The storied Golden Rule anti-nuclear sailboat will arrive in Annapolis late on Monday, April 24th, kicking off a series of local events to raise awareness about the growing danger of nuclear war and to build support for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The 34-foot wooden ketch is sailing on a 15-month voyage around the “Great Loop” of the central, southern, and eastern United States, making 100 ports of call.
The Golden Rule is a national project of Veterans For Peace, which owns the boat. Local organizers are Annapolis Friends Meeting, Anne Arundel Peace Action, and the Backbone Campaign.
From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. tested 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, displaced the indigenous inhabitants and spread radiation around the globe. In 1958, four Quaker peace activists tried to sail the Golden Rule to the Marshall Islands to block the tests. The crew was arrested and this sparked worldwide awareness of the dangers of radiation, then even being found in mother’s milk. In 1963, President Kennedy, with leaders of the UK and the USSR, signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, that banned nuclear tests in the air, the water, or space.
In 2010 the derelict Golden Rule sank in northern California’s Humboldt Bay. Since then–as dangers of nuclear war again are rising – the boat has been lovingly restored by members of Veterans For Peace, Quakers and wooden boat lovers. Her original mission also has been restored – to Sail for a Nuclear-Free World and a Peaceful, Sustainable Future. Since 2015, the Golden Rule has plied the waters from Hawaii to Canada, around various U.S. ports to Cuba, and now up the East Coast.
Scheduled activities for the public:
Official welcome ceremony at Annapolis Yacht Basin, 2 Compromise St., Annapolis, Md. on Tues., 4/25/23 from 11 am to 11:30 am: The Golden Rule will be welcomed by Mayor Gavin Buckley, County Executive Steuart Pittman, and State Senator Sarah Elfreth.
Presentation at First Presbyterian Church, 171 Duke of Gloucester Street, on Wed., 4/26/23, from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.: Come and learn about the historic 1958 mission of the Golden Rule to disrupt nuclear weapons tests, alert the public to radiation dangers, and which lead to the first test-ban treaties. The urgent need for renewed treaties also will be discussed in light of current Russian, Chinese, North Korean & Iranian nuclear tensions.
The public is invited to visit this historic peace boat, to hear about nuclear issues today, and to learn how to stop the possibility of nuclear war! Please see vfpgoldenruleproject.org for a schedule for boat visits.
Groups can schedule an educational presentation by contacting the Golden Rule Project Manager, Helen Jaccard, at [email protected] or 206-992-6364.
For more information about the Golden Rule Project and its Great Loop Voyage, please see the website, vfpgoldenrule.org
