Tonawanda, NY Day 2

We had our first hot shower since the Hampton Inn! Just as we remembered, a constant parade of boats converges on the town walls on the weekends. It's quite a show! Overnight we had gusts to 39 MPH (35 sustained is Gale Warning range). The famous TC255 bow slapping in such conditions just doesn't bother us; we find it peaceful. To me it's more of a 'gurgling'. (For our nonboating friends, you always anchor into the wind. The reason we were concerned about the windlass failure is that there is a 200 miles section with no marinas where you have to anchor and Eileen can't pull up the 25# though we could have changed to a 14# or even a 4# Fortress but with less holding confidence. The Mississippi River is one where you want holding confidence). Some non-boater friends are following so i want to help them understand stuff when needed.

We love the new F150 engines, esp the automatic engine synchronization ation and integrated electric steering. There are other features we haven't tried yet.

Lake Erie is still acting up with 5 foot seas. It looks like more weather days today and tomorrow and calming Tues to the point that we could make some distance (80 miles, one lock...#223 for us... and prolonged no wake zones).

We've explored the Canada side of Niagara Falls. Today we checked out the American side and took a 1 hour guided walking tour that was interesting with lots of history.Read more