In the early 1960s the Russians were testing nuclear bombs again somewhere in Siberia. The national CNVA decided to protest, this time by sending a boat into Leningrad Harbor in hopes of calling the media's attention to the situation and causing a worldwide outcry. Because I was by then the "boat builder" for CNVA, I was appointed to go to England to locate a suitable boat for the project. A wilderness group in England called Farthest Out was sympathetic to the idea and offered to sell us an old fishing boat they had used to train their students (corporation executives, managers, and others) in team-building skills. The boat was getting too old for their purposes. I was interested, but as is customary for such sales, the boat needed to be "surveyed" by an expert, who inspects for any defects that would need to be repaired and would affect the price. Someone from the school agreed to pilot the boat up to a port in Wales to have this inspection done.

Helping me in this whole process were some members of Bertrand Russell's Committee of One Hundred. The Committee, a "sister" to CNVA, was organized by Russell to protest the arms race in the United Kingdom. Despite his advanced age he continued to perform acts of civil disobedience until he was physically no longer able to. At the age of 90 he sat down in London traffic and was arrested. In his day Bertrand Russell was probably one of the most renowned men in the world—at least among scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and intellectuals.

A couple of members of the Committee of One Hundred traveled with me to Wales. When we arrived, one chap remembered that Russell lived nearby in a little town within walking distance of the boat. "Let's go see Bertie!" they said. So off we went, without an invitation, and knocked on his door. His wife answered and graciously invited us in for a cup of tea. Russell was over 90 by then. I don't remember much of the conversation, but I do remember asking him what the source of his vitality was. "Controversy, controversy, it makes the blood run!" he said. He said he wanted to see the boat, and it was agreed that his wife would drive him down the next day. That morning it was pouring rain, but he still insisted on climbing on board to look over the boat, of which he highly approved.

After buying the boat my job was finished, and I returned home. Later British and American sailors sailed it into the Leningrad Harbor, chased by Russian soldiers. When the soldiers climbed on board, the crew members went below deck and drilled holes in the hull. As the boat began to sink, the soldiers had quite a time trying to find the holes. This story made the front page in the Moscow newspaper.