Hot Tour. The amazing life of adventure traveler Thor Heyerdahl. Thor Heyerdahl. Raft trip Kon-Tiki

"Scientists hide behind the term,
to hide from people that they do not know the answer ... "

Thor Heyerdahl

Norwegian geographer (trained), traveler and anthropologist.

His mother worked in the anthropological museum, and the young Tur created a small museum in the house, in which the viper was the main exhibit ...

In the 30s Thor Heyerdahl spent more than a year with his wife in almost primitive conditions in the Marquesas Islands.

In 1947 Thor Heyerdahl and further 5 his colleagues, testing the scientific hypothesis about the possibility of conquering ocean spaces by ancient navigators, sailed 6920 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean on the Kon-Tiki raft. Thus, circumstantial evidence was obtained about the possibility of ancient contacts between South America and Polynesia ...

In 1955-1956 Thor Heyerdahl organized a Norwegian archaeological expedition to Easter Island to conduct experiments to study the technology of manufacturing and installing the famous moai statues.

“Then Heyerdahl, true to the idea of ​​the important role of long-distance migrations, decided to prove that the Egyptians could reach South America and take part in the formation of the pre-Columbian civilizations of America - the Incas and Aztecs. He decided to cross the Atlantic on the papyrus boat "Ra" (with the technique of the ancient Egyptians) from North Africa. The first attempt in 1969, after overcoming 4500 km, ended in a crash, the second succeeded the following year - the Ra II, after 57 days of travel, sailed to Barbados in the West Indies. So Heyerdahl also had a hand in reviving Elliot Smith's idea. At this time, Heyerdahl became interested in the history of the Old World. In 1969, he and half of his “Ra” team, between both trips to “Ra”, visited me on an expedition near Novocherkassk, where I dug out barrows with pit burials, and Gimbutas then declared them Proto-Indo-European. Tour wanted to see the Proto-Indo-Europeans with his own eyes. According to my ideas, he saw only the Aryans (Proto-Indo-Iranians). But the local authorities met him with pomp, the head of the region was very worried and began his welcoming speech with the words: "Dear Herr Tuyerdahl!" Such mistakes are contagious. All subsequent speakers paused before the name and pronounced it with increased clarity: "Tour!!! Heyerdahl!!!" In the 1970s on a reed boat "Tigris" Heyerdahl set off on a 9980-kilometer journey along the rivers from Iraq to the Indian Ocean to prove that the Sumerians could 5000 years ago pass this way. The war in Ethiopia prevented the completion of this expedition. All publications of Thor Heyerdahl are extremely romantic, read excitedly and with admiration. But, proving by their very implementation that such journeys were possible, they do not prove one thing - that these expeditions actually took place. To think that the statement of possibility is a sufficient historical explanation and justification is possibilism, which most historians reject as logically fallacious. Only one book by Heyerdahl, published in 1952, presents on 821 pages the evidence he collected. This is American Indians in the Pacific. The theory behind the Kon-Tiki expedition. Scholars' reviews of this book are as soberingly critical as the responses to his other books are full of admiration. Critics find in it only random coincidences of words, separate similarities of things with a complete divergence of the whole culture, legends that can be interpreted in different ways. Contradictory facts are omitted, the material is poorly organized, there are a lot of repetitions. Everything gives the impression of rough notes, piled up and published. As for the content of the book (and criticism), the currents make it easier to swim from the Asian mainland to the east than from America to the west, and indeed, food plants taro, coconut, banana, breadfruit, like animals, penetrated Oceania from Asia. - domestic pig. Sweet potatoes and gourds may indeed be indicative of contacts between Polynesia and the Americas, but such contacts do not necessarily imply migration."

Klein L.S. , History of archaeological thought in 2 volumes, Volume 1, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University, 2011, p. 572-573.

“On the Pacific island of Easter there are cyclopean statues that, it would seem, could not have been erected by a primitive tribe inhabiting the island today. Can we hypothesize that these statues were placed by aliens from another planet? Of course we can. However, being within the framework of a rational approach, we have the right to accept such an explanation only after more and more simple - "earthly" - hypotheses have been exhausted. Thor Heyerdahl, who made a successful attempt to install the Paschian statue with the help of only those means that are at the disposal of the natives there today, acted strictly within the framework of "Occam's Razors" although I probably didn't think about it.

