I recently did a post How Desperate is the Freewinds? after a promo piece came in offering a $750 “wedding package” on board.
I noted that the reason for the Freewinds existing at all was for the delivery of OT VIII — which supposedly needed to be done “off the crossroads of the world.” This was what Miscavige told the public — who would have much preferred it be delivered at Flag which would not require a second trip to a different org in another part of the world once they completed SNOTs.
Funny, yesterday I came across this from a fairly recent edition of Source magazine. As anyone with half a brain knows, the very underwhelming OT VIII can be delivered anywhere there is a table and an E-meter. This page confirms that fact. If it would not be such a blatant admission of failure, Miscavige could sell the Freewinds for scrap and move the SO crew members to other locations.
The Freewinds is a white elephant that serves no purpose at all. The volume of of OT VIIIs on board at any given time is single figures who could be accommodated in the smallest course room at Flag. In the 30+ years it has been operating, not a single group, let alone a mission or org has been opened on any of the islands it frequents. (The only org in the entirety of the Caribbean is in Puerto Rico).
Yet, the master of administrative and financial genius will continue to subsidize the operation of the Freewinds to save face. It is another of Miscavige’s monumental failures.
Tip for Miscavige (don’t thank me Dave) : the IDEAL ship – to replace this out-of-date vessel. I am sure Dave can dream up some obscure advice on that.
That should keep the regges happy for a while and the donation money rolling in.
Looking at their uniforms they’re like all the other SO…unable to have even the basics to take care of them selves. They look like they have all slept in their clothes. No starched ironed and ship shape looking uniforms. Just rumpled tired looking people pretending to be a ‘navy’ while being applauded by more faux ‘navy’ members. Important people only in their own minds.
Somewhat off topic but I have the special coronation issue of HELLO magazine. As I was thumbing through it I noticed that at the coronation party held that evening Tom Cruise did a flyover in one of his airplanes. And he said to King Charles “Your Majesty, you can be my wingman any time!”
My first thought was “WTF?”
That’s it? No attempt at dissemination? No attempt to get the King and Queen of Great Britain on and up the Bridge?
Shame on you, Tom! An airplane? You should have been down on that stage belting out “Get On The Road To Freedom!”. You should have made recent trips to Clarence House to get Their Majesties routed onto services! After all, the king has cancer and, according to you, only LRH tech can cure illnesses. Why didn’t you offer Their Majesties touch assists? Ooooooooooooh! I’m willing to bet that your main bro David Miscavige ripped you a new one when you got back! Why do you think he gave you that overpriced and oversized medal a few years back? Shame on you, Tom Cruise! You went to the coronation of King Charles III AND YOU DIDN’T DISSEMINATE LIKE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO!
Then again, for the House of Windsor, that might be a good thing.
The COS will never give up their status symbol. The Freewinds is their groovy luxury car, sans the Corinthian leather. And let’s face it, DM has plenty of money to burn to keep those engines fired up.
Chris sez: “…DM has plenty of money to burn to keep those engines fired up.”
This is probably true, but if Mr. COB RTC Capt’n David ‘Fleet Admiral’ Miscavige were to have to cough up the dough to keep the Freewinds sailing, that would be OUT EXCHANGE!!! Whales would be regged within an inch of their bank accounts before the good capt’n chipped in one thin dime.
They need the (or a) ship simply to keep the whole naval cosplay and Seaorg mythos in play.
I’m sure the Freewinds is even now less decrepit than any of the three in fatty’s original fleet.
The Apollo and Avon River were shitty in their best years. The Diana once refurbished was a nice ocean going yacht. The Freewinds blows them all out of the water. It’s nicely refurbished old cruise ship that was once a lower/mid level cruise ship. These days it is worth only its scrap value.
Thanks for your reply.
I still think their, and the seaorg, mythos etc. requires that they have at least one or two working ships.
They have bottom-less coffers for investing in very expensive empty buildings, so why not a ship or two?
I was only an Army guy but I got the impression that LRH was a lousy naval officer.
Yes he was. Read Chris Owen’s excellent Ron the War Hero
True.
However, he was a great con-artist for the easily duped.
Moulton, U.S.N. 2IC to Hubbard (by choice), seems to have supported him to the end.
It’s a little like the SF world. Only the long-lived and late great Jack Williamson (who was still writing great stories into his 80s) really stated that he saw through Ron.
Van Vogt, Heinlein, etc., never did. Van Vogt, IIRC, even wrote a cover blurb for Battlefield Earth, though he later stated that he”d never read it.
The attraction for Campbell was obvious. He had an editorial policy of preferring stories of psychic superheroes.
Hubbard crafted Dianetics to promise exactly that.
Campbell had clearly seen through Hubbard’s facade when he withdrew his support for Dianetics, but was too embarrassed by his earlier support to ever really denounce Hubbard.
I like how the article is vague about the exact location of the Freewinds and the dry dock. You can bet if the boat was in Clearwater there would have been photos.
Usually dry docks in Curacao
Failure is his name, his game, his shame, and…in the real world outside of Hubbard wankerspeak, thetanic slavery, asset-hoovering, and intergalactic pimping…his FAME!
WELL DONE, Captain Raving McSavage!
Mark, your words sing.
Mike, ditto – SNOTS. How did I never notice this. Day made!
I have never been aboard the Freewinds or anywhere near it but when I was on staff in Nashville there were org public who were going there and everyone would just gush about it. Oh, you’re going on the ship! That is so theta (or awesome or any number of upstat sounding adjectives). I watched videos on the org FART monitor about ‘the ship’ and always came away with the impression ‘so what?’
So, Freewinds crew members have moved to Flag. Wonder what lies they told to US Consular and Immigration officers during the process. “oh, we are all going to Florida on a much deserved vacation as a reward for highest ever production”? It worked back in 1975 when everyone moved to Florida from the Apollo; so why not just do it again. Lies that will make one permanently excludable from the US if caught.
Disgusting, despicable, criminal cult.
My theory is that with well over 10,000 SNOTs created, there is now enough free theta in this sector of the gul-ax-ee to make it safe for the delivery of the fabulous first real OT level, OT VIII, at the Flag Land Base. What this means is that the Freewinds can safely move off the crossroads of the world and deliver its precious cargo of advanced thetans to the front porch of eternity at the Mecca of Technical perfection, the Flag Land Base. More consolidation and downsizing will send the most important stats (GI) thru the roof. Flag will probably be able to lure in a few 2Ds for a $500 wedding package instead of the very expensive $750 the Freewinds was forced to charge. This will leave the happy couple an extra $250 to donate to the IAS war chest to fight suppression on this planet.
Indeed, this sums up the “everybody-gets-fucked-but-me(Hubbard/McSavage)” ethos of “mankind’s only hope”.
Hip, slip, shit spray!
Selling pieces of blue sky for 70 years! Go Scientology Satans, er, Thetans!😎
Thanks for the laughs, Ms. B Haven 🙂