What are kon tiki? Thor Heyerdahl. Scientific achievements: what Thor Heyerdahl proved

Balsa raft "Kon-Tiki"

When the conquistadors of Francisco Pissaro in 1526 were preparing to set off on their second voyage from the Isthmus of Panama south towards Peru, one of the ships of the expedition somewhat separated from the main forces and went on reconnaissance towards the equator. When it reached the northern regions of modern Ecuador, the Spaniards noticed a ship at sea coming towards them under sail. It turned out to be a large balsa raft heading north. There were 20 people on the raft and its cargo was 36 tons. According to one of the Spanish sailors, the flat raft had a log base covered with a reed deck. It was raised so much that the load was not wetted by water. The logs and reeds were tied tightly together with rope made from plant fiber. The Spaniards were especially surprised by the sails and rigging of the raft: “It was equipped with masts and yards of very good wood and carried cotton sails of the same kind as our ship. Excellent tackle is made from the aforementioned henequin, which resembles hemp; two stones, similar to millstones, served as anchors.”

This is how Europeans met unusual ships, widely used among west coast South America. However, the Spaniards had heard about them before - from the Indians of Panama. They told Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the first European to see Pacific Ocean- about a powerful state in the south, whose inhabitants set sail on ships with sails and oars, only slightly smaller in size than Spanish ships. Descriptions of rafts that the Incas used even for very long voyages have reached us. They were all made from an odd number of logs, and the largest could carry up to 50 people (including heavily armed Spanish warriors) and several horses.

The chronicler noted: “The largest rafts of the Peruvian Indians living near forests, say, in the ports of Paita, Manta and Guayaquil, consist of seven, nine and even more logs Here's how they are made: logs lying nearby are tied with vines or ropes, which also grab other logs laid across. The middle log in the bow is longer than the others; further on, shorter logs are placed on both sides of it, so that in appearance and proportion they give the bow of the raft a resemblance to the fingers of a hand, and the stern is level. A flooring is placed on top of the logs so that the water that penetrates from below into the cracks between the logs does not wet people and clothes.” A “superstructure” (a hut made of bamboo) was installed on the rafts, and a special place for cooking was provided at the stern. To control the raft and maneuver, the Indians used guars - long wide boards inserted into the cracks between the logs, an analogue of the European centerboards that appeared much later.

"Kon-Tiki"

In the 20th century researchers studying the history of the settlement of the Pacific Islands drew attention to a strange circumstance: many plants cultivated by the Polynesians originated from South America. There were even theories that the settlement of the islands did not come from Asia, but from the American mainland. True, these theories were later recognized as unfounded, but the likelihood of contacts between South American Indians and Polynesia looked quite realistic. However, there were great doubts: is the balsa raft capable of making such a long voyage? Will he drown when the logs become soaked? sea water? How will a “primitive” structure behave during a storm?

One of the enthusiasts who defended the theory of contacts between Indians and Polynesians was the Norwegian scientist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl. Having summarized the information at his disposal, he decided to set sail across the Pacific Ocean on a balsa raft. He managed to enlist the support of the President of Peru, who at the beginning of 1947 gave the go-ahead for the construction of the raft in the military port of Callao.

In honor of the hero of Indian legends, the raft was named “Kon-Tiki”. It consisted of nine balsa logs, and - as was supposed in accordance with ancient traditions - the central one was the longest, and the outermost ones were the shortest. On top of them, at intervals of a meter, thin transverse logs were strengthened, on which a deck of split bamboo trunks was laid, covered with mats on top. In the middle of the raft, a little towards the stern, a small open cabin was built from bamboo branches, and in front of it was an A-shaped mast made of mangrove wood. A large quadrangular sail (on which expedition navigator Eric Hesselberg drew an image of Kon-Tiki) was attached to a yard made of two bamboo tables. There was a small bulwark in the bow for protection from waves. The maximum length of the structure was 13.5 m, width - 5.5 m. The crew consisted of five Norwegians and one Swede.