Eskov K.Yu., Amazing paleontology: the history of the Earth and life on it, Publishing house of the Scientific Center ENAS, 2007, p. 20.

Biography

early years

Thor Heyerdahl was born in the small town of Larvik in southern Norway to Thor and Alison Ljung Heyerdahl. My father owned a brewery. His mother worked at the anthropological museum, and the young Tur got acquainted with the Darwinian theory of evolution quite early. From childhood, Heyerdahl was interested in zoology. In the house where Tur lived in those years, he created a small museum in which the viper was the main exhibit.

As a child, Tur was terribly afraid of water, because he nearly drowned twice. As he later recalled, if at the age of 17 someone had told him that he would sail the ocean on a fragile boat for several months, he would have considered that person insane. He was able to part with this fear only at the age of 22, when, having accidentally fallen into the river, he found the strength to swim out on his own.

As a true patriot, he wanted to fight the enemy and, eventually moving to the United States, he enlisted in the army. After graduating from a sabotage radio school in England, Heyerdahl and his comrades from the so-called "I Group" were prepared for being thrown into Norway occupied by the German army. With the rank of lieutenant, he went on an American liner as part of an escort to Murmansk. At the end of the campaign, the convoy was attacked by German submarines, which was repulsed with the help of Soviet ships. Upon arrival in Kirkenes, Heyerdahl's group was to maintain radio contact between the headquarters of the Norwegian detachment and London. Here he found the end of the war.

Expedition "Kon-Tiki"

The Kon-Tiki demonstrated that a primitive raft, using the Humboldt current and a tailwind, could indeed cross the Pacific Ocean in a relatively simple and safe direction in a westerly direction. Thanks to the keel system and the sail, the raft proved its high maneuverability. In addition, fish accumulated in fairly large numbers between the balsa logs, and this suggests that ancient sailors could use it to quench their thirst in the absence of other sources of fresh water. Inspired by the sailing of the Kon-Tiki, others repeated this journey on their rafts. Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki has been translated into 66 languages. A documentary film about the expedition, filmed by Heyerdahl during the voyage, won an Oscar in 1951.

Meanwhile, direct evidence of contacts between South America and Polynesia is also known: the fact that the South American sweet potato is the main food product in almost all of Polynesia seems to be the most significant. By experience, Heyerdahl proved that neither sweet potato nor coconut could reach the islands of Polynesia "by swimming". Regarding the linguistic argument, Heyerdahl gave an analogy, according to which, he prefers to believe that African Americans did come from Africa, judging by the color of their skin, and not from England, as one might assume from their speech.

The book “Expeditions to Ra” was written about these expeditions and a documentary film was created.

“The similarity between the early civilizations of Egypt and Mexico is not limited to the pyramids... Both in Mexico and Egypt there was a highly developed system of hieroglyphic writing... Scientists note the similarity of fresco painting in temples and tombs, similar designs of temples with skillful megalithic colonnades. It is pointed out that when constructing vaults from slabs, architects on both sides of the Atlantic did not know the art of building a real arch. Attention is drawn to the existence of cyclopean-sized stone human figures, to amazing astronomical knowledge and a highly developed calendar system in Mexico and Egypt. Scientists compare the amazingly perfect practice of trepanation of the human skull, characteristic of the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, Mexico and Peru, and also point to a similar Egyptian-Peruvian custom of mummification. Taken together, these and numerous other evidences of similarity of cultures could support the theory that once or more ships from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea crossed the Atlantic Ocean and brought the foundations of civilization to the natives of Mexico.

In addition to the main aspects of the expedition, Heyerdahl deliberately chose a crew in which he brought together representatives of different races, nationalities, religions and political persuasions in order to demonstrate how people can fruitfully cooperate and live in peace on such a small floating island. In addition, the expedition collected samples of ocean pollution and submitted its report to the United Nations.

