| and I wanted more course options afforded by being in the center of the
sound.

This amplifies the importance of maintaining a hard plot on paper chart. How
did Suzanne derive the cross track?... by hand calc or by spot check
interpolation with the GPS?

How does this "amplify" the importance when we were, for all intents and
purposes sailing a short line of sight course? We estimated our losses at
aprox. 90 minutes and were quite close. For a 55 mile run I don't see the need
for more than crude navigation. We know the waters.
Next Spring when we do Great Gull and Block, we'll employ a higher level to
navigate safely.
In one respect, you're correct; the practice is probably worth the effort.
Maybe when we sail to Norwalk (a very short sail) we'll plot a series of
waypoints, calculate current and play by the book for the practice.

RB