Kon tiki from what. Balsa raft “Kon-Tiki. Dedicated to my father

Norwegian's journey Thura Heyerdahl on a raft across the Pacific Ocean is now considered a significant event in the study of the planet and the history of mankind. However, at one time, the journey not only brought many discoveries and forced the official science to reconsider its view of a number of things, it, in fact, became the first reality show, followed by the whole world for 101 days. And after the entry of books, documentaries and films about this expedition, it can rightfully be considered a real cultural phenomenon.

Thor Heyerdahl, circa 1980 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

"Come to your senses, you will all drown!"

It all started with the fact that Thor Heyerdahl put forward a bold hypothesis. In his opinion, the islands of Polynesia were inhabited by immigrants from America, and not from Asia, as science then believed. The scientific community scoffed at his Norwegian colleague. Nobody took his treatises and proofs seriously. And especially ardent skeptics decided to take Heyerdahl weak. Like, if you are so smart, build a raft and try to repeat the route that the same ancient Incas supposedly easily took. It was then that the world show started. When it became clear that the scientist had accepted the challenge and was preparing for an adventurous journey at full speed, these same skeptics, along with the rest of the scientific world and journalists, tried to dissuade him from this venture. “This will be suicide! Come to your senses, you will all drown! " - they repeated to the scientist. But he has already "bit the bit."

Lolita washed overboard

Preparing for the expedition was complicated by the fact that at first Heyerdahl could not find sponsors and recruit a team of 5 people. Viral marketing helped. Newspapers began to write about the scientist's venture - and sponsors were found. Together with the desperate scientist, 5 more people went on the expedition: navigator and artist Eric Hesselberg, cook Bengt Danielsson, two radio operators (Knut Haugland and Thorstein Robu), as well as technician, engineer and meteorologist Hermann Watzinger... The seventh member of the expedition was a South African parrot named Lolita. Lolita, however, was washed away during one of the storms. As soon as the raft of balsa logs was built (by the way, authentically, without a single nail), the travelers hit the road.

The Kon-Tiki crew. From left to right: Knut Haugland, Bengt Danielsson, Thor Heirdahl, Erik Hesselberg, Torstein Roby and Hermann Watzinger. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The show begins!

In addition to scientific observations and experiments, the team broadcast their adventure almost live. Almost every day, radio operators transmitted reports of meteorological observations, ocean currents, and so on to the shore. In addition, one of the radio operators kept a detailed travel diary. Every little thing was recorded. Once, tired of writing, the first radio operator exclaimed in despair: "I am ready to swear that all this correspondence weighs ten kilograms!" The second radio operator only calmly corrected him: “Twelve. I weighed. " And in order not to miss anything at all and squeeze the maximum out of their journey, the team members recorded everything on a movie camera. The book based on the recordings and the film based on the documentaries were to be the culmination of this show. In the meantime, the whole world was content with radiograms from Kon-Tiki. "Have they drowned already?" - asked some with burning eyes. "Not yet!" The others answered happily. People in the most different countries made bets, made bets, eagerly awaiting the denouement.

Didn't you wait ?! And we sailed!

On August 7, 1947, having covered several thousand kilometers, the raft approached the Raroia atoll, which is part of the Tuamotu archipelago. But no one was waiting for travelers there. Nobody at all: the island was uninhabited. For a week, the team stomped on this piece of land, until a boat with local residents accidentally swam up to it.

When the travelers got out on mainland to civilization, it became a worldwide sensation. And the beginning of the triumph. Heyerdahl's book The Kon-Tiki Expedition has been translated into 70 languages ​​and has sold over 50 million copies. The documentary film "Kon-Tiki" edited by the traveler was awarded the "Oscar" in 1952.

Subsequently, a feature film about the legendary journey appeared, which also received many nominations and awards. And Thor Heyerdahl gained not only the recognition of the scientific world. He became a real world star. He made many more travels, wrote 20 books. Of course, he gained a lot of followers among his fans. Alas, not everyone managed to complete their expeditions as safely as Heyerdahl. Some have repeated the fate of Lolita's parrot.