Crew "Ra"

The crew of "Ra-II"

Boat "Tigris"

Heyerdahl's latest project is described in his book In Search of Odin. In the footsteps of our past." Heyerdahl began excavations in Azov, a city not far from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. He tried to find traces of the ancient civilization of Asgard, corresponding to the texts of the Ynglinga Saga, authored by Snorri Sturluson. This saga says that a leader named Odin led a tribe called Ases, and led him north through Saxony to the island of Funen in Denmark, and finally settled in Sweden. There, according to the text of Snorri Sturluson, he made such an impression on the locals with his varied knowledge that they began to worship him after his death as a god (see also "House of the Ynglings", "Mythical Kings of Sweden"). Heyerdahl suggested that the story told in the Ynglinga Saga is based on real facts.

Later years

Tomb of Thor Heyerdahl in Kolla Mikeri

In later years, Heyerdahl was busy with many expeditions and archaeological projects. However, he remained best known for his sea travels in boats and for his particular focus on issues of cultural diffusionism.

In 1991, the 77-year-old father of five, Heyerdahl, married for the third time. His chosen one was the former Miss France 1954, Jacqueline Beer, who was 18 years younger than her husband. Having lived on the Italian Riviera for many years, Heyerdahl moved with his wife to Tenerife.

Heyerdahl died at the age of 87 from a brain tumor on the Colla-Mikeri estate in the Italian town of Alassio, surrounded by his family - his wife Jacqueline, sons Bjorn, Tour and daughters Marian and Bettina. In his homeland, a monument was erected to him during his lifetime, and a museum was opened in his house. On January 18, 2011, the modern frigate "Thor Heyerdahl" (F312), named after the great traveler, entered the Norwegian Navy.

Followers

Heyerdahl's expeditions were spectacular events, and his heroic journeys on fragile boats staggered the human imagination. Despite the fact that most of his work caused controversy in scientific circles, Heyerdahl undeniably raised public interest in ancient history and the achievements of various cultures and peoples around the world. He also showed that long-distance travel across the ocean was technically possible for Neolithic man. In fact, he was a great practitioner of experimental archaeology. Heyerdahl's books have served as a source of inspiration for several generations of readers. He introduced readers of all ages to the world of archeology and ethnography, making them attractive through his colorful travels. This Norwegian adventurer often broke the boundaries of ordinary consciousness. "Boundaries? he asked. “I have never seen them, but I have heard that they exist in the minds of most people.”

In 1954, William Willis sailed solo from Peru to American Samoa on a small raft called the Seven Sisters.

In and years Eduard Ingrish (Czechoslovakia) repeated the Kon-Tiki expedition on the Kantut rafts.

In 2006, the Kon-Tiki path was repeated by a crew of 6 people, which included Heyerdahl's grandson Olav Heyerdahl. The expedition was called "Tangaroa" and was organized in memory of Thor Heyerdahl with the aim of observing the state of the environment in the Pacific Ocean. A film was made about this trip.

Criticism

Many theories of Thor Heyerdahl, especially the theory of the settlement of Polynesia, have been criticized. So, Eric de Bishop believed that there was only a cultural exchange between the Polynesians and the population of South America, since the marine technology of the Polynesians surpassed the technology of other peoples, which he himself proved by sailing on the Kaimiloa.

Miloslav Stingl called the "legend of brilliant blondes" very similar to "theories that recently put humanity on the brink of disaster."

Awards and honorary titles

Bibliography

• 1938 - På Jakt efter Paradiset - Hunt for Paradise
• 1948 - The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas
• 1952 - American Indians in the Pacific: The Theory Behind the Kon-Tiki Expedition
• 1957 - Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island
• 1968 - Sjøveier til Polynesia (Sea Routes to Polynesia, Chicago: Rand McNally, 1968).
• 1970 - The Ra Expeditions (Russian translation "Ra")
• 1974 - FATU-HIVA (Back to Nature), (Russian translation of "Fatu-Hiva: Return to Nature", 1978)
• 1978 - Early Man and the Ocean: The Beginning of Navigation and Seaborn Civilizations (Russian translation "Ancient Man and the Ocean", 1982)
• 1979 - The Tigris Expedition: In Search of Our Beginnings ((Russian translation "Tigris Expedition")
• 1982 - "The Art of Easter Island"
• 1986 - The Maldive Mystery (Russian translation of "The Maldivian Mystery"

There are already legends about this journey and even a full-length feature film has been shot. The Kon-Tiki voyage was Thor Heyerdahl's most famous voyage. And he will be remembered for many, many years to come, continue to admire the courage and fearlessness of these romantics, led by Thor Heyerdahl.

