Freewinds Maiden Voyage

The 18th anniversary of the Maiden Voyage of the Freewinds just took place. Each year this is celebrated by a very special cruise where Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center brief's Scientologists on news of the expansion of Scientology.

It is a very special summit of some of the most active and dedicated Scientologists in the world. They come here from their churches -- from churches in the US such as the Church of Scientology of Tampa and the Church of Scientology of San Diego, and from as far afield as Russia, South Africa and and Australia.

Afterwards, DVD recordings of the events are shown to all Scientologists in their own churches.

This coming weekend, July 1st, will be the first of the Maiden Voyage events at the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles and it will be shown in other Scientology churches the following weekend.

I always find Mr. Miscavige's presentations to be very inspirational and I'm really looking forward to going.

A FREEWINDS' Article

An interesting article about the Freewinds in the Barbados Advocate

"The Business and Professional Women (BPW) Barbados, held their annual candlelight ceremony on Thursday, April 6, honouring the countless contributions of their membership across the globe in one of the largest women's groups on the planet. ...

"On board the MV Freewinds in the Bridgetown Port, several members of the diplomatic corps. including American Ambassador Mary Kramer, Cuban Ambassador, Jose Portela and featured speaker, Her Excellency, Corina Russian, Venezuelan Ambassador to Barbados, to name a few, gathered for this event of international magnitude. "

DAVID MISCAVIGE - GUEST SPEAKER ON THE FREEWINDS

The Freewinds hosts many events throughout any given year - it has become a popular spot for both Scientology and public events with guest flying in from all over the world.

At least once a year Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology is guest speaker at Scientology events held on the Freewinds. The topics Mr. Miscavige speaks about cover Scientology expansion news, Scientology Volunteer Minister activities, progress being made in the Church's human rights campaigns, and many other subjects embracing the Scientology religion's influence in society.

In the five decades since the establishment of the first Church of Scientology in 1954, Scientology has become an integral part of this culture. Throughout the world the Scientology religion has steadily expanded in the last 50 years, from one church to 3,700 churches, missions and groups in 156 countries, serving millions of parishioners in 54 languages.

Mr. David Miscavige has also been guest speaker at many grand openings of Churches of Scientology around the world, and the Freewinds' staff is always honored to have him aboard.

The Free Winds Band

Here's an excerpt from a terrific article.

Freewinds Band being making a number of free concerts in St. Kitts on the cruise ship "Freewinds" and at different location here on the island. It being going on for four weeks long and shows been going great.
The Free Winds Band has performed for 100s of thousands of people all across the Caribbean. They have performed with such stars as Chick Corea, Edgar Winter, Maxine Nightingale, John Novello, Billy Sheehan, Mark Isham, David Pomeranz, David Campbell, Amanda Miguel, Diego Verdaguer, Felipe Gil, Johnny La Boreal, an many other International celebrities and local favorites from all over the Caribbean.

They have appeared internationally on TV and Radio and one of their live recordings was one of the top requested songs of the year on the island of Aruba. In recent years they opened for Oleta Adams at the St. Vincent Blues Festival. They have performed countless charity and benefit concerts for groups such as the Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions clubs as well as the Red Cross and various youth, sports and social betterment organizations, as well as giving countless free outdoor concerts and performing at dozens
of local schools. >> more

More information on many of these entertainers can also be found on the web site of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre

Freewinds Conferences and Volunteer Work

I may have mentioned that the "Freewinds" motor vessel is also used as a venue for many conferences and seminars throughout the year.

These events are very focused on enlightenment and inspiring people to go out and help their fellows. Everything from drug education to human rights and more recently the hot topic of concern has been the Hurricanes down in the South. Hundreds of Scientology Volunteer Ministers were activated and on the scene.



Conferences such as those held on the Freewinds give Scientologists the opportunity to meet with others who also want to participate in activities that are going to help their fellows in society.