The voyage began on April 28, 1947, and the tug of the Peruvian fleet, Guardian Rios, was taken 50 miles from the port of Callao Kon-Tiki. After the raft reached the Humboldt Current, its independent navigation began. The travelers were going to steer the raft with the help of guars and a steering oar attached to the stern. Due to the lack of experience, this was not always successful; the Kon-Tiki turned out to be insufficiently maneuverable. But, according to Heyerdahl, the balsa raft “...didn’t rock very much. She rode the waves much more stable than any ship of the same size.” Gradually we managed to solve the control problem by learning to use guar.

The sea element showed its tough temper several times, but there was only one truly dangerous incident - a man falling overboard. Hermann Watzinger was saved only by a miracle. On July 30, the sailors saw land: the raft passed the outermost island of the archipelago - Tuamotu. They managed to reach Polynesia, but one more difficult task remained to be solved: to land on the shore without crashing on the reefs. At the beginning of August, despite the attempts of the islanders to help Heyerdahl's team, it was not possible to approach the island of Angatau. In the end, the raft ended up washed up on a reef near a tiny uninhabited island on the 101st day of the voyage - August 7. Fortunately, no one from the team was seriously injured. A few days later, the Polynesians found the travelers and transported them to inhabited island Roiroa, and the raft was dragged into the lagoon during high tide. Then Thor Heyerdahl and his brave companions went to Tahiti, and from there to Europe. The Kon-Tiki, delivered on the deck of a Norwegian cargo ship, also got there. Nowadays he occupies a place of honor in a museum dedicated to him in Oslo.

Heyerdahl's book "The Voyage of the Kon-Tiki" was translated into many languages, and the film shot during the voyage received an Oscar for best documentary in 1951. Subsequently, several more successful balsa raft voyages were undertaken from the shores of South America to Polynesia. The theory about the contacts of the peoples inhabiting these parts of the world has received a lot of confirmation.

This text is an introductory fragment.

Legends have already been created about this journey and even a full-length feature film has been made. The journey to Kon-Tiki became Thor Heyerdahl's most famous journey. And he will be remembered for many, many years to come, and they will continue to admire the courage and fearlessness of these romantics, led by Thor Heyerdahl.

The journey on the Kon-Tiki raft inspired many people to take courageous actions and became business card Thor Heyerdahl. It was this passage across the Pacific Ocean that brought him world fame, and only then all his other not-so-wonderful adventures.

The Kon-Tiki is a raft made from 9 balsa. Their length is from 10 to 14 meters. These trees were cut down in the jungles of Ecuador and brought to its coast. Kon-Tiki had a sharp nose, which improved his qualities and increased his speed.

Construction of a raft

Thor Heyerdahl and his team originally planned to find and cut down balsa trees on the coast of Ecuador, as the Incas did, but they found nothing. I had to fly inland and cut down these trees there. They cut down 9 of the largest trees they could find and stripped the bark from them the way the Indians do. They rafted the logs all the way to Lima, the capital of Peru, where they began their trek.

Right there they began building their raft. The Peruvian authorities provided them with a dock in the port and the workers of this dock, who did the main work. Large balsa logs were the basis of the raft; on top they placed 9 more balsa logs, but of a smaller diameter. These logs became the basis of the deck, which they covered with bamboo mats. A small hut was also built from bamboo in the center of the deck. The roof of the hut is made of banana leaves.

The ship was assembled without a single nail and all its parts were tied with ropes. The ancient inhabitants of these places, the Incas, built their rafts in exactly the same way. The ship's mast and rudder were made of mangrove wood, which sinks in water.

The authorities did not believe that the raft would be able to reach the islands of Polynesia, and even made bets among themselves. But the people who had gathered before the departure tried to get autographs from the crew, in the hope that the raft would still be able to reach its intended goal.

