In 1789 the schooner North West America, flying a Portuguese flag, re-entered Nootka Sound (it had been built there months earlier by Chinese workers) where a Spanish warship awaited, and similar to what had happened to British and American ships, the
captain and crew were arrested. The “tub,” fresh from Hawaii, was seized. It became a Spanish ship, renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna and later Santa Saturnina. The boat was then used by the Spanish for several exploration voyages, including José María Narváez’s discovery and exploration of the Strait of Georgia in 1791 and the mapping and naming of the San Juan Islands (with the assistance of George Vancouver). It labored to sail upwind and would be dismantled several times in Mexico and brought north on a larger ship. (The early history of the NW is all about the strong Pacific Coast currents that flow south.) Spain ceded its rights to the US in 1819. These latter Spanish trips were the winning argument for the San Juan Islands becoming American rather than British. (We have found a “look-alike” in style and size to fit in the Farm’s Nootka Pond; work awaits a County permit.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_(pinnace)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nootka_Crisis
https://www.historylink.org/File/765
https://historicalseaport.org/lady-washington-history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_West_America
https://www.cwjefferys.ca/the-first-ship-built-on-the-pacific
https://www.britannica.com/place/Northwest-Passage-trade-route
https://cdm16118.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15015coll5/id/144
https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2017/10/05/spanish-explorations-of-the-pacific-northwest-and-the-first-spanish-settlement-in-washington-state-nunez-gaona-neah-bay-1792-part-i/
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Portuguese.pdf
Which of the 2 schooners is the largest, the North West America or the Santa Saturnina?
Niether, they are the same
North West America
Santa Saturina
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