Usually when waves are more than 3 we dont go out. Weather changes quick in the sound sometimes. I figured the 18 may be a little sturdier out there with the wider beam, but we have a 19 CC that We use for a tender for the 2 man layout we use closer to NY, but not sure how the scaup would fare going out there. It?s only 9 miles to cross the sound, so half of that, but my experience on bigger water has always been a CC fishing boat, sailboat, or something like a bankes. Then again, those all take away the allure of building my own boat!