The raft was named Kon-Tiki, in honor of the sun god of the ancient Incas. In those days, people worshiped this god and carved his head in various statues. An image of one of these statues appeared on the sail of this ship. Legend has it that the tortured people eventually drove Kon-Tiki west, and he and his people sailed overseas. Among the Polynesians there were legends about the great Tiki, who sailed with his people from the east. Thor Heyerdahl and his team decided to sail in the footsteps of this ancient god.

On April 28, 1947, the Kon-Tiki raft sailed from the Peruvian port of Callao. To ensure that the vessel did not interfere with port traffic, a naval tug pulled the raft 50 miles, all the way to the Humboldt Current. Then Thor Heyerdahl's team proceeded independently.

Thor Heyerdahl(1914—2002) - expedition leader (3rd in the photo)

Eric Hesselberg(1914-1972) - navigator and artist. He painted an image of the god Kon-Tiki on the sail of the ship (4th in the photo)

Bengt Danielsson(1921-1997) - acted as cook. He was interested in the theory of migration. He also helped as a translator, since he was the only one of the crew who spoke Spanish (2nd in the photo)

Knut Haugland(1917—2009) - radio operator (pictured 1st)

Thorstein Robue(1918—1964) - second radio operator (5th in the photo)

Hermann Watzinger(1916—1986) - engineer of technical measurements. During the expedition he conducted meteorological and hydrological observations (6th in the photo)

The seventh member of the expedition was the South American parrot Lolita.

On the way

Flying fish and other seafood constantly landed on board the ship. They had no shortage of seafood - there was an open ocean behind them. Dolphin fish were often encountered. We also collected plankton by pulling a fine mesh behind us.

They cooked food on a primus stove, which they took with them and placed in a wooden box. Once the cook dozed off and the bamboo wall of the hut caught fire, but they could easily put it out. Food, as well as various equipment, was stored below deck, between bamboo mats and a balsa base. Everything needed was packed in cardboard boxes filled with asphalt (bitumen) to prevent moisture from getting into them.

Part of the experiment was that two crew members did not eat fish or other seafood - there was a special diet for them that had to be tried. They were fed American rations designed for the military, but had not yet been tried.

If they wanted fresh fish, all they had to do was throw the hook in 20 minutes before eating - and they were guaranteed to have fish for dinner!

They also tried drinking lymph fluid obtained from fish glands. By this they wanted to see the possibility of mining drinking water on the open sea. The Kon-Tiki crew took with them a little less than a ton of fresh water, which was replenished from time to time by tropical rains. To maintain the salt balance, they sometimes mixed fresh water with sea water.

The team also had to observe larger representatives of the ichthyofauna of the Pacific Ocean. They saw whales and caught sharks, and once the largest of the sharks, the whale shark, came close to them. They watched it for so long that one participant lost his nerve and stuck a spear into it, after which the shark disappeared. Sometimes they had to keep up to 9 sharks on deck.

There were also cases when sharks almost bit the crew members, but, fortunately, everything happened without any injuries.

They took with them a rubber boat, from which they filmed some types of the raft, and also, if suddenly someone wanted to be away from the team, alone, he could get into this boat and swim in it, tied to the raft.

Before they reached the halfway point, they experienced two large storms, one of which lasted 5 days. During the storm they didn't even have time to take pictures. During the storm, the sail and steering oar were broken, and the logs came apart. The deck was destroyed, but they managed to repair it. They also lost their parrot.

Kon-Tiki walked at an average speed of 80 km per day; their speed record was one day, during which they covered 130 km. The crew members constantly had to check the components underwater; this pleasure was not pleasant, since there was a possibility of a shark attack. Although the sharks did not attack the raft until at least a drop of blood fell into the water.

One day Watzinger fell into the water, as a result of which he could not catch up with the raft, despite the fact that it was swimming very fast. Haugland jumped after him and swam to him. To safely dive underwater, they built a diver's basket, with which they could hide from sharks. When the sharks came close, the diver had to hide in this basket, after which the crew would pull him on board.

Finally they saw a sign that land was approaching - a frigate was flying next to them. They were approaching the coral archipelago of the Tuamotu. These were the islands French Polynesia. It was necessary to keep your eyes open, as there was a high probability of stumbling upon coral reefs. The islands are so low that they can only be seen from a distance when the surf hits the reefs.

