Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

get the ship next time she arrived in Madeira. I sent telexes to LRH warning him what was
happening and advising him not come to Madeira until things had calmed down. I was absolutely
shocked to see the ship come into the harbor.'
The Apollo arrived in Funchal on 7 October and moored in her usual berth. Emissaries were sent
ashore to advertize a 'rock festival' to be held at the weekend, featuring the Apollo Stars. Late on the
afternoon of Wednesday, 9 October, while Mary Sue and several members of the crew were
ashore, a small crowd of young men began to gather on the quayside. By the way they were
glowering and gesticulating at the ship, it was obvious to those on board that this was not a social
call. Soon the crowd, which was growing all the time, began chanting 'C-I-A, C-I-A, C-I-A.'
Nervous Scientologists lining the rails of the ship tried chanting 'CIA' back at the crowd, but it did
nothing to lower the tension. Then the first stone clanged against the Apollo's hull and a bottle
smashed on the fore deck. More stones and bottles followed as the crowd's anger spread. The
crew scattered to take shelter and began picking up the stones from the deck and throwing them
back into the crowd. In a matter of moments it became a pitched battle.
Hubbard, who was watching what was going on from the bridge, got out a bullhorn and boomed
'Communista, Communista' at the crowd. Then he began taking photographs of the stone-throwers
with a flash unit, further inflaming their tempers. Several of the crew were hit by flying stones,
including Kima Douglas, whose jaw was broken by a large lump of rock that hit her full in the face.
On the quayside, one of the crowd opened his trousers, waggled his penis and took a direct hit with
a well-aimed stone from the ship.
With stones and sticks and bottles flying in all directions, there was total confusion on board the
Apollo. Some crew members would later describe the Commodore as being perfectly cool through
the whole incident, others said he appeared to be terrified. Whatever his state, no one was taking
charge and everyone was screaming orders. In one part of the ship someone was trying to get
together a party to repel boarders; in another, the sea hoses were being run out and trained on the
crowd in an attempt to persuade them to disperse.
Any remaining vestige of control among the rabble-rousers vanished when the ship turned its
hoses on them. On the quayside there were several motor-cycles belonging to members of the
crew and two of the ship's cars - a Mini and a Fiat. All the motor-cycles were hurled into the harbour,
then both cars were pushed over the edge of the quay, hitting the water with an enormous splash
and quickly disappearing under the surface. Meanwhile, others in the crowd slipped the Apollo's
mooring-lines from the bollards and she began to drift away from the quayside.
At this point, the Portuguese authorities belatedly appeared on the scene to restore order. Armed
militia were put on board to provide protection, a pilot assisted with anchoring the ship in the
harbour and a launch rescued those members of the crew who had been stranded ashore,
including Mary Sue. The police demanded the film that Hubbard had been taking during the riot and
the Commodore, mighty pleased with himself, dutifully handed over two rolls of unexposed film
from cameras he had not been using. It was nightfall before the decks had been cleared of the
broken glass and rubble.
Since it rather appeared as if the people of Madeira were no longer interested in a rock concert
featuring the Apollo Stars, the ship sailed next day, leaving information with the harbour authorities
in Funchal that she was heading for the Cape Verde Islands, 1500 miles to the south. She
departed on a purposeful southerly course until she was out of sight. She then turned west, equally
purposefully, prompting the crew to speculate with mounting excitement that the Commodore had