Swimming of Thor Heyerdahl on the Kon-Tiki. Balsa raft "Kon-Tiki"

As a child, everyone probably dreamed of sailing the world’s oceans on a beautiful three-masted sailboat and discovering new lands or exploring those already on the map. But over the years, such transcendental dreams turn into simple memories. Does this happen for everyone? No. In 1947, when the echoes of the Second World War were still clearly heard in people's minds, there was one brave explorer named Thor Heyerdahl, who decided to follow the path of the Peruvian Indians to the Polynesian islands, thereby proving his personally developed theory about the true settlement of this land.

It is not surprising that the compatriots of the initiator of this expedition, Norwegian directors Joaquin Ronning and Espen Sandberg, took up the production of a feature film about the journey to the Kon-Tiki. The story, which was based on a documentary filmed during the trip and a book written by Thor Heyerdahl, still has many errors regarding the veracity of the facts presented. However, even gross mistakes, most likely made deliberately, do not spoil the overall viewing experience, because the directors perfectly felt all the main points and conveyed them to the screen with high quality. The episode of the small raft sailing from the shores of Peru looks very powerful and impressive. Therefore, such a non-dynamic scene, not filled with any serious actions, but still has great emotional significance. A perfectly composed soundtrack gives something significant to the entry into the seas and fills the viewer's soul with a feeling of unfeigned solemnity.

Further events do not contain boring moments throughout the entire running time, which is why the overall picture looks solid and does not get boring. It is worth recognizing that the most emotional episodes while moving along the ocean surface were invented by the authors themselves. There are many embellished events created to add drama to the action. A blown storm, with strong waves and an endless stream of rain, looks powerful. The chaos in the crew and the panicky zeal to remove the sail and secure everything on the deck looks great. The fear of water and salvation from the dark abyss of Thor Heyerdahl (Paul Sverre Valheim Hagen) are indeed filled with a certain despair and fear. But this cannot be praised for the actors, who barely felt their characters; Credit should only be given to the directors who, despite everything, managed to handle such a dynamic and emotional scene.

The most positive thing for the entire film "Kon-Tiki" is the dynamism and interest in the course of events that do not disappear over the course of two hours. Every time something happens. At any moment the viewer's eye will be pleased with a bright image sea ​​world when luminous creatures float near the raft blue jellyfish. The episode of the encounter with a whale shark, calmly swimming under the stern of the raft, is not inferior in intensity of emotions. The fear of a team member and the harpoon being released into a huge fish adds the right amount of nervousness to a moment in the life of the team. The loss of a good friend, a parrot, and the fall of a human companion into a shark-infested abyss is truly fascinating and intriguing. Maybe this episode is devoid of a certain amount of logic and reason. It may be invented by the scriptwriters and oversaturated with drama, but in the hands of Joaquin Ronninag and Espen Sandberg, all this is presented with high quality, scary and exciting.

Kon-Tiki is a great example of how great importance the film has a talented director, in this case two directors. The picture cannot boast of an excellent cast that can transform the picture and bring new level quality. No reasonable approach screenwriters for adaptation real travel, everything is reduced to ridiculous distortions of facts. But the production of the entire film, the development of events and filling the story with a beautiful and soulful soundtrack rests entirely with the conscience of the directors. They perfectly showed the life of the sea and the crew of a raft and deservedly earned an Oscar nomination in 2013.

In 1937, the Norwegian archaeologist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Liv sailed from Marseille, across the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean, to 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 the 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 South-East Asia. This was followed by work in archives, museums, the study of ancient manuscripts and drawings depicting rafts of ancient Indians 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 - this is the most light 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. 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 tugboat crew said goodbye to the travelers, and a long and dangerous journey to Polynesia began for them.

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 in his book daily life on the raft and the duties of each crew member: “Bengt was most likely to be found in the doorway of the cabin, where he lay on his stomach, immersed in 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 be anywhere at any time of the day - either with meteorological instruments on the mast, then with underwater goggles under the raft, where he checked the centerboard, then behind the stern, in inflatable boat, where he worked on balloons and some strange instruments. 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 thin layer 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 of 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 first time the crew saw land was 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.

04/28/1947 Thor Heyerdahl and five of his associates set off on a trip on the Kon-Tiki raft.

At the end of April 1947, the residents of Peru observed 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 bags of provisions and equipment, baskets and bunches of bananas.

That day, local newspaper correspondents, 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 from the coast in the open ocean, the military boat towing it set sail back, and the travelers set off into the unknown - to the shores of Polynesia, towards dangerous ocean currents and stormy winds.