On the 93rd day, an observer from the mast discovered land - it was one of the islands of the southern seas on which they grew. They walked past him. Then after 4 days they saw a boat local residents, they swam up to them and began to help the Kon-Tiki team row. Afterwards the team went even further and on day 101 they saw the earth for the 3rd time.

Somehow, struggling with the waves and the ocean, they swam to the coral atoll of Raroia and climbed ashore. The logs of the raft held up. They proved that it is quite possible to sail from South America to the islands of Polynesia on a homemade raft made of balsa logs. They arrived on the island on August 7, 1947. They traveled a distance of 6980 km.

They dragged their things onto this desert island and lived there for a week until they saw a boat approaching with locals.

The Kon-Tiki raft is now kept in the museum of the same name in Oslo. Thor Heyerdahl and his team proved the theoretical possibility of South American Indians crossing the Pacific Ocean. They also proved that they could not swim across the ocean themselves and then ascend: because sea water the nuts become unsuitable for germination, which means that people brought them to the islands.

On the islands of Polynesia they planted seeds of various plants, as a sign that the Indians who sailed here many years ago planted various plants.

The balsa logs survived the entire route and after that they still held up well in the water due to the fact that they were damp; the liquid inside the trees acted as impregnation and did not allow the sea water to absorb deeper. The ancient Incas built their rafts in exactly the same way.

In 1937, the Norwegian archaeologist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Liv sailed from Marseille, through Atlantic Ocean, Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, Tahiti. After spending a month in the house of a Tahitian leader, they moved to the lonely island of Fatu Hiva, where they spent a whole year away from civilization. Although the purpose of the expedition was to study the fauna of Fatu Hiva, Heyerdahl was much more interested in the question of how Polynesia was populated. During a forced trip to the island of Hivaoa for medical help, Heyerdahl made acquaintance with the Norwegian Henry Lee, who had lived on the island since 1906. He showed the young researcher stone statues in the jungle, about the origin of which no one knew anything. But Lee mentioned that similar statues are also known from finds in Colombia, a country located almost 6 thousand km east of Marquesas Islands. The study of the lifestyle and customs of the natives, the study of the flora and fauna of the islands, as well as ocean currents, led Heyerdahl to the idea that the prevailing winds and currents arising off the coast of America contributed to the appearance of the first settlers on the islands. This point of view was completely at odds with the then established opinion, according to which the ancestors of the Polynesians came to the islands from the shores of southeast asia. This was followed by work in archives, museums, and the study of ancient manuscripts and drawings depicting rafts of the ancient Indians of South America. The idea of traveling on a raft from the Latin American coast to the islands of Polynesia, in order to confirm the possibility of such a route to populate the island archipelagos, finally took shape a year before departure, in 1946.

The raft for the journey was built from balsa wood, the lightest wood in the world. The raft, similar to what the Indians had previously made, was built without a single nail. It consisted of 9 logs from 10 to 14 meters long, folded so that the raft had a sharp nose. The logs were tied with ropes, and a mast with a large (27 square meters) rectangular sail rose above them. The raft was equipped with a stern oar and two parallel rows of centerboards (boards sticking down from the bottom of the raft and acting as both a keel and a rudder). The deck was covered with bamboo. In the middle of the raft stood a small but fairly strong hut with a roof made of banana leaves. The travelers named their raft “Kon-Tiki”, after the legendary Polynesian hero.

On April 28, 1947, an extraordinary motorcade set off from the small port of Callao on the coast of Peru to the Pacific Ocean. The Peruvian Navy tug Guardian Rio was towing Heyerdahl's raft. About 50 miles from the coast, having reached the Humboldt Current, the tug crew said goodbye to the travelers, and they began a long and dangerous journey to Polynesia.

