Speaking out of turn as always, it seems to me that there is a real
opportunity for any venue to call a 'gathering of the chanteymen' at
some suitable seaside setting in the US Northeast.

Avoiding of course other key events--- (e.g. Mystic, Old Songs, the
Squeeze-In, NEFFA, etc.)

I'm not going to belabor how Mystic Seaport has sort of abrogated
this role, that's been amply hashed and re-hashed elsewhere.

I'm talking a total non-commercial "we're here for love of the
music" sort of event which is strategically inserted in the annual
schedule at a time when anyone who happens to be about is welcomed.

Organize some workshops and master classes, let the public come and
go as they please and displease. Put musicians up in local folkies'
homes.

Something like the first decade-and-a-half of Mystic.

The venue being mentioned is on a community college campus, unless I
miss my guess? By the Atlantic?