by Gerry Condon
Have you heard about the Golden Rule anti-nuclear sailboat? If not, you will probably hear about her soon. She could be sailing to a harbor near you.
Some people remember all the way back to 1958, when this 34-ft. ketch was sailed across the ocean, from Los Angeles to Honolulu by four Quaker peace activists, one of whom, Albert Bigelow, was a retired World War II Navy Captain. The intention of these brave souls was to sail on to the Marshall Islands, where they would physically interfere with U.S. nuclear bomb testing – the U.S. had already dropped 64 nuclear bombs on the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. government had its own intentions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a new rule – that it would henceforth be illegal to sail into the huge U.S. nuclear test zone in the Pacific. Twice the U.S. Coast Guard stopped the Golden Rule from leaving Hawaii and heading for the Marshall Islands. The crew were thrown in jail for 60 days, where one of them, Jim Peck, contracted tuberculosis.
Captain Albert Bigelow wrote a brilliant book about this whole grand adventure, titled, The Voyage of the Golden Rule – an Experiment with Truth, in which he details everything about the boat, the sailing, the crew, their commitment, their time in court and their time in jail. Very much worth reading.
Amazingly, a very special U.S. family were on their sailboat Ala Wai harbor in Honolulu at the same time, not far from the Golden Rule. The father, Dr. Earle Reynolds, was an anthropologist who had studied the effects of radiation on young children in Hiroshima, for the U.S. government. His research was classified so high that even he was not allowed to see it.
The family, including two teenagers and a Japanese crewman, decided they would sail their boat, the 50-foot ketch Phoenix of Hiroshima, into the Marshall Islands test zone. After several weeks at sea, they succeeded in doing so. Reynolds was then arrested and put on trial in Honolulu for the next two years.
Taken together, these highly publicized developments succeeded in focusing the world’s attention on the big problem of nuclear bomb radiation that was floating all over the globe. Strontium-90 was getting into mothers’ milk. Dr. Spock was speaking out. Growing public awareness and alarm helped build support for the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1963 by President Kennedy and the leaders of the UK and USSR. The Treaty banned nuclear bomb testing in the air, in water, or in space (but allowed it to continue underground).
Fast Forward 52 years from 1958
It is 2010 in Humboldt Bay on the rugged, Redwood shores of Northern California. A derelict boat has just sunk in a gale. A boatyard owner pulls it out of the water and wants to make a bonfire with the wreck. He invites you to share some whiskey while it burns. You want to find out more about the boat. Wow! This is the boat that inspired Greenpeace to acquire its very first boat, which they sailed into a U.S. nuclear test zone in Alaskan waters in 1971.
When Veterans For Peace chapters in Humboldt Bay and nearby Mendocino County found out about the heritage of this historic sailboat, they dedicated themselves to restoring the boat to its previous beauty and function. Thus began the five-year effort of a very committed band of volunteers – veterans, Quakers, boat lovers and others. Garberville VFP member Fredy Champagne championed the effort to National Veterans For Peace and others. Humboldt Bay VFP member Chuck DeWitt worked on the boat virtually every day for five years, and coordinated the efforts of many volunteer in this labor of love.
Original Anti-Nuclear Mission Revived
Veterans For Peace has also restored the anti-nuclear mission of the Golden Rule. Since June 2015, the Golden Rule has been sailing for a nuclear-free world, up and down the west coasts of Washington, Oregon and California, as well as Baja California and British Columbia.
“Goldie,” as she is affectionately known by family, is currently in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Four brave and skilled crew sailed her from San Diego to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii in July 2019. Our intention was to sail her from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands, the destination of the original crew in 1958. But Covid-19 made that impossible. Plans to sail to Guam, Okinawa and Japan were also scrapped. Instead the Golden Rule is going home to the United States.
Many of our native Hawaiian friends do not consider Hawaii to be part of the United States. That was only one of many things we learned when we were in Hawaii. We also learned that U.S. military installations throughout Hawaii are causing great harm to the natural environment as well as to native Hawaiian culture. The sacred island of Kaho’olawe is off limits after the U.S. bombed it to smithereens and littered it with unexploded ordinance. The U.S. military continues to bomb at Pohakuloa on the Big Island, close to the sacred mountain of Mauna Kea. Other Pacific Islands like Guam and Okinawa also suffer the destruction and indignities of U.S. military occupation.
