Malaspina selected two talented officers to take command of an expedition to confirm whether “Fuca”, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, was the rumoured entrance to the Northwest Passage. Captain Galiano was assigned to the Sutil and Captain Valdés to the Mexicana. The schooners arrived in Acapulco, Mexico from the shipyards just prior to the expedition and proved challenging for the two small crews, which totalled 39 men, including ten volunteers from Malaspina’s vessels. They departed on March 8 but could not get underway until March 18, 1792 due to weather. By the time the expedition reached Nootka Sound in May, the Mexicana had been dismasted and was being towed by the Sutil.
Repairs were made at Nootka Sound, giving the expedition time to meet with Chief Maquinna, who remembered Valdés from the Malaspina expedition the year before. They sailed for “Fuca,” reaching the strait on June 6 and the Spanish post of Núñez Gaona, now Neah Bay in Washington, U.S.A. Meeting the British vessels of Captains Vancouver and Broughton, they passed on the message that Vancouver was awaited by Captain Bodega y Quadra. They met Vancouver’s expedition again at Point Langara, also known as Point Grey, and continued with the larger vessels in convoy in late June. The captains and officers of the two expeditions dined together many times. After separating, the British vessels returned on July 12 to inform Galiano and Valdés that there was an outlet to the ocean at about 51' North latitude: the smaller Spanish schooners could more easily survey such areas which were too shallow for the British ships, and the two expeditions agreed to share survey information.
Galiano and Valdés sailed north up the passage between what is now known as Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia, sending out launches to explore small inlets for days at a time. They rounded the northern tip of the island and sailed south to Nootka Sound. It took them four months to circumnavigate the island, confirming that “Fuca” was not the Northwest Passage. Nootka Sound was actually on a large island and not part of the mainland, as had been shown on earlier charts by Bodega y Quadra. What is now Vancouver Island was named the Isla de Quadra y Vancouver on the chart published in Galiano’s account of the expedition in 1802 under the title Relación del Viaje hecho por las Goletas “Sutil” y “Mexicana” en el año 1792 para Reconecher el Estracho del Fuca.
