Sean Paton our environmental super sleuth has produced a new documentary on the return of the Freewinds. It’s not good news. Freewinds is a very old cruise ship used by the Church of Scientology. They have done some cool things for the locals. They have great concerts and once hosted our skipper’s meeting for one regatta in 2001. They take gear between the islands during our windsurf events and have a very nice crew. On the bad side, they contribute to the pollution of our island. See for yourself:
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Travel Bliss 
July 23, 2009 at 3:02 pm |
Wow, unbelievable! Having just been on Bonaire for the 1st time, my wife & I were appalled at the condition of the environment and the trash that is strewn all over the outlying areas and on the shores of the island.
It is hard to believe that any organization, much less one like the Scientologists (a sham no doubt) that claims to be faith based and religious would have the audacity to conduct what amounts to an environmental crime like this.
July 23, 2009 at 3:13 pm |
Thanks for your comments Charles. There is indeed a bit of a trash issue but having lived and worked in other islands from an eco standpoint our island is vastly ahead of it’s Caribbean neighbors. We have some work to do for sure. It’s frustrating to have Freewinds back considering the damage posed to our already fragile environment. On another note would love your trip report. I came to see you a few times but happily found you off property. Thanks for your business.
July 23, 2009 at 3:56 pm |
Having no experience w/other Caribbean islands we were surprised. However, we heard the same thing r.e., the condition of Bonaire comparatively speaking, from folks we met on the island who have visited several other islands…
Sorry we missed you. We were always chillin’ somewhere… It’s all good & we had a great time. We needed another week for sure… I could have really nailed my carving jibe…
Miriam & the KonTiki folks were excellent. Thanks to Yanika, Tim, John, Otto, Salvatore (who makes the best cappuccino in the world!), Sandra & others. If you get the chance have Otto make you a Black & Blue (double blue) Filet! It was the BOMB! I told him the American’s would go for it & that he should add it to the menu… He’d never heard of it before. BTW, Black & Blue is seared on the outside, very rare on the inside. Yum!
DJ & the crew @ Jibe City were great as well… great service! Got to meet & know Caesar. Actually took a lesson from him. He’s a great teacher. Of course, his flow style is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. He does things on a board that you’d never think possible. Winds were reasonable with a couple outstanding sessions. Did some snorkeling on the reefs and got the suntan of a lifetime!
Had some great meals in particular, Casablanca – the seafood platter was unbelievable & huge! Cactus Blue. Hagen is quite entertaining & a very accomplished chef. Mookie made sure the entire restaurant knew that there “was love in the house” and serenaded Karen & I with It’s a wonderful world (Louis Armstrong) in honor of our anniversary. Bobby Jan’s BBQ was finger lickin’ good. We loved the peanut sauce!
We were cautioned that it would be expensive when we got to the island. Completely false! Bonaire is quite reasonable from our vantage point! It wasn’t cheap but, Bonaire isn’t Mexico! The locals were very friendly and we had no issues whatsoever.
Next time we will certainly do some scuba diving. We really feel that we missed out there. Like I said, we needed more time.
All in all, it was a great trip & I’m already thinking about our next visit…
July 24, 2009 at 1:24 am |
Ammonia is used in several areas of water and wastewater treatment, such as pH control, in solution form to regenerate weak anion exchange resins, in conjunction with chlorine to produce potable water and as an oxygen scavenger in boiler water treatment.
It’s very sad to see it’s being dumped into Bonaire open pits.
July 24, 2009 at 7:42 am |
They ignored the blue asbestos on their ship for 20 years, not letting a single soul who sailed on the ship know about it. It took port authorities to discover it in order to seal the ship. The people who knew about the asbestos apparently thought that it was not harmful because L. Ron Hubbard never wrote about it.
However, when it comes to the health and well-being of others, they aren’t the least bit concerned. So it’s no surprise that they returned to Bonaire to dump their environmentally-damaging material onto the island, even after promising not to.
Keep pounding this situation, and they will be forced to act based on public relations. Trust me, they only act when the recognizable media puts pressure on them. However, they will probably go back to the same shenanigans if you forgive and forget. That’s just their way… if you are not with them, you are not relevant.
July 24, 2009 at 7:34 pm |
Good luck combatting the cult of scientology on this problem. They believe they are higher beings responsible for the planet, so they feel anything they do is justified. Normal, decent people might believe them if they say they will stop polluting, but they will do whatever they want no matter what they say. Money and power is all they understand.