Polar Mist is now in Nootka Sound. Nootka has an interesting history as a base for the trade in sea otter pelts. Spain and Britain almost came to war over "possession" of Nootka Sound and eventually came to an agreement that both countries would abandon the area, opening the door for free trade.

We'll be visiting Resurrection Bay where Captain James Cook landed in Nootka Sound on his third trip through the Pacific. This was the first contact between Europeans and First Nation people on the Pacific side of present day Canada. Cook traded with the locals for sea otter pelts and ignited a trading frenzy that almost ended in extinction for the sea otters. We'll also stop at Friendly Cove, the base of sea otter trading in the 1700's and also Marvina's Bay, where the crew of the American vessel Boston was ambushed and 24 of the 26-man crew were killed. We hope for a better ratio on our visit.

We are in the far eastern end of Nootka Sound in a little town called Tahsis. Traditionally, this was the winter village of the Mowachaht tribe led by the famous chief Maquinna (who led the ambush against the Boston). In the last century, Tahsis was a huge logging and milling area, and now it seems to be a center for sport fishing. We are tied up in the Westview Marina--one of two sailboats amongst about a hundred sport fishing boats.

As luck would have it, we tied up here on Friday and Friday at the Westview is "Steak Night"! Steak is the only thing on the menu and they had a great blues guitarist named David Gogo (http://www.davidgogo.com ) playing live music. So, we had this great award-winning musician playing to about 30 of us while we ate our steaks. The best part was the thud of fish hitting the fish cleaning tables right behind David as he played, as deckhands were cleaning fish for all three sets of music!

All is well aboard Polar Mist!

Humbly submitted,

Capt. Rick