The first gnawings at my patience began just before 10.30am this morning as I stood on Waterloo pier in the drizzle while another Thames Clipper pulled away without taking on passengers.

To see how badly the strike affected London's outer boroughs, it had been suggested that I should time a journey from my home in South Ealing to Bank in the City, and then on to the RMT's headquarters in Euston, using as many modes of transport as I could.

The journey from Brentford to Waterloo was easy but the mood in the latter station a little ugly. A harassed community support officer gave directions for the 400th time that morning and then analysed the problem. "People aren't used to queuing," he said. "And some of them don't like it."

After two false alarms, a clipper stopped at Waterloo pier to carry passengers east into the City. "This is not a free service," chanted a boatman.

"It bloody well should be," said one woman. The rest of the queue nodded.

Commuters looked equally miserable at London Bridge station. A near-normal service on the Northern line meant that I was in Bank by 11.20am, looking for the best way to Euston. My attempts to hitch a lift on a police horse were rebuffed, and I was pondering commandeering a baby buggy when a bus to Old Street rolled up.

From there it was a short hop up the Northern line to Euston then a five-minute walk to RMT HQ on Chalton street where a banner proclaimed: "Workers and passengers should not pay for the bosse's [sic] crisis." Door-to-door: three hours and 34 minutes. Modes of transport: five (feet, train, boat, tube, bus).