May 9th. After a few days in Ketchikan catching up on our email, we set out for the Ham Rendezvous at the Shack at Dora Bay. The Shack is the cabin home of Darlene and Floyd Minor on an un-named Island at Divide Head in Cholmondeley Sound. 
Darlene is the net control for the Great Northern Boaters Net, managed by Barabara VE7KLU at Sidney, B.C. and Darlene KL0YC at Dora Bay Alaska.
Several Boats left for Dora Bay a day or two ahead of us due to the incoming weather being for cast. The day we left all the weather indices showed moderate conditions deteriorating later that day. We rode the last of the ebb tide out Nichols Passage in time to catch the flood tide coming into Clarence Strait in about 10 knots SE. We set a reefed main sail to steady the boat in Nichols Passage and motor sailed on a broad reach to Cholmondeley Sound, surfing off good sized waves toward mid day.
JoAnne went below to fix lunch as we turned into Cholmendely (pronounced) Cholmley by Alaskans. She no more than got the soup hot when the forecasted weather hit. It got a little hectic down below until I got the main sail down and the boat settled
Ever since we left Washington we kept hearing that the ham rendezvous was at the Shack at the end of Dora Bay. When we got to the end of Dora Bay we hailed the Shack on VHF to get landing instructions, to find we were at the wrong end of Dora Bay, and that the Shack was on the little island just off Divide Head. It was a scenic ride, albeit we were a little on the cold and tired side.
Once at the shack we were directed to a neighbors dock where Bob VA7RAK on Counting Coup, an aluminum junk rigged ketch, David and Debbie AB7EO on Vagrant, a Halberg Rassy 42, and Eric and Sherry KD7QFG on Dolphin, a Monk 36 motor yacht were rafted on the deep side of a very nice, new dock. We tied Teal to the inside of the dock. Simon and Sunnie on Seascape, a 50 ft. steel Ketch had collected Barbara VE7KLU at the Ketchikan Yacht Club. She had flown in from Sidney, B.C. for the event. Seascape was tied up at the mooring in front of the Shack.
Kim and Eric on Abyssinia, a 60 ft aluminum motor yacht, was anchored further back in the channel off Divide Head. We all met aboard Vagrant for Hors d'oeuvre and had a nice visit getting acquainted. We discovered later that they all knew each other and had been here at least a few times before.
The next day Sherry and Eric invited us aboard Dolphin for lunch and a tour of their boat. They have made a lot of modifications to their Monk, which have made their cruising more comfortable and enjoyable.
We came back to Teal and fixed our potluck dishes for the rendezvous. About 4 PM we rowed our skiff to the beach in front of the Shack and hauled our dishes to the cabin. The Shack is a work in progress like moat all cabins in Alaska. Darleen and Floyd have done a remarkable job making the Shack warm, cozy and comfortable, we all had a wonderful time sharing all the great dishes brought to the pot luck.
The next morning all the boats took off to the respective destinations in spite of the threatening weather. We tied Teal to the vacant mooring in front of the Shack and went up to return a CD we had borrowed, and spent most of the morning having a great visit with Darlene and Floyd before heading to Kitkun Bay just a few miles away.
Kitkun Bay is a very secluded bay and anchorage with a tricky entrance through a tidal rapid that can only be run in a sailboat at or very near slack tide. When we took Teal through, the ebb was still running 3 to 4 knots; but we were able to power our way through. Once we worked our way to the very end of the bay, we found an excellent anchorage that was as flat as you can get at 30 feet at 0 tide within a boat length or so to shore. 
The anchorage is completely land locked by high snow capped mountains, save the narrow entrance into the basin. We anchored and settled in for the coming blow that started about 2 AM. By morning it was raining buckets, and while hardly any sustained wind could find its way in we had violent gusts that occasionally came off the mountains that healed Teal from port one time, then starboard the next, and pushed up little white caps across the anchorage.
By morning the storm had passed and we took advantage of high slack tide to leave Kitkun Bay, head for Vallener Point and Tongass Narrows and back to Ketchikan. Our passage was smooth and warm and we pulled into the Ketchikan Yacht Club at Thomas Basin by mid afternoon.
Next we go to Sitka for canvas and upholstery work. Its a long trip between internet hook-ups it will take several blog postings to get the whole trip posted.
Stay tuned,
George and JoAnne