These essential truths learned in Hawaii will now always be part of Golden Rule presentations everywhere. The struggle for peace and disarmament go hand-in-hand with the struggle for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and healthy, sustainable environments.
Uranium Mines Poison Indigenous Peoples
“We often talk about the entire ‘nuclear chain,’” says Helen Jaccard, Golden Rule Project Manager. “That includes uranium mining. More than 10,000 abandoned-but-not-cleaned-up uranium mines continue to poison the land, water and air with deadly radiation.”
Guess where all this poisoning is taking place? On indigenous lands, mostly in the western U.S. From the Marshall Islands to Hawaii to Native Americans – indigenous peoples are suffering because of the U.S. policy of nuclear domination.
The Golden Rule Celebrates Nuclear Ban Treaty!
The Golden Rule, a national project of Veterans For Peace, has been promoting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) ever since July 2017, when it was approved by the UN General Assembly. The Project played a role in getting the City and County of Honolulu to pass a resolution in favor of the Treaty. In the same Resolution, they welcomed the Golden Rule to Hawaii.
Veterans For Peace and the Golden Rule Project are members of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for successfully guiding the Nuclear Ban Treaty through the United Nations. The Golden Rule team has been celebrating, and helping spread the word – the Treaty goes into force on January 22, 2021.
Aloha and Mahalo, Hawaii!
While in Hawaii, the Golden Rule and her crew visited all the islands, giving over 100 presentations, and garnering considerable media coverage, including large color photos on the front pages of newspapers.
The Golden Rule and her crew had also received excellent media coverage when we traveled to harbors up and down the west coast of the U.S. Everybody, including the media, loves the graceful sailboat with her red sails emblazoned in white with the Veterans For Peace logo and a large peace sign. (The “peace sign” came originally from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the UK).
After five years of sailing Golden Rule on the west coast and in the Hawaii islands, Veterans For Peace and the Golden Rule Committee have decided to continue the mission as envisioned by the dedicated volunteers who rebuilt the boat. We will sail all throughout the navigable waterways of the U.S. with a message of nuclear disarmament and peace.
Golden Rule to Sail Throughout United States
The Golden Rule will sail back (or possibly be shipped back) from Honolulu to San Francisco Bay, in April or May. The boat will remain in SF Bay and northern California until November/December, when she will be put on a truck and driven to Corpus Christi, Texas. From Texas, she and her intrepid crew will begin to sail the “Great Loop,” along the Gulf of Mexico, up the Intracoastal Waterway, to all the great cities of the northeast, through the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi. This will take place all throughout 2022 – Gulf Coast in the Winter, Up the Intracoastal Waterway in the Spring, Northeastern U.S. in the Summer, back down the Mississippi in the Fall.
This is a very exciting development for the Golden Rule family,” said Helen Jaccard. Our itinerary will include many major cities – and some smaller harbors too. We will reach more people than ever before. So we are looking for partner organizations and volunteer organizers to help us make the most of our opportunities.
Historic Anti-Nuclear Sailboat Seeks Partners
“We will be talking to many potential partners, from peace and disarmament circles to climate justice activists, to indigenous activists and other leaders of color,” said Helen Jaccard. “We want to talk to as many interested folks as possible while we are putting together our schedule for the ‘Big Loop’ in 2022. People who want to organize events – whether small or large. People who want the Golden Rule to visit their town. Can you help us make the connections to your local struggles?”
The nuclear disarmament movement and the broader peace movement will be joining together in coalitions with those who are fighting for human rights, and for environmental and economic justice. We have a much better chance of winning if we are all winning together. Smoother sailing too!
The amazing Golden Rule peace boat has a unique and joyful way of bringing a message of peace, unity and solidarity. Please get in touch with the Golden Rule team and see how you can help. Our contact info is below.
The Golden Rule is sailing for a nuclear-free world
and a peaceful, sustainable future!
Gerry Condon serves as president of the Golden Rule Committee, which manages the day-to-day operations of the Golden Rule. He is a former president of Veterans For Peace, and he serves on the Administrative Committee of United For Peace and Justice.
Contact:
Helen Jaccard
Golden Rule Project Manager
email: vfpgoldenruleproject@gmail.com
phone: 206-992-6364
website: www.vfpgoldenrule.org
Facebook: VFP Golden Rule Project
