Golden Rule Reunites with the Phoenix of Hiroshima After 59 Years Apart

After almost 60 years apart, sister sailboats Golden Rule and Phoenix of Hiroshima will reunite on Thursday, July 6, through Saturday, July 8, in the Mokelumne River near Walnut Grove.

In 1958 four Quaker peace activists attempted to sail a 34-foot wooden ketch, the Golden Rule, to the Marshall Islands to interfere with U.S. atmospheric nuclear bomb testing. They were stopped by the Coast Guard, arrested and jailed in Honolulu.

At this very same time, Dr. Earle L. Reynolds and his family arrived in Honolulu on their 50-foot ketch, the Phoenix of Hiroshima, which they berthed in Ala Wai Harbor on the same dock as the Golden Rule.  After studying the effects of atomic radiation on children in Hiroshima for three years, Dr. Reynolds and his family were sailing around the world, headed back to Hiroshima, where their voyage had begun.

The Reynolds family shared dinner with the Golden Rule crew and attended their trial. They were so inspired by the courage of these Quaker pacifists that they decided to complete the voyage into the U.S. nuclear test zone in the Marshall Islands.

In 2010, both of the original “peace boats” coincidentally sank in northern California, the Golden Rule in Humboldt Bay and the Phoenix in the Mokelumne River. The Golden Rule was rescued and restored by Veterans For Peace and is sailing again for a nuclear-free future.  She is currently on a voyage throughout California to build support for the United Nations Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons.

The Golden Rule and her crew will sail as close as they can to the Phoenix of Hiroshima, which is slumbering at the bottom of the Sacramento Delta and attempt to set sights on the sunken vessel via a camera in the water. The crew intends to sail up the Sacramento and Mokelumne Rivers to where the Phoenix is sunk–off the eastern shore of Tyler Island in the Delta near Lodi (nearer Isleton) at 38 10′ 49″ N 121 31′ 40″ W.

Leroy Zerlang, head of the boatyard in Eureka where the Golden Rule was rebuilt, will bring a dive and salvage team to the site on July 8th.

Jessica Renshaw Reynolds, original crew member and daughter of Captain Reynolds, will be present for this historic occasion.  She was 14 at the time.

Tours of Golden Rule and sailings to the Phoenix are Thursday July 6 and Friday July 7 by appointment.  The Golden Rule will moor in slips 37 & 38 at Tower Park Resort & Marina,14900 CA-12, Lodi.  For interviews, tours and sailing please call Helen Jaccard, at 206-992-6364.