It was 7:30 a.m. Nov. 4, a misty morning on Vancouver Landing, west of the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay. Twenty of us quietly watched as the crew of the Rainbow Warrior, one of the ships in the Greenpeace fleet, readied for departure. Crew members chatted with bystanders offering thanks and well wishes for safe passage, even as we knew the crew from a sister ship were jailed in Russia for disrupting a Russian attempt at oil drilling in the Arctic Sea.
As this $20 million Mother Earth protector glided away under overcast skies, we watched until we could no longer see her twin A-frame masts scrape the leaden sky. I wiped away a tear and pondered the importance of this Netherlands-registered ship and international crew. She’s an antidote to endlessly exploited earth, air and water. She represents hope in a world of endless fracking, government sellouts and climate change.
Godspeed, Rainbow Warrior. Thank you. Thank you.
Pat Freiberg
Vancouver
