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KON TIKI
The Kon Tiki was
built as a copy of a prehistoric South American vessel. The raft left Callao in Peru on 28th of April 1947 and
landed on the island of Raroia in Polynesia after 101
days. This successful voyage of 4,300 miles proved that
the islands in Polynesia were within the range of this
type of prehistoric South American vessel.
The expedition was a
result of the theory that Thor Heyerdahl had been
pondering ever since his stay on Fatu Hiva: this group
of islands in the South Pacific could not have been
populated solely by peoples from the west. It must also
have been populated by indigenous South Americans. Among
the circumstantial evidence Heyerdahl pointed to, was
the story of Kon Tiki Viracocha, a native chief who,
legend has it, sailed west from Peru into the sunset on
a large balsawood raft.
Heyerdahl recruited a crew
of five well-qualified men. Thor’s criteria in choosing
crew members were that they all possess unwavering
courage as well as one unique qualification,
indispensable for the expedition. They are Knut Haugland,
Bengt Danielsson, Erik Hesselberg, Torstein Raaby and
Herman Watzinger. Together they traveled to Ecuador to
procure balsa timber for the raft and then on to Peru to
build it. They constructed the raft out of balsa logs
and other native materials in an indigenous style as
recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores.
Hesselberg had
navigational skills, but no one in the group could sail,
and they had even less idea how to steer a balsawood
raft. Such knowledge had been lost for hundreds of
years. Leading experts in anthropology and seamanship
considered it highly unlikely that the raft would reach
its destination. Some even warned that it would
disintegrate within the first two weeks and that the
expedition was pure suicide. After 101 days at sea the
Kon Tiki arrived on a coral reef by the Raroia atoll in
Polynesia. Thor Heyerdahl and his crew had demonstrated
that South American peoples could in fact have journeyed
to the islands of the South Pacific by balsa raft.
Heyerdahl’s book, The
Kon Tiki Expedition published in 1948, has been
translated into more than 70 languages, and tens of
millions of copies have been sold to date. The film—of
the same title, shot by the crew during the journey—won
the Academy Award for best documentary film in 1951. It
is screened continuously at
The Kon Tiki Museum.
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This model
of the Kon Tiki is fully built (not a kit.) It is
24"L x 22"W x 14"T Clearance
sale
$1,250  Shipping
and insurance in the contiguous USA included. Other
places: $300 flat rate.
This
model is in stock and can be shipped within 5 business
days.
Learn more about the
Kon Tiki here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition
Learn more about the
Kon Tiki here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition
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