Two Hours Under Sail on a 72-Foot Greenport Schooner
A public ticket on Bonnie Lynn, the steel schooner East End Charters bought so North Fork groups would stop hiring boats from the South Fork.
Greenport keeps a working harbor at the end of Manhasset Avenue, and Bonnie Lynn ties up there between sails. She is a 72-foot steel schooner, 57 feet on deck, launched in 1998.
Hannah Miller and Erick Tichonuk bought her because the boat they already had could not take a crowd. The company's other boat, the ketch Surprise, is capped at six passengers under Coast Guard rules. Bonnie Lynn holds a Certificate of Inspection for up to 32 people on a day sail.
Groups of twelve and eighteen kept calling. Tichonuk told The Suffolk Times in 2024 what he used to tell them: "Sorry, there's no boat on the North Fork that can accommodate that many people. You will have to hire someone from the South Fork to sail up to the North Fork to pick you up."
A public sail is the version you can buy a single seat on.
Sailings run from the middle of June to the end of September. Monday through Thursday the boat goes out in the late afternoon and comes back after the sun is down. Friday through Sunday adds an early afternoon slot.
- Monday to Thursday: 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.
- Friday: 1:30, 2:00, 5:00, 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: 1:30, 2:00, 5:00, 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.
Monday through Thursday carries the lower fare. Friday through Sunday costs more, apart from the one Friday two o'clock departure, which is priced with the weekdays. The 2026 season closes on September 27, and the boat sails again from June 15, 2027.
Public Schooner SailTwo hours on Bonnie Lynn out of Greenport. Bring your own food and drink, up to 32 aboard.www.viator.comWhere the Boat Actually Goes
From Greenport the route follows the wind and the length of the sail. East End Charters lists Orient Harbor, Gardiner's Bay, Shelter Island and the Peconic River as the water they work.
Most shoes are fine on her deck. Leave the heels at home.
Bring the Cooler, Within Reason
Public sails are bring-your-own, food and drink both. The operator asks for light picnics and no large coolers.
- The operator asks parties to keep to seven guests or fewer, so no single group fills the deck.
- Minimum age is five, and children and infants count toward the passenger count.
- Dogs are not allowed on public sails.
There is a head below, down a set of steps. Bluetooth speakers are aboard if you want your own music. Pack a light layer, non-aerosol sunscreen and a hat that will not blow away.
The People Running the Boat
Miller and Tichonuk met working at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vermont, on a five-month tour aboard a replica nineteenth-century canal schooner. He had spent thirty years at that museum. She came to sailing from whitewater rafting and canoe guiding, then took a four-month program on a 150-foot square rigger carrying 27 sails.
They bought Surprise and the charter business from Captain Pat Mundus in 2020, and ran 120 charters that first year. Charlie Beyer and Sarah Bell later took over Surprise, and the four of them are partners now.
Dan's Best of the Best named East End Charters the 2025 winner for sailing charters on the North Fork.
Miller and Tichonuk have not lived on dry land in more than five years. Greenport in summer, the Bahamas in winter.
Before You Book
- A public sail needs seven passengers to go. If the boat is short, you hear at least two hours before departure and can reschedule or take a full refund.
- Weather cancellations are the operator's call, made no more than two hours ahead. Thunderstorms, winds over 25 knots or steady rain will do it. A small chance of showers will not.
- Public sail tickets are non-refundable. Cancel seven or more days out and you can ask for a date change or a credit. Inside seven days the ticket is forfeit.
Departures are from the East End Charters dock at 1100 Manhasset Avenue in Greenport.
A six o'clock sail has you back at the dock around eight, with the village a few minutes up the road and the evening still ahead of you.