2 Swimming

Already the first days of the voyage showed that the raft was stable, obeyed the rudder and, thanks to the ocean current and winds, was slowly but surely moving in the right direction. Relative order was established on the raft, all property, instruments and food supplies were securely secured. Responsibilities were immediately assigned and shifts scheduled.

Heyerdahl later described in detail the daily life on the raft and the duties of each crew member in his book: “Bengt could most likely be found in the doorway of the cabin, where he lay on his stomach, delving into one of the seventy-three volumes of his library. In general, we appointed him as a steward, it was he who measured out our daily rations. Herman could find himself anywhere at any time of the day - either with meteorological instruments on the mast, or with underwater goggles under the raft, where he was checking the centerboard, or behind the stern, in inflatable boat where he worked balloons and some strange devices. He was our head of the technical department and was responsible for meteorological and hydrographic observations. Knut and Thorstein tinkered endlessly with their damp dry cell batteries, soldering irons and circuits. Every night they took turns on duty and broadcast our reports and weather reports. Eric most often patched a sail, or spliced ropes, or carved wooden sculptures, or painted bearded people and amazing fish. Just at noon, he armed himself with a sextant and climbed onto the box to look at the sun and calculate how far we had walked in a day. I myself diligently filled out the ship’s log, wrote reports, collected samples of plankton and fish, and made a movie.”

Everyone on the raft kept a watch for two hours, and at night the duty officer was always tied with a rope. Issues related to current activities were resolved at general meetings. They took turns preparing food, the basis of which was fish and dry rations received for testing from the military. Before setting sail, the ration boxes were filled with a thin layer of asphalt to prevent seawater from entering them. Their supply should have been enough for four months. In addition, the raft had supplies of fruits, coconuts, and a lot fishing gear. Sometimes they didn’t even have to catch anything; the fish itself jumped onto their raft. Every morning, Heyerdahl and his companions found dozens of flying fish on the deck, which were immediately sent to the frying pan (there was a small primus stove on the raft, which was located in a wooden box). The ocean was teeming with tuna, mackerel and bonito fish. Having adapted to sea fishing, travelers even began to catch sharks.

The travelers dealt with all the problems that arose during the voyage quite successfully. They could only rely on their own strength. If something happened, there was no hope for help, since the route was away from sea routes. Fortunately, they managed to avoid severe storms.

3 Raroia Atoll

The crew saw land for the first time on July 30, it was the island of Puka Puka. On August 7, 1947, the raft approached the Raroia Atoll, part of the Tuamotu archipelago. To get to land, the team had to overcome coral reefs. Exhausted trying to break through the reef, the travelers decided to “ride” it at high tide. They survived several terrible hours under the blows of powerful waves. After which they managed to cross the reef and wade to the sandy shore.

The travelers spent 101 days in the ocean, covering 8,000 kilometers. Heyerdahl and his companions proved that similar voyages could have been carried out on balsa rafts in ancient times, making the migration of people from Latin America to the islands of Polynesia. Based on the results of the voyage, Heyerdahl wrote the book “The Voyage to Kon-Tiki,” which immediately became a world bestseller, and a documentary film about the amazing voyage across the ocean soon received an Oscar.

From the port of Papeete in Tahiti, where the travelers were waiting for an opportunity to return to their homeland, they were picked up along with the raft by a Norwegian ship. Now the legendary raft is located in Oslo, where the Kon-Tiki Museum has been created.

Along with a person’s horizons, his curiosity grows. Curiosity is a driving force that is given to us from birth; it cannot be measured in kilowatts or horsepower, but it constantly draws a person forward, instills in him the desire to overcome the unknown. Curiosity is especially strong on the verge of the known and the still unknown; here it flares up, persistently hammers away at the barrier until it penetrates beyond it, and the unknown continuously recedes back, because omniscience is unattainable, like an ever-receding horizon.

