World-famous Sailboat Named 'Golden Rule' Will Dock in Friday Harbor Late August - Boat has History with Terry Lush Family

Testing of a nuclear bomb in the atmosphere in 1952.

Terry Lush’s father purchased the sailboat Golden Rule, not knowing it was a world-famous ship that helped change Cold War nuclear testing policy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. After the Lush family sold the boat in 1985, it ultimately returned to its original purpose: protesting nuclear weapons, militarization, and war.

CNL2 VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

NOTE TO READERS: This article is easiest to read if you turn your smartphone or tablet sideways.

When Ed Lush, Terry Lush’s father, bought a 12-year-old 30-foot sailboat in San Pedro, California in 1970, the elder Lush had no idea of its storied past. Terry has fond memories of his family sailing her through in the Caribbean and many other destinations. It was named Golden Rule when Ed Lush took title, and he kept that name for her.

Commissioned by a group of Quakers in the Eastern U.S. in 1956, the Golden Rule was delivered in 1958 and set sail almost immediately for Enewetak Atoll with a group of four protesters, two of them architects. By 1958, the U.S. had tested nuclear weapons in the atmosphere more than 50 times. This was ground zero for U.S. nuclear testing in the atmosphere. To make clear their peaceful intentions, the group mailed a heads-up to Dwight Eisenhower’s White House.

The group got as far as Hawaii before they were arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard and jailed for 60 days. But their trip was reported in newspapers across the world and it is credited with contributing to the 1963 U.S. policy change ending atmospheric testing on nuclear weapons, and pressure that in turn contributed to bringing about the 1969 SALT Talks (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks). The bold use of the Golden Rule is also credited with inspiring the first Greenpeace ship.

Less than a year after the Cuban Missle Crisis, **President John Kennedy**, on July 26, 1963 announces to the nation a test ban treaty agreement with the Soviet Union, ending atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.

Feb. 10, 1958 article in the Long Beach, CA Press-Telegram reports the Golden Rule set sail for the nuclear test site after a a prayer meeting on the dock, attended by 300 people.

Helen Jaccard heads the Golden Rule Project for the non-profit Veterans For Peace. In this CNL2 interview, Jaccard describes how the Golden Rule went through other owners after Ed Lush sold her in 1985. The boat’s name was changed. She sunk at one point after falling into disrepair. But eventually, she came onto the radar of Veterans For Peace, and she’s been fully restored and is back to work promoting world peace.

“That’s our main mission…” Jaccard tells CNL2, “is to educate people about the danger of nuclear weapons, and what people can do to stop the possibility of a nuclear war.” Vets for Peace has ending nuclear weapons as part of their mission statement.”

Veterans For Peace’s mission includes, “To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations.” Jaccard believes people suffer from a lack of money partly because the U.S. pays so much for weapons and war. She is concerned that the government and media are trying to prepare the American people for war with Russia, China, and Iran.

The Golden Rule is expected to dock in Friday Harbor Marina from August 26 to 28 as part of a tour all over the Pacific Northwest, including Victoria.

To read more about the Veterans For Peace and their Golden Rule Peace Boat Project, click here and here and here.

This CNL2 video is approximately 39 minutes in duration.