in steady European
traffic. Many more explorers visited Nootka including Captain Bodega
y Quadra and Captain Vancouver. As you enter friendly Cove, there is
a large granite marker (know locally as the monument) on which the
names of Quadra and Vancouver were carved. Still visible in the
1970’s the names have now worn away.
Uchuck
The
Uchuck was
built in 1942 as an American minesweeper. She has been refitted
to accommodate 100
passengers. The renovated wood finished lounge and upper deck
seating is a great way to discover the West Coast.
Limestone quarry
About a half mile in from the
entrance to Hisnit Inlet, just around the corner from Critter Cove,
marble was quarried and milled for about eight years. The marble was
first reported, in 1893, by three prospectors who had staked a claim on
Deserted Creek.
By 1909, a mill had been installed
and marble was being quarried and shipped out to Victoria, Vancouver,
and Seattle. The marble quarries closed in 1914, at the outbreak of
World War I.
