Another day goes to plan and an unexpected meeting

We reckoned about three and a half hours from Tixall to the Burston mooring where we planned to stop, so set off at seven on a misty morning. It felt just a bit more like early autumn than late summer, but is definitely back in summer mode as I type this. From the sound of things, we are in for a classic summer storm tomorrow, too.

It was my turn to steer and I achieved two decent performances, firstly winding Sanity Again on the Wide in one sweeping turn – it's a shame there was no one about to take a picture – and then emulating Sheila at the junction by emerging from under the slender towpath bridge and turning north without needing to reverse.

We had an excellent run up Hoo Mill, Weston and Sandon Locks in warm sun. Most of them were with us, though we crossed with a descending boat at Sandon.

On arrival at Burston, who should be here but Mike and Pauline on Dancing with Dragons, that superb example of a Beacon Boat. They know Poynton well after wintering there the other year and they spent last winter in Mercia. They gave us a cup of coffee and we sat and chatted until lunchtime.

Since then we've been taking it easy ;). Sheila ran another washload while were on the move and has dried it on the whirligig this afternoon. I've had a long natter on the phone with Peter Mason at Braidbar, looking forward to the Owners' Weekend in three weeks time.

Tomorrow, we hope to make it to Stone before the storm arrives later in the morning.