The next morning it was still damp and overcast but now we had a few more provisions, and more importantly, some clean underwear, it was time to head off exploring again. 

The next stop on our journey now involved following up on some places that had a unique history that I was keen to visit.  The first colonial contact with native americans in this part of the world occurred when Captain Cook visited Friendly Cove (Yuquot) in 1778.  At the time this cove was populated by the Mowachaht Tribe of over 1500 souls led by their Chief Maquima.  Cook had good relations with the natives, and, on his return and publication of his journal in 1784, this spot on the west coast became a focus for trade in sea otter pelts for english, spanish, russian and american ships.  The life of the tribe is well documented in John Jewitt's book documenting the two years he lived with the tribe.  In addition as this place was such a nexus of traffic and trade it also became a central place for some events that almost caused Spain and England to go to war in 1789.  The subsequent treaty (the Nootka Accords) laid the groundwork for the international laws regarding freedom of the seas for trade. 

The trip down to Friendly Cove was, to say the least, wet.  We passed Euphoria who were on their way up to Tahsis but other than that it was a soggy trudge down to Nootka sound.  Whilst in the sound we were swamped by heavy rain which thankfully cleared as we go tot Friendly Cove.  Heidi had put her back out earlier in the day so instead of anchoring off and struggling with the dinghy we moored at the very rusty dock. 

After confirming that there were no commercial boats due we went for a walk.  Firstly we went over to the master first nations carver, Sanford Williams, workshop.  Samford is a legend in Native American carving and he was sitting in his workshop, using traditional tools to carve a number of commissioned pieces.  Next stop was at the only remaining dwelling occupied by the first nations on the island where we met Darryl Williams and paid our respects for being allowed on their land. After this we walked over to the singing beach, a wonderful expanse of  pebble beach facing the ocean that had great breakers on it, causing the pebbles to 'sing' as the waves crashed on them. 

Next stop was an old church, erected by the spanish government, that has been turned into a museum by the tribe.  It had some amazing carvings in it as well as a very good history from the tribes point of view. 

Final stop on the walk was a visit to the lighthouse.  As we approached we were met by Janet, the current lighthouse keeper.  We had a great chat with her about their duties and how to apply to become a lighthouse keeper; a job both Heidi and I could see us going for after our travels! 

We then spent some time soaking in the stunning views from the lighthouse before heading back to the boat for dinner.  After dinner I explored a little more along the trails behind singing beach finding the lake where sacred reutals used to take place to cleanse the members of the band before setting out on a whale hunt.