Getting set for Cavalcade

30th April and 1st May

Making an early start yesterday, we were on the mooring outside Sainsbury's and shopping by 7.30. By 8.45 we were on the water point at Little Venice, filling the tank and running the washing machine. It was tipping it down again, but apart from that all was well. A couple of BW guys arrived on the natty little boat they use to clean rubbish off the surface of the canal. Someone had spilt some diesel on the towpath by the sanitary station, so they carefully spread some sand over it. When the diesel had been absorbed, they swept it all into the water, this being ecosensitivity, BW style.

At 9.30 we arrived at the workers' boats mooring on the arm down to Paddington Basin, after a total of one hour's boating. First task was a lot of boat shuffling, moving those boats who had tied where we needed the workers' boats to be, and arranging ours in the way our leader, Mr Hearnden (aka Moose – don't ask) wanted them.

The afternoon was spent carting fencing panels to the site and creating the compound where we will store stuff and eat most of our meals for the next week. There was a certain amount of other fetching and carrying to be done, but there was a quite relaxed atmosphere on this first day – that can be expected to change.

Late in the day, the main accommodation boat, Belfast arrived. We were able to eat dinner on her, as it was still raining small domestic mammals outside. Belfast is a community boat from Dacorum Council, and well laid out for that type of boat, but it still means getting very friendly with one another as you squeeze to and fro.

Today was a distinctly relaxed start for a camp run by Moose, and breakfast was available from 8.30 to 9. I had already had a bit of entertainment first thing – when I got up to make the early morning tea, the gas ran out. Hopping about on the bow in your PJs is not a good idea in central London, with the commuters going to and fro to Paddington Station, so I threw my clothes on and went out there to switch the cylinders over. A passer by promptly stopped for a chat about the boating life.

Since the whole point of Cavalcade is to increase people's awareness of the cut and those who live on it, it didn't seem appropriate to give her the same advice as Noah gave the departing animals. Accordingly, I spent some time chatting to her, despite my desperate need to go and get the kettle on.

On our way to breakfast, we met a familiar figure who was nonetheless difficult to place as he stood there immaculate in business suit and holding a briefcase. Suddenly the penny dropped – this was Peter Harper of Cala, normally encountered in boating costume. He was on his way to a meeting nearby, poor soul.

Three of us had agreed to fetch another of the regular boats, Opportunity, from Laburnum Boat Club. This meant getting a taxi across to where she was moored on the Regent's Canal in Haggerston, then Liz, Sheila and I took her up the six locks between there and the summit pound at Camden Lock. After a break to eat our packed lunch, we went into the amazing world of Camden Lock Market and made contact with the Market Office.

We collected from them the parts for six market stalls, and carted them to the waters edge where we loaded them onto Opportunity's long well deck. Then Sheila took over the helm to steer her back to Little Venice to be off loaded.

Final event of today for us has been connecting the boat to the genset supplied shoreline power, so that we won't need to run the engine again whilst working here.