Observatory Inlet is an
inlet on the
North Coast of British Columbia. It is a northward extension of
Portland Inlet, other sidewaters of which include the
Portland Canal. The entrance of Observatory Inlet, from Portland Inlet, lies between Ramsden Point and Nass Point. Ramsden Point also marks, to the west, the entrance of Portland Canal. Observatory Inlet was named by
George Vancouver in 1793, because he set up his observatory on the shore of the inlet, at Salmon Cove, in order to calibrate his chronometers. His two vessels,
HMS Discovery and
HMS Chatham, stayed in Salmon Cove from July 23 to August 17, 1793. During this time a boat surveying expedition under Vancouver himself explored
Behm Canal. Vancouver also named three headlands at the entrance of Observatory Inlet: Maskelyne Point, for
Nevil Maskelyne, the
Astronomer Royal, Wales Point, for
William Wales, the mathematical master who sailed with
James Cook, and Ramsden Point, after the famed
mathematical instrument-maker
Jesse Ramsden.