In 1937, the Norwegian archaeologist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl with his wife Liv sailed from Marseille, through Atlantic Ocean, Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, in 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 in isolation from civilization. Although the purpose of the expedition was to study the fauna of Fatu Khiva, Heyerdahl was much more interested in the question of how Polynesia was settled. During a forced trip to the island of Khivaoa 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, 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 kilometers east of the Marquesas Islands. The study of the way of life and customs of the natives, the study of the flora and fauna of the islands, as well as the 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 South-East Asia... This was followed by work in archives, museums, the study of ancient manuscripts and drawings, which depicted the rafts of the ancient Indians South America... Finally, the idea of ​​traveling on a raft from the Latin American coast to the Polynesian islands, in order to confirm the possibility of such a way of settling the island archipelagos, took shape a year before sailing, in 1946.

The voyage raft was built from balsa wood, the lightest wood in the world. A raft, similar to what the Indians used to do, 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 out from the bottom of the raft and playing the role of both keel and rudder). The deck was covered with bamboo. In the middle of the raft was a small but rather sturdy hut with a roof of banana leaves. The travelers gave their raft the name "Kon-Tiki", after the name of the legendary Polynesian hero.

On April 28, 1947, an extraordinary motorcade set off from the small port of Callao on the Peruvian coast to the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian naval tugboat Guardian Rio pulled Heyerdahl's raft. About 50 miles offshore, reaching the Humboldt Current, the crew of the tug said goodbye to the travelers, and for them began a long and dangerous journey to Polynesia.

2 Swimming

Already the first days of the voyage showed that the raft is stable, obeys the rudder and, thanks to the ocean current and winds, slowly but surely moves in the right direction. Relative order was restored on the raft, all property, instruments and food supplies were securely secured. Immediately, the responsibilities were assigned and the watch was assigned.

Heyerdahl later described in detail in his book daily life on the raft and the duties of each crew member: “Bengt could most likely be found in the door 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 our daily ration. Herman could be anywhere at any time of the day - either with meteorological instruments on the mast, or with underwater goggles under the raft, where he checked the centerboard, or behind the stern, in an inflatable boat, where he was engaged balloons and some incomprehensible devices. He was our head of the technical department and was responsible for meteorological and hydrographic observations. Knut and Thorstein fiddled with their damp dry batteries, soldering irons and circuits endlessly. Every night they took turns on duty and sent our reports and weather reports on the air. Eric most often patched a sail, or spliced ​​ropes, or carved wooden sculptures, or painted bearded people and amazing fish. Precisely 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 logbook, compiled reports, collected samples of plankton and fish, and made a film. "

On the raft, everyone kept watch for two hours, and at night the duty officer was necessarily tied with a rope. Issues related to current activities were resolved at general meetings. In turn, they prepared food, the basis of which was fish and dry rations received for testing from the military. Before sailing, the ration boxes were covered with a thin layer of asphalt to prevent the ingress of sea water into them. Their supply should have been enough for four months. In addition, there were supplies of fruits, coconuts, and a lot of fishing gear on the raft. Sometimes they didn't even have to catch anything, the fish itself jumped on their raft. Every morning, Heyerdahl and his companions found dozens of flying fish on the deck, which immediately went to the frying pan (there was a small primus on the raft, which was 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 coped 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 passed away from the sea routes. Fortunately, they managed to avoid severe storms.

3 Raroia Atoll

The first time the crew saw the land on July 30, it was the island of Puka-Puka. On August 7, 1947, the raft approached the Raroia Atoll, which is part of the Tuamotu island archipelago. To get to land, the team had to overcome coral reefs. Having exhausted themselves in attempts to break through the reef, the travelers decided to "saddle" it at high tide. They survived several terrible hours under the impact of powerful waves. Then they managed to get over the reef and wade to the sandy shore.

The travelers spent 101 days in the ocean, covering 8000 kilometers. Heyerdahl and his companions proved that such voyages could have been performed on balsa rafts in ancient times, making it quite probable and relatively safe for people to migrate from Latin America to the islands of Polynesia. Based on the results of the voyage, Heyerdahl wrote the book "Voyage to Kon-Tiki", which immediately became a world bestseller, and the 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, a Norwegian ship took them along with the raft. Now the legendary raft is located in Oslo, where the Kon-Tiki Museum was established.

Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl with five companions set off on a raft trip from west coast South America to Tahiti. The raft was made of durable wood - basalt, it was named after the legendary god of the Kon-Tiki Indians.

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 the Native Americans could colonize Polynesia.

Studying the customs and culture of the Polynesians and paying attention to the similarity of names (for example, the god Tiki), customs, stone statues of Polynesia and ancient Peru, the Norwegian explorer 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 ship. Collected from nine balsa logs felled in Ecuador, with a crew of six, the raft sailed from Calao for Peru on April 28, 1947, and reached Raroya Island in Polynesia 101 days later.

It was an extremely daring scientific experiment, for the consequences of failure for a small crew could be dire. 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 buoyancy reserve for the raft and slowed down the absorption of water, since natural sap was preserved in the freshly cut trunks, which prevented the penetration of water into the wood. Strong and stiff steel cables with continuous mutual movement of the logs could saw through soft wood, so Heyerdahl tied the logs with a vegetative Manila rope, which is distinguished by elasticity.

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

The members of the expedition did not know in what way the ancient Peruvians managed the raft on their multi-day voyages across the ocean. The helm watches were exhausting and physically demanding.

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 in the drawings - their images. In cross-section, guars have a segmental profile. They had to be stuck between the logs at the front or rear of the raft, which would regulate the position of the "center of lateral resistance" (in modern terminology), and the symmetrical profile of the section facilitated their use. If the rig is pulled from one side, the sail turns around the mast and changes the direction of thrust. By varying the submerged area of ​​several guars in the bow and stern, it is possible to make the raft turn relative to the wind and 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 the experiments on raft control lead to some success, the crew still learned to use guars.

A successful voyage of 4,300 miles proved that the islands in Polynesia were within reach of this type of prehistoric South American vessel and could well have been inhabited by ancient Peruvians. Documentary on the voyage won an Oscar in 1951, and the book on the expedition has been translated into no less than 66 languages.

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

Balsa is rafted down the river to the sea

Nine logs in the port of Callao

The raft will be ready soon

On the sail is the head of the ancient god Kon-Tiki.

Saw a whale shark

These are the tuna

Hesselberg often picked up the guitar

Sharks were pulled out of the water by the tail

Record trophy

On the steering wheel

Bengt Danielsson (seated first from left) counted flight the best vacation In my life

You can see better from the mast

V open ocean

Kon-tiki on the reef

We approach the Polynesian islands

The island is just a stone's throw away

Last meters

General view of Kon-Tiki

Diagram of the construction and mating of the Kon-Tiki raft

He was able to clearly prove: the distant ancestors of today's man were not primitive creatures. They were wonderful projectors and designers, they traveled and crossed the seas, oceans, continents, thanks to which they interacted with each other.

Young researcher-zoologist

Thor Heyerdahl was born on October 6, 1914 in the small Norwegian town of Larvik. His parents were quite wealthy and respected people in the city - his father owned a brewery, and his mother was an employee of the anthropological museum. And although there were seven children in the family, each of them got enough attention from their parents and their care. So, Tour's mother was engaged in his education, and already at a young childhood, the guy was familiar with Darwin's anthropological theory, and his father organized trips to Europe.

Among the many childhood hobbies of the Tour was the love of nature. As a child, he even tried to organize his own museum at home. It is not known for certain what exhibits his exposition consisted of, but its "highlight" was a stuffed viper, which was proudly shown to frequent guests in the Heyerdahl house as part of a small excursion.

The study of the flora and fauna of our planet almost ended fatally for Tour - once he almost drowned in a river, and, having escaped, acquired a fear of water for his entire childhood. Young Heyerdahl could not even imagine that he would enter the history of mankind thanks to his voyages in the open ocean on a raft!

