The deck of The Rainbow Warrior (III)

Standing on the deck of the Rainbow Warrior is probably on my bucket list. (That would be if I’d written one. )

Yet here they are. My feet. On that deck.

Greenpeace lost the first vessel of this name in 1985. She was blown up in Auckland harbour in a vain attempt to dissuade the protesters from drawing international attention to French nuclear weapons testing in the South Pacific.

When the first Rainbow warrior was sunk it drew international attention to the French nuclear weapons testing in the South Pacific. Funny that!

That was almost thirty years ago.

I was still at school.

On board a photographer lost his life. Fernando Peirera. He was a thirty five year old Dutch national of Portuguese origin.

Rainbow Warrior the second was retired in August 2011 to serve as a hospital ship in Bangladesh for another NGO named Friendship.

Rainbow Warrior III continues the struggle against negative environmental practice across the world. She and her sister ships patrol tirelessly. They bring attention to ongoing and new struggles.

They are unpopular among big business and global industry. This weekend Dutch residents crowded into Amsterdam for a chance to be welcomed aboard.

The trip was free.

Hundreds came.

We stood on that deck and in the bridge. We learned about the work they do.

I looked skywards and had a thought. I pictured myself sitting on a beach with a dinner fork trying to fill a hole, in the shadow of a massive digger waiting to excavate again.

Brave, possibly foolish, volunteers do the same. They chain themselves to things and cause disruption without violence. The international crew help gain support across the globe as governments negotiate for their release.

It’s a glimmer of hope that people can group together in a common cause. They go to see in search if something they can believe in. Salvation for our planet.