Over almost seven decades, the expedition has acquired a mass of legends and new details. But real story the famous journey, which inspired many to brave actions, has still been preserved.

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

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

To his surprise, very soon he found evidence that the narrator was right - giant Tiki sculptures, 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 for the expedition was formalized only in 1946. The archaeologist was determined to prove the theory of the settlement of island archipelagos on the way from the Latin American coast to Polynesia. Before the great discovery, it was believed that coconuts growing on the island archipelago were brought from South America sea ​​water. But Heyerdahl had his own theory.

In New York, he tried to interest one of the scientists in the idea, but faced categorical objection. Researchers the theory seemed outrageous and caused a storm of indignation. When the traveler tried to explain himself, one of the scientists replied with a smile: “Well, try going from Peru to the Pacific Islands on a balsa raft.”

Together with the desperate anthropologist, 5 more people went on the expedition: navigator and artist Eric Hesselberg, cook Bengt Danielsson (he was the only one of the crew who spoke Spanish), radio operator Knut Haugland, second radio operator Thorstein Robue and technician, engineer and meteorologist Hermann Watzinger. 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 the travelers were able to find suitable material only in the interior of the continent. The construction required 9 trunks of huge trees, from which the bark had to be removed and floated to Lima, the capital of Peru.

Representatives of 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 highlighted the port dock and workers who actively participated in the construction. From large trunks they cut logs that became the basis of the raft. Another layer of wood was fixed on top of the base, but of a smaller size. The deck was covered with bamboo mats, and in the middle a hut was built from banana leaves.

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

On April 28, 1947, the team began its journey from the Peruvian port of Callao. A naval boat towed the raft to the Humboldt Current, from where the crew continued on their own.
From the first days of sailing, the Kon-Tiki obediently moved along the ocean current. Thanks to the strength and excellent steering gear, there were no problems with control, and a well-thought-out watch schedule and distribution of responsibilities ensured safety and a favorable friendly atmosphere.

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

Travelers resolved all issues on our own or at general meetings. Although the expedition route took place far from sea routes, and the weather kept bringing storm winds, the voyage proceeded without serious incidents. On the way, the team lost only a parrot, which flew away during a 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 the hut. Once there was a fire on the deck, but coordinated work helped to cope with the fire in time.

Some of the team ate seafood. During the voyage, flying fish and other ocean inhabitants often came on board, and to prepare a full meal it was enough to cast a fishing rod into the open sea for 20 minutes.

Two crew members took part in an interesting experiment. They refused fresh fish and ate dry rations that had been developed for the US military but had not yet been tested. To maintain the salt balance in the body, the expedition members mixed drinking water with sea water, and replenished fresh water supplies during tropical rains.

The journey was not complete without meeting dangerous inhabitants of the ocean depths. One day, a whale shark swam so close to the ship that one of the crew had to use a spear to save the crew. There were cases when the raft was surrounded by whole schools of bloodthirsty sharks, but everything turned out okay.

The first serious danger befell the team halfway through the journey. The raft survived two large storms at once, one of which did not stop for five days. During the storm, the crew lost a steering oar, and the sail and deck were seriously damaged. When the wind died down, the team managed to repair the damage, tie the logs, which were severely torn, more firmly, and continue their journey safely.

Every day the Kon-Tiki covered a distance of 80 km, but the record was a distance of 130 km, which the crew covered on a fine day.
The main difficulty was constantly checking the nodes. The team members dived underwater without difficulty, but each dive could be fatal. Schools of sharks that swam to the smell of the blood of caught and cut fish often surrounded the raft and did not allow the mechanism to be checked in time. To avoid a dangerous encounter, the team made a special basket for the diver. As soon as the shark came into view, the inspector could hide and signal to the crew to be pulled aboard.

It was the 93rd day of the voyage when the team first saw islands of land with coconut thickets, but along with the good news came trouble. Near the Tuamotu archipelago, there was a possibility of stumbling upon dangerous reefs that were practically invisible due to small size. During the surf, the crew members tried to see the bottom and coral islands as best as possible.

On the 97th day, the team met a boat of local residents who helped the crew row, and on the 101st day they saw land for the third time. Exhausted, the sailors landed at the coral atoll of Raroia. Fortunately, the raft successfully withstood the encounter with the reefs.