When in 1933, 19-year-old Tour entered the University of Oslo, in order to comprehend knowledge in the field of geography and zoology, the future scientist met with the outstanding traveler Björn Kraepelin. This meeting played an important role in the life of Heyerdahl: Björn introduced the young student to his collection of objects from the island of Tahiti and numerous books on the history of peoples. The tour was amazed by the knowledge gained, a desire arose in it to comprehend the culture of little-known peoples even deeper. This predetermined his future.

Paradise island Fatu Hiva

After completing his studies, two incredibly important events take place in the life of Thor Heyerdahl: the young scientist finally married his beloved woman Liv Cusheron-Thorpe, with whom he was in love from the beginning of his studies, and he also leaves his native land for important scientific research and travels to the islands of Polynesia ... The wife went with Heyerdahl, and this business trip became a real one for a couple in love.

The purpose of the Tour was to study the causes of the emergence of certain species of animals on remote islands Polynesia. For this, the scientist, together with his wife, the Panama Canal, went to Tahiti. Here the couple spent a month, living in the hut of the local leader, who introduced the newcomers to the life and culture of the tribe. Fascinated by the wild, untouched nature and unusual culture that they were eager to explore, the Heyerdals couple went to the isolated island of Fatu Hiva.

Life, deprived of the benefits of modernity, not burdened by the noise of the city, was very much to the liking of Tur and Liv. The newlyweds lived like Adam and Eve in complete harmony with nature, rejoicing in its gifts and not remembering that somewhere else there was another life - everything around seemed full and natural. For a whole year, Heyerdahl and his wife lived on paradise island, but soon the measured and quiet life came to an end: Tour fell ill and needed the help of a qualified doctor, and Liv was pregnant. After unforgettable vacation The Heyerdals returned to civilization.

The war that invaded the plans of the scientist

Back in Norway, Tour became a father and published a book about his travels called "In Search of Paradise". A year spent on the islands of Polynesia radically changed the scientist's views on science as a whole. His desire to study animals was supplanted by the desire to study people and their history: a number of theories were formed in Tour's head, and he wanted to confirm them with scientific facts.

So, the researcher suggested that the ancient Incas somehow swam across the ocean and settled the islands of Polynesia. To substantiate this hypothesis, Heyerdahl went to Canada, but no evidence was found to prove his assumption.

The anthropologist's plans were disrupted by the Second World War, during which Tour was not going to sit out - how a real man and a patriot he went to the front. During the difficult war years, Heyerdahl managed to travel, take part in battles and receive the rank of lieutenant. And at the end of the war, the researcher had a detailed plan for a scientific experiment that would prove the correctness of his theory.

Travel to "Kon-Tiki"

Thor Heyerdahl decides to build a raft according to the drawings of the ancient Incas and cross the ocean on it. The scientific community laughed in the face of the scientist, proving the impossibility of the idea, but the desperate anthropologist was completely confident in the success of the experiment. The tour, together with five other travelers and scientists, arrived in Peru, where, according to old schemes, drawings and based on many legends and stories, brave explorers are building a raft of balsa wood.

Named in honor of the sun god, the Kon-Tiki raft endured all the vicissitudes of a long journey of 8000 km and moored to Tuamotu Island, crossing the Pacific Ocean. 101 days were full of discoveries and incredible adventures, and a close-knit team of scientists proved that a person can not only survive in conditions of complete discomfort, but also find mutual understanding and friendship.

Returning home, Thor Heyerdahl writes the book "Kon-Tiki", which was an incredible success all over the world, and the documentary film, which the scientist filmed while sailing, won an Oscar in 1952. But the main achievement of the expedition was not recognition and glory, but the proof of the possibility of the transatlantic crossings of the ancient Incas.

The failure of "Ra" and the triumph of "Ra II"

Heyerdahl's research did not end there. The anthropologist decides to do the same in order to establish whether the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt could travel across the ocean on their ships. For this, a scientist with a team of like-minded people builds a vessel from papyrus called "Ra", but the boat did not live up to the trust of its creator and broke into two parts in the middle of the journey.

Thor Heyerdahl did not despair of such a failure and, taking into account design errors, built the boat "Ra II", which successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean and moored to the coast of Barbados. The researcher described his impressions of the trip and his discoveries in the book "Expedition to" Ra "". The researchers did a great job and, in addition to justifying Heyerdahl's theory, collected samples of pollution in the ocean, after which they presented them to the UN, and also proved that even people of different nationalities, beliefs and religious views can peacefully exist on a small piece of land if they are united by a common goal.