Traveling on the Kon-Tiki raft inspired many people to bold deeds and became the hallmark of Thor Heyerdahl. It was this passage across the Pacific Ocean that brought him world fame, and only then all the rest of his not without that wonderful adventures.

Kon-Tiki is a raft made from 9 balsa wood. 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.

Raft building

Initially, Thor Heyerdahl and his team planned to find and cut down balsa trees on the coast of Ecuador, as the Incas did, but they did not find anything. I had to fly inland and cut down these trees there. They cut down 9 of the biggest trees they could find and stripped their bark the way the Indians do. They rafted logs all the way to Lima, the capital of Peru, from where they began their journey.

Right there they set about building their raft. The authorities of Peru gave them 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 put 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 parts of it were tied with ropes. In the same way, the ancient inhabitants of these places, the Incas, built their rafts. The ship's mast and rudder were made from mangrove wood, which sinks in water.

The authorities did not believe that the raft could reach the islands of Polynesia, and even made bets among themselves. But the people who had gathered before sailing 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. The 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 sailed with his people across the Pacific Ocean. 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, Thor Heyerdahl decided to swim with his team.

On April 28, 1947, the Kon-Tiki raft sailed from the Peruvian port of Callao. In order for this ship not to interfere with port traffic, a naval tug pulled the raft 50 miles, up to the Humboldt Current. Further, the team of Thor Heyerdahl proceeded independently.

Thor Heyerdahl(1914-2002) - leader of the expedition (pictured 3rd)

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

Bengt Danielsson(1921-1997) - Acted as a cook. He was interested in the theory of migration. He also helped as an interpreter, as the only one from the crew spoke Spanish (pictured 2nd)

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

Turstein Robue(1918-1964) - second radio operator (pictured 5th)

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

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

On my way

Flying fish and other seafood were constantly on board the ship. They had no shortage of seafood - the open ocean was overboard. Dolphin fish often came across. They also collected plankton, pulling a fine mesh behind them.

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 it was easily extinguished. 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) so that moisture would not get into them.

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

If they wanted fresh fish, then for this they just had to throw the hook 20 minutes before eating - and the fish was guaranteed to be there by dinner!

They also tried drinking lymphatic fluid obtained from fish glands. By doing this, they wanted to see the possibility of extracting drinking water on the high seas. 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 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 they were approached by the largest of the sharks - the whale shark. They watched her for so long that one participant lost their nerve and he stuck a spear in her, after which the shark disappeared. They used to have to keep up to 9 sharks on deck.

There were also cases when the sharks nearly bit the crew members, but, fortunately, there were no injuries.

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

Before they reached half way, they experienced two great storms, one of which lasted 5 days. During the storm, they didn't even have time to film. In a storm, the sail and steering oar were broken, and the logs parted. The deck was destroyed, but they managed to fix 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 did 130 km. The crew members constantly had to check the nodes under water, 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 he was swimming very fast. Following him, Haugland jumped - he swam to him. For safe diving under water, they built a diver's basket, with which they could hide from sharks. When the sharks got close, the diver had to hide in this basket, after which the team would pull him on board.

Finally, they saw a sign about the approach of the earth - a frigate flew next to them. They approached the Tuamotu coral archipelago. These were the islands of French Polynesia. It was necessary to look both ways, as there was a high probability of stumbling upon coral reefs. The islands are so low that they can only be seen from afar when the surf beats on 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 passed him. Then, after 4 days, they saw a boat of local residents, they swam up to them and began to help the Kon-Tiki team to row. After the team went even further and on the 101st day 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 survived. They proved that on a homemade raft made of balsa logs it is quite possible to cross from South America to the islands of Polynesia. They arrived on the island on August 7, 1947. They traveled a distance of 6980 km.

They dragged their belongings to this deserted island and lived there for a week until they saw a boat with locals coming up.

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 of the sea water, the nuts become unsuitable for seedlings, and therefore, 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 withstood the entire route and after that they still kept well in the water due to the fact that they were damp, the liquid inside the trees played the role of impregnation and did not allow the sea water to soak deeper. In the same way, the ancient Incas built their rafts.

Kon-Tiki- This is a raft on which the scientist Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru to Polynesia with a team of 5 people. The 101-day journey took place back in 1947. But until now, the expedition is considered extraordinary and overgrown with legends.