So on August 7, 1947, the team found itself on a secluded island in the Polynesian archipelago, covering a distance of 6,980 km. For a week the crew enjoyed luxurious coconut trees and the 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 inhabitants of the ocean.

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

The merits of the expedition were instantly recognized by the world community. Incredibly, the team managed to make three discoveries at once:
prove the fact of crossing by ancient tribes Pacific Ocean from South America;
confirm the theory that coconuts were brought from South America to Polynesia on rafts;
discover live snake mackerel, which had previously been studied only from specimens washed ashore. The team found out that during the day it lives in the depths, and when darkness comes, it begins to hunt and rises to the surface.

After returning home, Thor Heyerdahl wrote the book “The Voyage to Kon-Tiki,” which became a world bestseller and was translated into 70 languages. The documentary film Kon-Tiki, made by Heyerdahl during the trip, was awarded an Oscar in 1952. Later, in 2012, it was released Feature Film"Kon-Tiki", which was nominated for the Golden Globe and Oscar awards.

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 long-term transportation on a Norwegian ship. Scientists are confident that balsa logs can still float on water and withstand the elements.

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 most big trees, which they could only find and removed 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 team, 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. In the footsteps of this ancient god and decided to swim Thor Heyerdahl with his team.

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 my 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 wooden box. Once the cook dozed off and caught fire bamboo wall huts, but they were able to easily extinguish it. Food, as well as various equipment, was stored below deck, between bamboo mats and a balsa base. Everything you needed was packed in carton boxes, filled with asphalt (bitumen) so that moisture does not get 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 the fish's glands. By this they wanted to see the possibility of mining drinking water In the open sea. The Kon-Tiki crew members took with them a little less than a ton of fresh water, which was replenished from time to time by those traveling tropical rains. To maintain salt balance, they sometimes mixed fresh water from the sea.

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 with average speed 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 of 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 of local residents, they swam up to them and began to help the Kon-Tiki crew 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 belongings to this uninhabited 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 rise: because of the sea water, the nuts become unsuitable for germination, and therefore, people brought them to the islands.

They planted seeds on the islands of Polynesia 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.

One riddle prompted him to come up with the idea of ​​such a journey. Once upon a time, a leader ancient tribe The Incas Kon-Tiki was defeated in the war and retreated with his warriors to the ocean shore. And now there was nowhere to retreat further. Then Kon-Tiki and his companions built rafts, sailed into the ocean and never returned. And no one saw them again. Where did they disappear to?
Heyerdahl believed that Kon-Tiki sailed and sailed west on rafts, and eventually landed on Easter Island, and his warriors settled from there on all the other islands. But how to prove this? Only by repeating this whole thing yourself sea ​​route.
Heyerdahl gathered a team, built a raft and set off on a journey to exactly repeat the path of the Inca leader.

After I read Heyerdahl’s book “The Voyage of the Kon-Tiki” (I couldn’t stop! I didn’t even think that it would be so interesting to read!), I really wanted to tell Osya about this journey. And we began to play with him, imagining what we ourselves have to do dangerous journey across the ocean. I wanted to talk to Osya about Heyerdahl’s journey, but I didn’t want to give out a lot of information in bulk. Therefore, we first discussed how Osya imagined such a journey, and then I told some interesting details about the adventures of Heyerdahl and his companions.

What will we build the raft from?
Thor Heyerdahl set sail on a raft made of balsa wood - this is the lightest wood in the world! It was not so easy to find a place where these trees still grow. They had to climb far into the mountains and from there float logs down the river.

So, the raft was ready, and there was not a single nail in it! Above nine mighty balsa logs, tied with ropes, rose a mast with a giant (27 square meters) rectangular sail. 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.

raft layout

Raft in a museum in Oslo

Still from the movie "Kon-Tiki"

Crew members had to check the condition of the ropes underwater from time to time. It was very dangerous because you could get into the shark's mouth.

What will we eat?
(We need to learn how to fish)
“On the way we had to find out whether it was possible to catch fish in the open sea and collect rainwater. I believed that we should have taken with us the front-line rations that we were given during the war.”

Heyerdahl knew that the Aborigines once easily made do with dried sweet potatoes and dried meat during voyages. But if the food supply suddenly spoiled, six people could simply die of hunger. Therefore, they took with them many boxes of canned food, covered with a thin layer of asphalt on top to prevent moisture from getting inside. Their supply should have been enough for four months. In addition, on the raft there were supplies of fruits, coconuts, and a lot of fishing gear: they hoped that they would be able to catch fish, and everything worked out! Moreover, often 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).

