Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

well trained and the ship sufficiently spruce to qualify for upgrading; until then, the Royal Scotman
would remain in 'liability'.
So it was that Spanish fishermen working their nets off the coast of Valencia were treated to an
unforgettable spectacle over the next few weeks - a large passenger ship cruising offshore with a
band of dirty grey tarpaulins knotted around her funnel. Had the fishermen been allowed on board,
they would have been even more surprised to see that all the crew, including the diminutive lady
Captain, wore grey rags tied to their left arms. It was even said, although perhaps in jest, that Mary
Sue's pet corgi, Vixie, was obliged to sport a grey rag tied to her collar.
Hubbard remained on the Avon River and sailed south to Alicante, where the students who had
been on the Royal Scotman were now accommodated in a 'land base', a hotel. His plan to pay
them a visit was thwarted by the untimely discovery that the Avon River was too big to enter the
harbour. For a while he seemed at a loss to know what to do, but after studying a chart he decided
that they should go to Marseilles, the second largest city in France and her chief Mediterranean
port. As always, no one dared ask why they were going where they were going.
Sailing north, the Avon River came across the unhappy Royal Scotman apparently anchored for the
night, still with her grey rag round the funnel. Hubbard ordered his ship to manoeuvre within hailing
distance and bellowed into a bullhorn, 'Well, well, here's a ship in liability that thinks it can anchor
for the night, taking it easy.' Mary Sue's voice came drifting back across the water, but the crew of
the trawler could not hear what she was saving. 'It might be better training to keep your ship moving
at night,' Hubbard boomed, 'or are you scared to keep going in the dark?' Mary Sue's reply
remained unintelligible, although it seemed somewhat heated to Hana Eltringham, who was on
the bridge with Hubbard.
Friends who were on the 'liability cruise' told Hana later that the conditions on board were
appalling. The crew worked to the point of exhaustion, the food was meagre and no one was
allowed to wash or change their clothes. Mary Sue enforced the rules rigidly but shared the
privations, and was scrupulously fair and popular.
In Marseilles, Hubbard moved into a rented villa on shore while the engine of the Avon River was
overhauled. A telex was installed in the villa so that he could stay in touch with Saint Hill, from
where the news was of increasingly vociferous opposition to Scientology from both press and
public. Hubbard was warned that more questions were expected in Parliament about their
activities.
At the beginning of June a radio message arrived from Mary Sue to say that the Royal Scotman was
ready for reassessment. Her husband graciously agreed to up-grade the ship to the next level -
'non-existence' - and gave his permission for her to sail to Marseilles for his inspection, after which
he would decide if she could resume operations unhindered by the stigma of a lower condition.
The Royal Scotman arrived in the harbour at Marseilles looking better than she had at any time
since going into service for the Sea Org - she had been painted white from stem to stern, her
brasswork was gleaming and the entire crew bad been fitted out with smart new uniforms.
Hubbard was all smiles, presided over a ceremony to remove all lower conditions and promptly
moved back into his cabin on board. A few days later the Royal Scotman sailed for Melilla in
Spanish Morocco, eight hundred miles distant. No one knew why.
The Commodore's sunny disposition was not to endure. The Avon River was stranded in
Marseilles harbour by a general strike in France which had paralyzed the country and brought repair
work on the ship's engines to a halt. Hubbard began sending messages from the Royal Scotman