LIBRARY BENEFIT ABOARD THE FREEWINDS

The International School of Aruba held a Libary Benefit Evening aboard the motor vessel Freewinds. This web site mainly has photos of the evening's activities, showing many of the people that contributed to this successful event.

How Jazzy can a Boat get.

Aboard the Freewinds, all sorts of entertainment is hosted.
One of the favorites is Jazz. There are photos here of the festival held on the ship and people just enjoying themselves immensely.



And here is another gorgeous photo of the Freewinds at Sunset.

Now for you Russian folks, there is a Russian web site about the Freewinds and also this great page of photos

This site has a mention of the Freewinds but covers numerous subject.

"Freewinds" Virtual Tour

You may not make it to the Caribbean any time soon and the chances of you being at the same port of call as her may be limited. Therefore, so that you can still have a tour and see this beautiful vessel, the "Freewinds" has provided a virtual tour for you to see it from exactly where you are. So here is the virtual tour of the motor vessel "Freewinds"




And here is some more information.

The "Freewinds" frequents many different ports in the Carribean:

Freewinds Schedule for Bonaire

Bridgetown Cruises: Freewinds Schedule

"Freewinds" - Ship Facts

Cruise Ship Schedules for 2004 with a gorgeous photo of the "Freewinds"

The Freewinds and the Scientology Religion

The "Freewinds" motor vessel, while providing numerous community services to the local Carribean islands, is a religious retreat for members of the Scientology Religion.

It provides a haven to get away from day to day problems and be in an environment where one can concentrate on one's spiritual progress. Delivering the Scientology spiritual counseling to those who seek a higher awareness of themselves and their abilities.

The Freewinds is refered to by Scientologists as the Flag Ship Service Organization

This motor vessel is kept in excellent condition as she sails to and from her home port of Curacao and more photos of the Freewinds can be seen here. Other ports she takes her passengers to are beautiful Bonaire and Barbados.

"FREEWINDS" PORTS OF CALL

The "Freewinds" travels around the Netherlands Antilles islands visiting many of them on a frequent basis. Their home port of Curacao is of course a favorite, but there are many other locations they stop in at. Here are some cool sites that show the different places.


CURACAO:

Curacao

Jazz Activity

BONAIRE:

Bonaire Cruises

BARBADOS:

Anniversary Cruise

Nation News

Freewinds Schedule

A New Article on the Freewinds

Hot off the press is this very informative article about the "Freewinds" community activities.

To quote just a paragraph from the article, as it may disappear (some Internet news articles only stay up a day or two) from nationnews.com:

"FOR 15 YEARS the MV Freewinds has helped local charities and exposed schoolchildren to the world of the sea, and on Sunday, officials of the cruise liner will stage a boat parade and musical extravaganza near the Flour Mill, at 2 p.m."

The Assistant marketing manager of Barbados Port Inc., Freida Nicholls, is mentioned in the article and mentions that the cruise liner "Freewinds" was part of the educational outreach programme.

The "Freewinds" in 2003 had approximately 1,000 school children visit to help educate them on life at sea.

In the hopes that this story stays up:

Nationnews Article on the Freewinds

I just found some other cool articles as well, one might be a duplicate, but they are interesting.

Pomp, Pageantry Marks Freewinds Celebrations

Freewinds to Host Concert

Introduction to the "Freewinds"

I mentioned the Freewinds in some of my other web logs, however, I decided that this beautiful vessel is worthy of a blog of her own. So here is some basic information and I will update this as I have interesting news and stories for you.

The Motor Vessel "Freewinds:"

Freewinds

The Freewinds, operates out of her home port in the Caribbean, away from the crossroads of the world, offers Scientologists the highest levels of spiritual advancement.

The Freewinds serves as an international meeting place, holding religious conventions and seminars for Scientology staff and parishioners.

This motor vessel also serves as host to many local activities, concerts, meetings and numerous community shows.

Here's a few links showing this:

Freewinds Jazz

Freewinds Jazz Concert

Freewinds Curacao Jazz