Until the very old age, the great explorer Thor Heyerdahl did not abandon his scientific activity and made many discoveries, but it was his voyages that brought him universal fame. Purposeful and enthusiastic, he did not know the rest either in research activities or in personal life: he had five children and was married three times. Having made a colossal contribution to the development of scientific thought and going down in history as the most outstanding Norwegian of the twentieth century, Thor Heyerdahl died, surrounded by his relatives, at the age of 87, from a serious illness - a brain tumor.

At the end of April 1947, the inhabitants of Peru saw an amazing picture: six brave travelers, led by Thor Heyerdahl, were preparing to cross the Pacific Ocean on a balsa raft. The Kon-Tiki was littered with sacks of provisions and equipment, baskets and bundles of bananas.

On that day, correspondents of local newspapers, government officials and ordinary onlookers gathered at the pier. The expedition was dubbed "an adventure" and "the most extravagant method of mass suicide." When the raft was 50 miles offshore in the open ocean, the military boat towing it sailed back, and the travelers set off into the unknown - to the shores of Polynesia, towards dangerous ocean currents and stormy winds.

For almost seven decades, the expedition has acquired a mass of legends and new details. But real story famous travel, which inspired many to take courageous deeds, has survived.

How it all began

10 years before the start of the world famous expedition, Thor Heyerdahl, together with his wife, visited the Marquesas archipelago, where they conducted another study. In Polynesia, a Norwegian archaeologist first heard of Tiki, the god and leader of the local tribes.

Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Liv

A local elder told the story of a deity that brought his ancestors to the islands from big country, helped to cross the ocean and settle in a new homeland. A gripping story, more like a myth or legend, amazed the traveler.

To his surprise, very soon he found evidence of the narrator's correctness - giant statues of Tiki, reminiscent of huge statues in South America. While studying ancient archives, museum exhibits and manuscripts, Heyerdahl saw a drawing of rafts of the ancient Indians of South America, which became the beginning of a great adventure.

The final idea of ​​the expedition was formulated only in 1946. The archaeologist was determined to prove the theory of settlement of the island archipelagos on the way from the Latin American coast to Polynesia. Before the great discovery, it was believed that the coconuts growing on the island archipelago were brought from South America by sea water. But Heyerdahl had his own theory.

Thor Heyerdahl

In New York, he tried to interest the idea of ​​one of the scientists, but was met with categorical objection. Researchers found the theory outrageous and caused a flurry of indignation.

When the traveler tried to explain himself, one of the scientists answered with a smile: "Well, try to go from Peru to the Pacific Islands on a balsa raft."

Brave team and raft building

The seventh participant in the swim and its mascot was the South African parrot Lolita.

Initially, the team planned to build a raft from balsa trees growing on the coast of Ecuador, as the ancient Incas did. But travelers were only able to find suitable material in the interior of the continent. The construction required 9 trunks of huge trees, from which they had to remove the bark and float to Lima, the capital of Peru.

Representatives of the local authorities did not fully believe in the success of the expedition, but managed to make a bet among themselves, took autographs from the crew and allocated a port dock and workers who were actively involved in the construction. From large trunks, they cut the logs that became the basis of the raft. On top of the base, another layer of wood was fixed, but already of a smaller size. The deck was covered with bamboo mats, and a hut of banana leaves was built in the middle.

Surprisingly, the ship was built without a single nail, according to the traditions of the Indian tribes. The steering wheel and mast were made of mangrove wood, all the components were firmly fastened with ropes, and the artist and expedition member Eric Hesselberg painted on the sail an image of Kon-Tiki, the sun god revered by the ancient Incas.

Among the ocean expanses

From the first days of sailing "Kon-Tiki" obediently moved along the ocean current. Thanks to the robustness and excellent steering mechanism, there were no problems with control, and the well-thought-out watch schedule and distribution of duties ensured a safe and friendly atmosphere.

