[oldfielder]

It can be heaven or hell out there in the fall. I have fished it for many years and still love it, but in an 18, like the previous poster said, you really need to pick days carefully if running around the point. Even in that battle wagon of yours.
There are rips all over the place and the only way to get used to them is through experience, either on your own boat or others' . Their faces can completely change on a dime depending on moon phase and tide direction.
If you are limited to the weekend it will be a zoo in late Sept/Oct, so just bring a lot of patience. Between fly boats, big down east charter boats and sportfishers, and partyboats ( none of whom will be worried about your welfare), there is no shortage of obstacles. Try to steer clear of places where you see the charters doing their wire line conga line and you should be happy. The albies and some absolutely massive schools of bass will congregate in tight to the south and north sides and in the bay about 1/4-1/2 mile west of point on north side. You can have a great day in there and stay away from the mayhem at the point and fish much more protected water. Last year the albie bite was excellent back toward gardiners and nobody was on them.
Don't rely on the ocean side forecast solely. Block Island Sound is really helpful. Get on the NOAA buoy site and take a look at what the swell is doing, too, because that can change the whole game if there is a groundswell- like this coming weekend-grrr
This is just a little bit off the top of my head. If you don't need to lock in to days, just keep your eyes open for some nice settled high pressure and light nw winds and go out and have a blast.
FYI- I have seen three boats flip out there, all guys who misjudged a break as they chased albies and bass too close to the beach and got caught by a crest. One was a local guide, but the other two were from out of town and probably thought the break would be much more predictable than it was. I guess the moral is that the water out there can always surprise you.