by Gerry Condon
The historic anti-nuclear sailboat Golden Rule is being prepared for an epic voyage throughout the Midwestern, Southern and Eastern U.S. In September the 34-foot wooden ketch will be transported by truck-and-trailer from San Francisco Bay to Minneapolis, from where she shall sail down the Mississippi, along the Gulf Coast, around Florida and up the intercoastal waterway to the northeast, and back to the Midwest. It will take the Golden Rule one-and-a-half years to make this circuit, famously known in the sailing community as the “Great Loop.”
“We will have events in 28 big cities and 68 smaller towns along the way,” said Golden Rule Project Manager Helen Jaccard. Lots of people are volunteering, as organizers and crew. People are excited to host the Golden Rule peace boat and to spread her message of nuclear disarmament, peace and sustainability.”
The Golden Rule is spreading the word about the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and building support for local initiatives to press the US government to join the growing number of countries who have signed and ratified the Treaty.
The terrible war in Ukraine has been a shocking setback for peace-loving people. But it is also bringing into focus the very real possibility of nuclear war. “Now is the right time – a very urgent moment, in fact – to re-double our outreach and all our efforts for nuclear disarmament,” said Helen Jaccard.
The Golden Rule and its intrepid captains and volunteer crews radiate the moral and physical courage of its original 4-man crew, who in 1958 attempted to sail into the U.S. nuclear test zone in the Marshall Islands. The boat was re-discovered in Humboldt Bay in 2010, and restored by Veterans For Peace and friends, a process that took five years and thousands of volunteer hours of loving labor. She “splashed down” in June 2015 and has been sailing for peace and disarmament ever since, including up and down the west coast and nearly two years in Hawai’i.
The Golden Rule recently returned to San Francisco Bay, after visiting San Diego, where Veterans For Peace organized many events, and Ensenada, where she went sailing with members of VFP’s Deported Veterans chapter.
“There is lots of excitement about the next phase of the storied history of the Golden Rule,” said Helen Jaccard, who manages and crews the wooden sailboat. “This is a positive-energy communal effort – just what we need at this time.” View the sailing schedule of the Golden Rule’s epic voyage around the Great Loop, or volunteer as an organizer or crew.
