Sailing in the Pacific Northwest

So I’m at work right now and thus unable to dedicate proper research to this at the moment, but I was wondering if anyone on here could give me some pointers on sailing conditions between California and Vancouver Island?

My husband and I recently traveled to Vancouver Island, and my understanding is that the Natives there didn’t use sails but rather large canoes, but I have also been told that the seas in this region are particularly rough, and yet I was also told that they traded up and down the coast.

How did that work, exactly? Did the Natives of Vancouver Island and Olympic Peninsula interact to any degree with those in Oregon and California, or was their seafaring technology not suited to such long voyages? Also, how long would these voyages have taken, and how would sails have improved the situation?
 
I dont know if they even have it any more, but the Vancouver maritime museum used to have a Haida dugout canoe some British guy outfitted with a modern sailing rig and circumnavigated the world with pre 1914. So I'd wager that sails would help a lot as you could cut down on manpower and focus on hauling goods over longer distances.

The biggest issue is probably material in my mind. The Pacific Northwest is blessed with many things, but they lacked material for cloth and ropes. Cedar bark was used to weave baskets, hats, and even skirts but I dont think it would work for sails and rigging due to its weight and the sheer manpower required.
 
My knee-jerk reaction to the problem is outriggers to stabilise the boat and try using anima tissue like sinew for ropes and sails.
 
http://curtis.library.northwestern....&size=2&id=nai.10.book.00000030&volume=10#nav

This classic anthropological text from Edward Curtis (dated as it is)--his North American Indian series--refers to sailing in the Pacific Northwest several times, which I found when looking for sources for my American Indian TL (A Horn of Bronze, see my signature). This text refers to the Kwakiutl/Kwakwaka'wakw, but other references from Curtis shows that sails weren't entirely unknown, and nor were catamarans even. Basically, the locals used either mats of processed cedar bark (yellow cedar and red cedar were extremely important trees in every aspect in that region) or imported tule mats (taken from the Coast Salish) for sails when they needed, although sails weren't too important for their canoes (they appreciated the mats more for comfort on their long journeys).

But from what I can tell, yes, the Wakashans and Salish certainly interacted with the people of the Columbia River, the Chinookans. Less so with people further down the Oregon Coast, which was rocky and poorer country with less people and less trade goods, but they knew of each other. It's rough seas, but the Nuu-chah-nulth and their offshoots the Makah, plus the nearby Chimakuans they culturally influenced, became the only groups to practice extensive whaling outside of the Aleuts/Inuit in Pacific North America. Speaking of the Aleuts, a story has them as being responsible for a massacre of the Nicoleño people at the behest of the Russian fur trade, but IIRC the Russians helped transport them that far south. Still, with the currents, there's no reason some catamarans with cedar bark/tule sails at the hands of skilled seafarers couldn't journey to California from the PNW.
 
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