Once the cook dozed off and did not notice how the bamboo wall of the hut caught fire, but, fortunately, everything worked out and it was quickly put out.
The ocean was teeming with tuna, mackerel and bonito fish and often it was enough just to throw a hook into the water. Having adapted to sea fishing, the friends even began to catch sharks, sometimes dragging them onto a raft simply by grabbing their rough tail.

It also happened that they had to keep up to 9 sharks on deck.

What are we going to drink?
“In the tropics, on hot days, you can pour so much water into yourself that it will flow back out of your mouth, but you will still feel thirsty. The body does not need water, but, oddly enough, salt.”
Fifty containers with 1,100 liters of spring water were loaded aboard the Kon-Tiki before sailing to the Polynesian islands. This supply would easily last for several months of travel. But after a few weeks, the travelers felt that the water had spoiled and tasted bad. Heyerdahl often thought about how his Indian predecessors coped with thirst. They stored water in dried hollowed out gourds and thick bamboo trunks. They drank water from the holes, after which they plugged the holes with strong plugs. In addition, the aborigines had secrets with which they survived even when the water dried up. They “squeezed” the caught fish, resulting in the release of a liquid that could quench their thirst.
Travelers mixed fresh water with sea water, and soon learned to drink sea water itself - when they accidentally learned that oat grains almost completely destroy its unpleasant salty taste.

Is there a way to get in touch?
There was a small radio station on the raft, with the help of which the expedition made contact.

What ocean dangers await us?

High waves crashing onto the raft. What saved us was that the water easily drained into the cracks between the logs.
- impossible control of the raft and submission to the current. Pilot and steering oar. The stern of the ship should always be exposed to the wind.

Sharks
- at night you need to get attached
- how to land on the shore?
“Many ships in the Tuamotu archipelago area were trapped by underwater reefs and smashed to pieces on the coral. We couldn’t see the insidious trap from the sea.”
After 90 days of travel, Heyerdahl's team began to feel the approach of earth. Schools of birds appeared in the sky, purposefully flying to the west. The raft was carried straight to one of the many islands of Polynesia - the islet of Puka Puka in the Tuamotu archipelago. But the current carried the raft past the piece of land and dragged it further.
A few days later the raft sailed to Raroia Atoll. Here, a whole obstacle course awaited the crew: to get to the ground, the team had to find a passage through a wall of razor-sharp coral reefs. Exhausted trying to break through the reef, the travelers decided to “ride” it at high tide. Holding tightly to the raft, 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. Everything worked out! Ahead of the team were dances with the natives, festive ceremonies in Tahiti and a ceremonial return home - already on a passenger ship.

How to calculate how fast a raft is moving?
They threw a piece of balsa into the water and measured the time it took for the raft to overtake this piece. (By the way, this could be a good problem for those children who already know how to calculate speed if time and distance are known)

What should we do with the discoveries that lie ahead of us? How to remember all the details and interesting details?

You need to keep a ship's log and write down all observations there, sketch new species of fish and other sea creatures.

Here are examples of entries about fish in the logbook that Heyerdahl kept:
“11/V. This evening, when we were having dinner on the edge of the raft, some huge sea animal surfaced next to us twice. It frothed all the water and disappeared. We could not understand what it was.”

"6/VI. Herman saw a fat fish with a dark back and a white belly, it had a thin tail and many spines. It jumped out of the water to the right of the raft."

I told Osa who Heyerdahl's team came across during their voyage: shark, bonito, tuna, flying fish, swordfish, whale, pilot fish, coryphaena, flying squid.

Thorstein once showed a simply incredible trick - such things only happen in the stories of boastful fishermen. We were sitting and having lunch, suddenly he put his fork aside, dipped his hand into the water, and before we had time to look back, the sea began to boil and a hefty dorado. Everything was explained simply: Thorsten caught a piece of fishing line, and at the other end there was a slightly puzzled coryphaena that Eric had missed the day before.
This fish has a magnificent color: in the water the scales shimmered blue-green, the fins sparkled with gold. And when you pull her onto the raft, an amazing transformation takes place before your eyes. When falling asleep, the fish first became gray with black spots, then completely silvery-white. But after four to five minutes it gradually returned to its original color. And in water, the coryphen sometimes changes color, like a chameleon. You will notice some “new” fish copper color, take a closer look, and this is our old friend - coryphaena.

