Although I launched in Moucha Bay, this is a picture back up towards Gold River.

Heading out.

The 136' wooden Uchuck III (sometimes called the Upchuck, depending on sea conditions) heading to Gold River. It's a cruising ferry and you can spend several days on board.

South of Bligh Island, the wind picks up and the swells from the Pacific can be felt at the entrance of Zuciarte Channel.

Bligh Island is a marine park. It has a huge calm desolate bay called Ewin Inlet. In the very back is a little bay that made a very calm anchorage.

Up the next morning and past the Spanish Island Group towards Yuquot (called "Friendly Cove" by Captain James Cook). That is Yuquot Point in the distance.

The wind hadn't come up and it was a mild swell, so I decided to go past Yuquot and see if I could circumnavigate Nootka Island south to north before the afternoon winds came up.

The "afternoon" winds came up at 10:15 and the swells stacked at Bajo Point. I turned and surfed back to Yuquot.

Before I got back inside, a fog started to build at the entrance to Nootka, but then it went away.

The Coast Guard station.

I tied up at the Yuquot dock. Turns out that the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations were having an annual camp out. I spoke with one of the elders who said that they bring all the kids to show them their ancestral home. The boys really liked my electric bike.

Archaeological research showed occupation for over 4,000 years. It was the "capital" for 17 Nootka tribes. This 15' cedar carving of a welcoming "seeker" faces the Pacific.

More welcoming carvings.

In the back of the church is the harbor master's office, usually charging a $5 docking fee. There were more important things going on and the office was empty.

Part of the perfection of this location is a large freshwater lake a few hundred feet from the shore. Warm as bathwater (and used as such).

Another feature is that just over a little ridge from the protected cove you could see who was coming for miles. The white dots are recreational fishing boats.

A cemetery was started when the original "burial" practices were banned.

The dates indicated that some of the people buried here could have been born here. Canada had a "residential school" requirement that removed native children from the traditional villages (in this case, they were sent to Gold River). The parents and families followed, and the traditional town sites were abandoned.

Despite a change in religious beliefs, you will still need things in the by-and-by.

Some newer markers harkened back to old times.

Some even to tree "burials."

I rode my bike out the West Coast trail. Here's where it ended because of a "habituated and predatory cougar."

The Coast Guard station with the Captain Cook marker on the rocky knoll to the left.

The Coast Guard station is officially on another island and has no access from Yuquot. I got the impression that visitors were not welcome. *