‘Peace boat’ welcomes visitors at Terminal 1

VANCOUVER – A sailboat dubbed the “Peace Boat” will welcome visitors Friday and Saturday at Vancouver’s Terminal 1, just west of the Interstate Bridge on the Columbia River.

The Golden Rule is a project of Veterans For Peace Inc. and the group’s symbol of a nuclear-free world. It will be open for tours Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The 34-foot-long wooden ketch is on a four-month voyage to about 30 ports in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The Vancouver visit is sponsored by Vancouver for Peace and the Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project.

The visit will include a community forum on Saturday. It will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Clark Public Utilities community room, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way.

In 1958, the Golden Rule and her crew of Quaker peace activists attempted to sail into the U.S. nuclear bomb test zone in the Marshall Islands. While the crew was arrested, the Golden Rule was a factor in the partial nuclear test ban treaty of 1963 and also was an inspiration for the formation of Greenpeace, according to a press release.