Early in the morning we found a very small squid on the roof of the cabin. Puzzle! He himself did not fit in there, this can be seen from the fact that there was nowhere inkblots, only a black ring around the “baby” itself. It wasn't dropped on the roof by a seabird, otherwise we would have found beak or claw marks. Apparently, he was thrown there by a wave, although none of the night watch could remember such a hefty wave.
It is known that a squid moves according to the same principle as a jet plane. With enormous force, it pushes water through a channel inside the body and swims backwards with quick jerks, and the tentacles collected in a cluster stretch behind the head, making the squid streamlined. Two round, fleshy folds of skin on the sides act as rudders and as oars when the squid is not in a hurry.

If our small kerosene lantern stood on the deck at night, its light would attract guests - flying fish, big and small, rushed over the raft. They crash into a cabin or sail and splash onto the deck. After all, they can only accelerate and take off in the water, so they lie there, helplessly flapping their long pectoral fins, like big-eyed herrings. The fish flew quite quickly. The way he pokes his muzzle right into your face was very sensitive. In the morning we fried our catch. The cook's first duty when he got up in the morning was to walk along the deck and collect all the flying fish that had landed during the night. Usually there were six to eight of them, and once we counted twenty-six fatty fish. Knut was simply upset when the flying fish landed in his hand, and not directly on the frying pan in which he had just melted the lard.

The sky was covered with clouds and the night was pitch black, so Thorstein placed a kerosene lantern near his head so that the watchmen could see where to step when entering and leaving. About four o'clock Thorstein woke up because the lantern had fallen and something cold and slippery was lashing his ears. A flying fish, he decided, and began to fumble around to grab it and throw it overboard. He came across something wet, long, and snake-like, and he pulled his hand away as if he had been burned. While Thorstein was busy with the extinguished lantern, the invisible night guest evaded and crawled towards Herman. Herman jumped up, and then I woke up, and the giant squid that at night floats to the surface in these latitudes immediately came to mind. Finally the lantern came on and we saw Herman: he was sitting with a triumphant look, clutching in his hand a thin fish wriggling like an eel. It was about a meter long, snake-like body, huge black eyes; long predatory jaws are studded with sharp teeth that could fold back, allowing food to pass through.
All this fuss woke up Bengt, and we brought a lantern and a long fish to his eyes. He sat down in sleeping bag and said sleepily:
- Nonsense, such animals don’t exist.
After which he turned over and calmly fell asleep again.
Bengt was almost right. It later turned out that the six of us were the first to see the snake fish - snake mackerel - alive. Until then, only her skeletons had been found on the coast of South America and the Galapagos Islands, and even then only a few times.

It was whale shark, the largest of the sharks and generally the largest modern fish. It is very rare. The monster was so huge that when he decided to dive under the raft, we saw his head on one side and his tail on the other. His muzzle was so ridiculous and stupid that we simply could not help laughing, although we understood perfectly well: if this mountain of muscles decided to attack us, all that would remain of our balsa logs would be splinters. The whale shark continued to circle right under the raft, and we wondered how it would end. Here again she slid under the oar and lifted it with her back. We stood ready along the sides, holding hand harpoons that looked like toothpicks in front of this colossus. It looked like the shark had no intention of leaving us; it followed us like a faithful dog, staying close to the raft.

Map.
The Kon-Tiki sailed from the Peruvian port of Callao on April 28, 1947. And on August 7, the raft reached the end point of its journey - Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. In this way, about 3,770 miles (or 6,980 km) were covered in 101 days.

The article I used to write this post is http://redigo.ru/article/240
Many of the photographs are from Heyerdahl's book.

I watched the 2012 film “Kon-Tiki” and showed several excerpts from it to Osya. Just in case, I’ll write excerpts here in time, in case someone else wants to show them to their children. I didn’t show the whole film, especially since there is an unpleasant scene when they rip open the shark’s belly, and the parrot is also eaten by the shark, although this was not in the book, and I decided that the information that the bird was carried away by a wave - enough for the Axis.
So, I showed the episodes:
from 37 min. 40 each - with crab
from 42:36 to 49:50 - with a storm
from 51:02 to 53:10 - with a whale shark that swims beautifully around the raft
from hour to hour:02 - about luminous water
from hour: 24 to hour: 26 - how they saw the bird and tried to land on the shore
and at the end - how they hugged and rejoiced.

And of course, you can watch the film that Heyerdahl himself directed, and which eventually won an Oscar:

And now about the game: first of all, we made a raft - for this we turned our dinner table, tied ropes to it, and hung craft paper on the ropes