The child crawls on all fours to the stove, to the bucket, to the chair, he needs to find out whether they are cold or hot, hard or soft, he puts cake, nails and stones into his mouth to taste the taste. And when his crib and his room have been explored, he rushes out the door, into the next room, up or down the stairs, he needs to find out what is there. Further, further go the young, go the curious, spurred on by the everlasting desire to push the limits of the unknown further and further. And the unknown retreats, retreats, and the vanguard persistently expands the horizons of humanity, goes through mountains and plains, across deserts and oceans, rises up in a balloon, descends in a diving bell. They penetrate into the icy silence of the Arctic, into tropical jungles, leaving not a single piece of Earth unexplored, plunge to the bottom of the deepest seas, climb peaks highest mountains- on one side, then on the other. Further, further - into the upper layers of the stratosphere, into airless space, to the Moon, to other planets, into deep space, as far as time allows. Because man is limited by time. Time stops a person. Someday, technology will make it possible to continue the flight to other solar systems, but the journey will take so long that one generation will not be enough to reach the goal.

Yes, the life of one person is not enough to reach another solar system. It is not enough even to explore all corners of our own globe. Nothing can stop the passage of time: time is the ally of the unknown, it sets a limit to the conquests of curiosity. And yet man has made an invention that can withstand all the attacks of time: writing. The written word is curiosity's best ally in its battle with time. It will withstand any journey; Moreover, one person can read in a few minutes about what another has experienced throughout his entire life. Writing is the most revolutionary invention of mankind, it is more important than the steam engine, the light bulb and television combined, because it allows us to preserve and concentrate the total knowledge of mankind. The unknown inventors of writing have armed us with dynamite so that we can explode the barriers of ignorance, penetrating into places we would never otherwise reach.

When I write books about my travels, I strive to convey on paper impressions and events in such words that others can experience in a few hours what we experienced over months, maybe years. Everyone cannot go on a trip or expedition, everyone does their own thing, makes their contribution to the life of society; and those of us who travel read about the travels of others and what all those who do not travel, who stay at home and set in motion the gears of civilization, are doing - from the peasant and the fisherman who feed us all, to the worker, employee, scientist, economist, administrator and politician, forming the cells of the complex system of a modern state.

There are many more people who want to travel than those who have the time and opportunity to participate in expeditions. if only because everyone has their own profession. Releasing a twenty-volume series about travel and expeditions of the 20th century, the Mysl publishing house provides everyone who is attracted by travel with tickets to all corners of the globe.

You can go to the ice of the Arctic under the leadership of Papanin and Piri, you can explore the white deserts of Antarctica together with Amundsen, Gusev and Treshnikov, Fuchs and Hillary. You can bask among the volcanoes under the reliable supervision of Taziev and Markhinin, or go into the vast wilds of Asia together with Arsenyev, Roerich, Obruchev and Murzaev. You can dive to the bottom of the World Ocean in the company of Cousteau and Picard and ascend to highest peaks Himalayas together with Erzog and Neuss. You can visit the wild animals of Africa with Grzimek, get lost in the tropical forests of South America with Fawcett, or explore unknown islands in the Arctic Ocean with Ushakov. Penetrate with Caster into endless caves to study the mysterious underworld, or go to sea with the brave loner Bombar. And I can invite you on a journey to the distant past, when unknown sailors made rafts and boats from balsa and papyrus, and we will go with them across the ocean from America and to America to see if there was a connection between ancient cultures peace.

Welcome to the journey, wherever it takes you! Maybe, once you start reading, you will get a taste for it and visit with us all the ends of a small but amazingly diverse planet, on which we wander together in an unknown, boundless world space.

Where it all started. - An old man from the island of Fatu Hiva. - Wind and current. - Search for Tiki. -Who settled Polynesia? - Mystery South Seas. - Theories and facts. - The legend of Kon-Tiki and the white race. - War

Sometimes a person finds himself in a completely unusual situation. May you approach this gradually and naturally; when there is no turning back, you suddenly wonder: how did I manage to get into this situation?

If, for example, you went out to sea on a raft with five comrades and one parrot, sooner or later the morning will come when you, waking up in the middle of the ocean, begin to think with a fresh head.

