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