Ann and I took an eleven-day cruise on the Erie Canal, 190 miles from Buffalo to Syracuse with our boat. About the boat, after owning a double planked Chris Craft in the 1960 we changed to a sailboat for 27 years but in our old age decided to buy the largest trailerable boat we could find, a 1986 26ft Cruisers, Inc express cruiser, actually 31ft long with the bow pulpit and the swim platform. The 260 HP Mercruiser pushes it along on plane at 27 mph for cruising and gets 1.8 miles per gallon. The same mpg at 7.5 mph. It has an aft cabin with a queen bed, the sofa in the main cabin converts to a double bed and has a head with shower, ref./freezer, electric and alcohol stove, GPSmap, fish/depth finder, etc. I used the GPS for over-the-ground speed. 190 miles total.

We launched the boat in Buffalo and entered the canal at Tonawanda and docked for the night at Gateway Park, newly renovated with NY State funds, as were most villages along the canal, NY sank millions into changing the barge canal into a recreational waterway, there is no commercial traffic left. We are the lone boat tied up there.