On the expedition, Thor Heyerdahl began filming a documentary. If one of the crew wanted privacy, he could temporarily transfer to a rubber boat, which was firmly attached to the raft.

The travelers decided all questions on their own or at general meetings. Although the route of the expedition took place far from sea routes, and the weather now and then brought stormy winds, the voyage went without serious accidents. On the way, the team lost only a parrot, which flew away during the storm.

The crew members cooked food on a primus stove. To protect the device from damage, it was stored in a wooden box and put away in a hut. Once there was a fire on the deck, but well-coordinated work helped to cope with the fire in time.

Part of the team ate seafood. During the voyage, flying fish and other inhabitants of the ocean often got on board, and to prepare a full-fledged dinner, it was enough to throw a fishing rod into the open sea for 20 minutes.

Two crew members took part in an interesting experiment. They ditched fresh fish and ate dry rations that had been developed for the US military but had yet to be tested. To maintain the salt balance in the body, the expedition members mixed drinking water from the sea, and stocks fresh water replenished during tropical rains.

The trip was not without meeting with dangerous residents ocean depths... One day, a whale shark swam so close to the ship that one of the crew members had to use a spear to save the crew. There were times when the raft was surrounded by whole flocks of bloodthirsty sharks, but nothing happened.

The first serious danger lay in wait for the team half way. The raft survived two large storms at once, one of which did not stop for five days. During the storm, the crew lost the steering oar, and the sail and deck were severely damaged. When the wind died down, the team managed to repair the damage, tie up the logs, which were very different, and continue their journey safely.

The cherished goal is very close

The main difficulty was constantly checking the nodes. The crew members easily dived under the water, but each dive could be fatal. Schools of sharks that swam to the smell of the blood of caught and butchered fish often surrounded the raft and did not allow the mechanism to be checked in time. To avoid a dangerous meeting, the team made a special diving basket. As soon as the shark appeared in sight, the inspector could hide and signal the crew to be pulled aboard.

The Kon-Tiki team is discussing the route

It was the 93rd day of sailing, when the team first saw the islets of land with coconut thickets, but along with the good news came trouble. Near the Tuamotu archipelago, there was a chance to stumble upon dangerous reefs, which were practically invisible due to their small size. During the surf, the crew members tried to make out the bottom and the coral islands as best as possible.

On the 97th day, the team met the boat local residents, who helped the crew to row, and on the 101st day saw the ground for the third time. Exhausted, the sailors moored to the coral atoll Raroia. Fortunately, the raft has successfully withstood the encounter with the reefs.

So on August 7, 1947, the team ended up on a secluded island in the Polynesian archipelago, covering a distance of 6980 km. For a week the crew enjoyed luxurious coconut trees and transparent ocean until the boat of local residents appeared on the horizon again.

The 101-day journey is over. Every day, brave sailors fought the elements, made incredible discoveries and met dangerous ocean dwellers.

The team led by Thor Heyerdahl proved that nothing is impossible in the world. In spite of everything, the crew of desperate romantics, daredevils and discoverers crossed the Pacific Ocean on a simple raft, becoming a real sensation.

Triumphant return and world glory

• prove the fact of crossing by ancient tribes The Pacific from South America;
• to confirm the theory that coconuts were brought from South America to Polynesia by rafts;
• to find a live snake mackerel, which had previously been studied only by individuals washed ashore. The team found out that during the day it lives at depth, and with the arrival of darkness, it begins to hunt and rises to the surface.

After returning home, Thor Heyerdahl wrote the book "Journey to the Kon-Tiki", which became a world bestseller and has been translated into 70 languages. The documentary Kon-Tiki, directed by Heyerdahl during his travels, won an Academy Award in 1952. Later, in 2012, a feature film "Kon-Tiki" was released on the screen, which was nominated for the Golden Globe and Oscar awards.

Museum "Kon-Tiki"

The legendary "Kon-Tiki" is still kept in the museum of the same name in Oslo. Surprisingly, the raft was perfectly preserved and even withstood a long transportation on a Norwegian ship. Scientists are confident that balsa logs can still float on the water and resist the elements.