Technically this completed a circumnavigation of the globe but the trip had started in Japan and the Reynolds family intended to culminate it there . A change in plans delayed their return for two years . Their route back to Japan was blocked by the Enewetak Proving Ground , a area of the Pacific declared off-limits to Americans by the U.S. government , which was using the area to test nuclear weapons during Operation Hardtack I . A smaller yacht , the Golden Rule , was docked near the '' Phoenix '' at the time . Its crew of Quaker pacifists , Albert Bigelow , George Willoughby , William R. Huntington , James Peck and Orion Sherwood had attempted to sail into this forbidden zone to protest nuclear testing and had been brought back by the U.S. Coast Guard . The example set by the Golden Rule and her crew was also the inspiration for all the modern environmental and peace voyages , and craft that followed in her wake
Operation Hardtack I
Operation Hardtack I
Phoenix of Hiroshima