''Peacemaker'' is an American

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing r ...

owned by the

Twelve Tribes The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, throu ...

religious group.

History

''Peacemaker'', originally named ''Avany'', was built on a riverbank in southern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

using traditional methods and tropical

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

s, and was launched in 1989. The original owner and his family motored in the southern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

before bringing the ship up through the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, where they intended to

rig Rig may refer to: Objects and structures * Rig (fishing), an arrangement of items used for fishing * Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground * Rig (stage lighting) * rig, a horse-drawn carriage ...

it as a three-masted staysail Marconi rigged motor sailer. The work was never done, however, and in the summer of 2000, it was purchased by the

, a religious group with 50 or so communities in North and South America, Europe, and Australia. They spent the next seven years replacing all of the ship’s mechanical and electrical systems and rigging it as a barquentine. The refit vessel set sail for the first time in the spring of 2007, under the name ''Peacemaker''.

Purpose

''Peacemaker'' is used to travel between the communities of the Twelve Tribes while providing an apprenticeship program for their youth in

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

seamanship Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

, and boat maintenance. In 2013, some victims of the Twelve Tribes’ practices came forward and alleged to the FBI that the ship is used to transport drugs for use in ritual ceremonies. No trial was ever held on these allegations, and the case was closed with no action. The ship has a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

attraction vessel permit and is available for festivals and dockside hospitality events.

Features

''Peacemaker'' has a large deckhouse and spacious cabins finished in

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

, modeled after the interior of '' Cutty Sark''. It also has an innovative

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

that can be lowered while in port to reveal a watertight bulkhead with two large doors opening into a cargo area and fully equipped workshop.

Present day

In 2013, ''Peacemaker'' participated in the Tall Ships 1812 Tour, a pan-provincial event that traveled throughout Ontario during the summer of 2013, commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Sixteen ports participated in this event which partnered with the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes 2013 series. The first port of call for the tour was Brockville, Ontario, June 14–16, 2013. File:Peacemaker ship front.JPG File:Peacemaker ship bow.JPG File:Peacemaker ship cockpit.JPG File:Peacemaker ship rear.JPG File:Peacemaker ship bell.JPG File:Peacemaker ship bed.JPG In 2015, ''Peacemaker'' was listed for sale and gained notoriety when it was published that the Vollmer twins had hopes of purchasing it for use as what can best be described as a voyage to their deaths, with 'tribesmembers (including Zerubabel) coming along to teach final use of the vessel. The deal reportedly did not go forward when a Venezuelan bond package failed, resulting in lack of funds. The Twelve Tribes brought the ''Peacemaker'' for a visit to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

in July, 2021.

References

External links

''Peacemaker''{{'s homepageTwelve Tribes communities ''Peacemaker'' information page''Peacemaker Tall Ship Video''
''Boston Globe''
Peacemaker Yacht for Sale
Expired for sale listing at Northrop & Johnson
Latest position and details
from Marine Traffic. Tall ships of the United States Barquentines 1989 ships