It was on such a morning that I sat over the ship’s log, damp with dew, and wrote down:

“May 17th. Great excitement. The wind is fresh. Today I have to cook, I picked up seven flying fish on the deck, one octopus on the roof of the cabin and an unknown fish in sleeping bag Thorstein..."

Here the pencil stopped, and again a thought stirred in the depths of my consciousness: nevertheless, May 17 was unusual, and in general a highly unusual situation... sea and sky... where did it all start?

Turn left and you have a view of the mighty blue ocean, of hissing waves that, one after another, one after another, rush past in their endless run towards the ever-receding horizon. Turn to the right - in the hut, in the shade, a bearded man lies on his back and reads Goethe, his bare toes comfortably stuck between the slats of the low bamboo roof. This fragile little hut is our home.

Bengt,” I said, pushing away the green parrot, who decided to climb onto the ship’s log, “maybe you can answer me: how did we come up with this?”

Tomik Goethe lowered himself, revealing his golden beard:

Who should know this if not you, because you came up with everything, and, in my opinion, you came up with it very well.

Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and five companions set off on a raft from the west coast of South America to Tahiti. The raft was made of durable wood - basalt, and received the name of the legendary Indian god Kon-Tiki.

The voyage lasted three and a half months, during which the sailors covered a distance of 5,000 nautical miles, thereby confirming the likelihood of Heyerdahl's hypothesis that Native Americans could colonize Polynesia.

Studying the customs and culture of the Polynesians and drawing attention to the similarity of names (for example, the god Tiki), customs, stone statues of Polynesia and ancient Peru, the Norwegian researcher Thor Heyerdahl suggested that Polynesia was once inhabited by the inhabitants of South America. To prove his theory, Heyerdahl built a raft. The Kon-Tiki balsa raft was built as a replica of a prehistoric South American vessel. Constructed from nine balsa logs felled in Ecuador, and with a crew of six, the raft sailed from Calao, Peru on April 28, 1947, reaching the island of Raroya in Polynesia 101 days later.

This was an extremely daring scientific experiment, because the consequences of failure for the small crew could be disastrous. However, contrary to the forecasts of those of little faith, the southeast trade wind and the South Equatorial Current safely carried the raft to the islands of Polynesia.

The raft was built from logs of the lightest wood with a density reaching 0.2-0.3 g/cm3, and, naturally, with closed pores. All this provided a huge reserve of buoyancy for the raft and slowed down the absorption of water, since freshly cut trunks retained natural sap, preventing water from penetrating into the wood. Strong and rigid steel cables with continuous mutual movement of logs could saw through soft wood, so Heyerdahl tied the logs with vegetable manila rope, which is elastic.

However, the lack of experience in maritime affairs made sailing on the Kon-Tiki significantly more difficult.

The expedition members did not know how the ancient Peruvians controlled the raft on multi-day ocean crossings. The helm watches were tiring and physically taxing.

At the same time, the ancient Peruvians knew a fairly simple way to control a similar vessel. In the tombs of the ancients, historians found plates of hard wood - “guars”, and their images in the drawings. In cross section, guars have a segmental profile. They should have been stuck between the logs in the front or back of the raft, which would have regulated the position of the “center of lateral resistance” (in modern terminology), and the symmetrical cross-section profile made them easier to use. If the tackle is pulled from one side, the sail rotates around the mast and changes the direction of the pull. By changing the submerged area of several guara in the bow and stern, you can make the raft turn relative to the wind and float in a zigzag, sometimes even at an angle of less than 90°. The members of the expedition did not know this, and T. Heyerdahl himself learned about this method only in 1953 - after the completion of the voyage. Only in the middle of the voyage did experiments in controlling the raft lead to some success; the crew finally learned to use the guar.

The successful 4,300 mile voyage proved that the islands of Polynesia were within reach of this type of prehistoric South American ships and could well have been inhabited by the ancient Peruvians. A documentary about the trip won an Oscar in 1951, and a book about the expedition has been translated into no fewer than 66 languages.

At the New York Explorers Club. Thor Heyerdahl second from right