Question for folks coming to the 2026 Rendezvous by boat

Aug-2026 Rendezvous
1

This question is for Rendezvous attendees planning to bring their boats to Greenport.

How far are you ( and your boat) from Greenport ?

Are you looking for crew for the passage ? Racers sometimes have delivery and racing crews. Being part of a delivery crew can be plenty of fun. Do you know anyone interested in crewing but not necessarily attending ?

Are you planning to sail/motor non-stop or make stops along the way?

Are you interested in having a list of stops at the home ports of other Nonsuch owners willing to provide shore support ? What I mean by shore support will vary by location. Some might be yacht clubs able to host an evening meal. Other locations might only have a Nonsuch owner phone number that is willing to share local knowledge.

To justify the effort to assemble such a list, I’ll need to know :

  1. Are Rendezvous attendees are interested in planning stops on their way to Greenport?
  2. Are any Nonsuch owners willing to provide shore support ?
  3. Are any Nonsuch owners interested in sailing in a Nonsuch floatilla that would start small and grow as it gets closer to Greenport?

This seems like a good idea to me, but maybe not, please share thoughts on how to make the trip :

  1. Fun.
  2. Relaxed.
  3. Safe
  4. Social. Part of the fun is meeting others on the water.

Let me know if there is interest… no worries if there isn’t any interest… just throwing the idea out there.

Rob
SV Soave

2

My home port is CPYC, which is mid-sound on the CT shore.

I’m about 65 miles from Greenport and plan to make one overnight stop, probably at Pilot’s Point in Westbrook. The tidal currents in ELIS have convinced me to “go with the flow” so I’ll plan to pass through Plum Gut at slack tide.

I’m open to stopping at other locations instead of Westbrook if other Nonsuch boats gather for the last leg to Greenport.

CPYC has approved up to 6 boats to overnight Friday 8/14 and Sunday 8/23. I can provide details for anyone interested. First come first serve. I plan to organize an optional club meal that participants will chip-in to fund. Menu TBD by participants.

I am interested in sailing in a group of Nonsuch boats to Greenport.

Hope to hear about routes other boats are planning.

Rob
SV Soave.

3

Rob and all,
My wife Kathy and I will be heading from Pilots Point Marina dock L26 to the Rendezvous on the outgoing tide (whenever that is Monday morning, I have not checked yet) there is good anchorage behind the Duck Island for those wishing to anchor on the night before the last leg. I estimate 5 hrs to Mitchell’s. We intend to motor sail for easy going. We may be looking for someone that wants to hitch a ride to and from the event and assist in sailing our N30U. We May be able to offer a birth for the event if you’re not too fussy.

This info is from Claude AI:

Here’s your route overview for this Long Island Sound crossing!

:compass: Route Summary
Distance: ~30 nautical miles
Heading: Generally south-southwest across the Sound

Suggested Waypoints:

  1. Depart Safe Harbor Pilots Point — Exit Westbrook Harbor heading south via the marked channel. Clear the breakwater and turn to approximately 205–210°M.
  2. Mid-Sound — Open water crossing. Watch for ferry traffic (Orient Point–New London ferries cross your path). Monitor VHF Ch. 16.
  3. Approach Greenport — As you near the North Fork, pick up the Southold Bay entrance. Head west along the shore toward Greenport Harbor.
  4. Enter Mitchell Park Marina — The marina is right on the Greenport waterfront at 115 Front St. Call ahead on VHF Ch. 09 or :telephone: 631-477-2200 for slip assignment.

:anchor: Things to Note:
• Tides & Current: Plan your crossing around favorable tidal flow — the Sound’s current runs east-west and can add or cost you 30–60 min.
• Traffic: Cross-Sound ferry lanes are active — keep a sharp watch.
• Fuel: Pilots Point has fuel dockside if you need to top off before departing.
• Destination perks: Mitchell Park is right in downtown Greenport — easy walking to restaurants, shops, and the carousel.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Fair Winds and following Seas,
Brian & Kathy

4

Brian,
Great idea to use AI for trip planning.

I posed the same question to both Gemini and Claude… “Help me plan a sailing trip from Cedar Point Yacht Club to Mitchell Park Marina.”

Neither provided 100 % accurate responses. Claude did a better job.

Both provided a great framework with lots of important facts.

Claude correctly suggested passing Plum gut at 9am ( east-going ebb ) on 8/15… but suggested a 6am departure from CPYC would fetch plum gut by 9am.

No way Soave would make it to plum gut in 3 hours. I’m thinking 5-6 hours … from CPYC to Plum Gut.

I challenged Claude by asking … " Can a Nonsuch 33 really sail 50nm in 3 hours ?"

To my surprise Claude responded…

Ha — great catch, you’re absolutely right to question that! I made a math error.

50 nm ÷ 6 kts = ~8.5 hours, not 3. Let me fix the departure plan:

|Time (EDT)|Event|
| — | — |
|6:00 AM|Depart Cedar Point YC|
|~2:30 PM|Arrive Plum Gut (~50 nm @ 6 kts)|
|~2:50 PM|Through the Gut|
|~4:30 PM|Arrive Mitchell Park Marina, Greenport|

That’s a ~10.5 hour day — totally doable but a full day’s sail, not a leisurely morning hop.

—

This changes the Plum Gut timing picture significantly. A 2:30 PM arrival at the Gut puts you in the middle of the ebb cycle — actually not bad, the ebb typically runs through mid-afternoon — but you’ll want to verify the August 15 current schedule carefully to make sure you’re not arriving at a foul flood.

It also means arriving in Greenport around 4:30 PM, which is still a fine time to dock, but you’re watching for those afternoon thunderstorms that tend to build after 2 PM in August.

This is actually a strong argument for the two-day Westbrook stop — it splits the distance neatly into two comfortable days and removes the Plum Gut timing pressure entirely. Want to revisit that plan?

I guess with a little coaxing Claude agreed with my two day itinerary.

Looking forward to the summer !

Rob & Linda

5

Rob,
AI is great as long as you are willing to help train it for accuracy. The Human mind is far superior to machine learning, sort of like a Father to a Son. Humans gave birth to it after all. When I first asked Claude for directions to the 2026 INA Rendezvous it wanted to send me to Newport, RI. Not u nusual considering the Idea birthed there to begin with ( first herd that at the Diesel Workshop in Stamford,Ct)
Brian

6

I started experimenting with CoPilot six months or so ago because it came with Windows 11 Pro and I could see that the world was headed that way so I wanted to know what it was all about. I had the stupid AI problem a lot, but I kept expressing my annoyance at having to correct it and eventually it learned that I am more interested in accuracy than in speed. Most of these consumer grade AIs seem to have a Fast or Speed mode and a Smart or Thinking mode. I’ve since experimented with ChatGPT, Gemini, and I think another one (FireFox lets you decide which to use in an AI tab.) They all start out in the fast mode and I just start out by telling them to use smart or thinking mode or that my expectations are correct answers rather than fast ones. It seems to take repeated orders before that becomes their default, but eventually they all give up and give me better thought out answers. Even so, you need to watch them carefully. They are like highly intelligent teenagers: lots of mental power, but still learning how to use it.