Coal

A child visiting the Rainbow Warrior in Southend, after having his face painted on the pier. © Will Rose / Greenpeace.

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Occasionally, when we pass each other in an alleyway and none of our more seasoned seafaring friends (the crew) are around, us Greenpeace UK office-dwellers lucky enough to be on the Rainbow Warrior will whisper to each other: I love this ship.

It turns out a lot of people feel the same. In London, we had passers-by shouting from the quayside to tell us so. And over the past two days, well over a thousand people have come from all over - Manchester, Devon, Wiltshire, Bristol, Jersey - to visit the ship. Toddlers and octogenarians, nuns and football fans all queued in the rain for the chance to see the Rainbow Warrior II (or too) in the 55.2 metres of riveted steel flesh. A huge thank you to everyone who came.

© Will Rose / Greenpeace. Dr Geoff Meaden on the deck of the Rainbow Warrior, in front of Kingsnorth power station.

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Another day, another boat full of people keen to express their opposition to Kingsnorth. This time, they were representatives from across civil society - from church leaders and politicians to union leaders and activists - here to talk about Kingsnorth, coal and climate change.

Under heavy clouds and drizzle, the Warrior cruised past Kingsnorth (the pilot steering us so close that I could almost hear the sweat dripping from E.on's collective brow - rumour has it that there were around 100 police officers stationed near Kingsnorth today) and towards Kent Flats Wind Farm.

Nick, in a survival suit. © Will Rose / Greenpeace

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I'm not sure where to start. In the past 24 hours, I've watched senior advisers to the shadow cabinet take a ride in one of our inflatable boats (wearing Greenpeace-branded dry suits); mopped, swept and wiped all manner of surfaces; talked to artists, designers and film producers about our work and the coal campaign; learned how to coil rope properly; donned a survival suit during safety training (see the picture of Nick, resplendent in similar garb, above); helped to take down a giant banner; eavesdropped on energy policy discussions with advisers at the heart of Labour's government; and cleaned a lot of toilets.

I think I'd better start with the Tories, who visited the Warrior this afternoon. They were here not to have the mickey taken out of them as they got into the inflatable boat ("when we get to parliament, you three unfurl that banner and the rest of you storm past the guards" etc) but to talk about energy policy with our chief scientist, energy campaigners and policy wonks - just as Labour advisers did this morning.

"Kick start clean energy" written on the side of the Rainbow Warrior in LEDs, with London buildings behind. © Will Rose / Greenpeace

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The Rainbow Warrior is a ship full of stories; everywhere on the ship there are photographs of the non-violent direct actions Greenpeace has taken over the years, artefacts from our campaigns, painted totems donated by Native Canadian people, pictures drawn by visitors to the boat, and portraits of crew members past and present. And every time you talk to someone who knows the ship and her history intimately, like the captain, you get the chance to hear more.

There's no way I'd have time to pass on all the stories I'm hearing but I am going to try and record a few of them for you, starting with Mike, the Captain (pictured), telling last night's guests the story of the Rainbow Warrior sailing into the Moruroa test zone. It's quite a story - have a listen to this mp3:

But our visitors last night didn't just hear stories from the past. They also got to hear - and see - a good deal about our present campaign: to give coal the boot and kickstart a clean energy revolution.