The purpose of the Kon-Tiki voyage was to prove that the Indians of South America could cross the Pacific Ocean and populate the Polynesian islands. Thor Heyerdahl believed that the Incas made long swims on wooden rafts. According to the approximate "migration route" of the Indians, the Kon-Tiki sailed.

However, the theory itself originated much earlier. -Norwegian archaeologist and ethnographer who conducted a lot of research around the world. So, 10 years before the expedition, the scientist, along with his wife, ended up in the Marquesas archipelago.

One of the elders told the family about Kon-Tiki, the god of the local tribes. The story said that the deity helped the ancestors of the Polynesians leave a large country, overcome the ocean and populate the local islands.

The legend struck Thor Heyerdahl. The scientist continued his research and found confirmation of the myth. In the jungles of Polynesia, an ethnographer discovered giant statues of Kon-Tiki. The statues were identical to the Inca monuments in South America.

The idea of ​​traveling in the footsteps of the god Kon-Tiki was born in 1946, a year before sailing. Heyerdahl began to study old manuscripts, drawings and archives. The work was successful: the researcher discovered a detailed image of the rafts of the South American Indians.

Search for like-minded people

Thor Heyerdahl spoke with hundreds of scientists, travelers and sailors. However, most of them thought the idea of ​​swimming on a raft was crazy. The researcher did not lose hope, and soon he had like-minded people. New acquaintances began to actively look for sponsors of the project. As a result, newspapers wrote about the Norwegian scientist and his plan.

Thor Heyerdahl held one negotiation after another. The US Department of War was among the sponsors of the project. Officials provided the expedition with dry rations and the necessary equipment: sleeping bags, safety shoes, etc. Later, Thor Heyerdahl met with the President of Peru and received permission to build in the local port.

Construction and construction of the raft

The Peruvian authorities provided Heyerdahl and his team with a port dock and several workers. In the construction of the raft, documented Inca technologies were used:

1. « Kon-Tiki” was built from balsa, peeled from the bark. Balsa wood is considered the lightest and strongest in the world. Suitable specimens were delivered to the port from Ecuador.
2. The material was used raw. The moisture inside the wood acted as an impregnation and kept the seawater from soaking in deeper. As a result, the raft stayed afloat for a long time.
3. "Kon-Tiki" was built without the use of nails. The basis of the raft was 9 balsa logs 10–14 meters long. Trees of smaller diameter were laid on top of them, forming a deck. Balsa logs and other components were tied with ropes laid in cut grooves. This prevented the ropes from being chafed by the logs.
4. A mast and a steering oar with a wide blade were installed above the base. Both elements were made from mangrove wood, which does not sink.
5. "Kon-Tiki" had a sharp nose, thanks to the use of logs of various lengths. This approach allowed to increase the speed of movement.
6. The vessel was equipped with a 27 m2 sail and 2 rows of boards protruding from the bottom of the raft and acting as retractable keels. The mechanism prevented the lateral drift of the Kon-Tiki and made it easier to control it.
7. For convenience, the deck was covered with mats of young bamboo. And in the middle they placed a small bamboo hut with a roof made of banana leaves.

After completing the construction, the team saw an exact copy of the ancient South American rafts. They decided to give the ship the name of the god of the Polynesians and Incas, who inspired Thor Heyerdahl to sail. In this regard, the image of the god Kon-Tiki was applied to the sail.

Raft's critical acclaim

Delegation after delegation came to look at the finished raft. Critics unanimously declared that Kon-Tiki would not reach its goal and fall apart from the first major wave. Onlookers even made bets on how soon the raft would sink. The expedition was called "adventure" and "mass suicide". But he did not cancel the swim.

The crew of the Kon-Tiki

Thor Heyerdahl himself became the leader of the expedition. His team included 5 more people:

1. Eric Hesselberg - navigator and artist who made several round-the-world voyages;
2. Knut Haugland - radio operator, participant in World War II;
3. Turstein Robyu is the second radio operator to accomplish a military feat: for several months he transmitted denunciations to England from the German battleship Tirpitz;
4. Hermann Watzinger - an engineer and technician who knew the basics of meteorology and hydrology;
5. Bengt Danielsson is a cook and the only member of the team who spoke Spanish.

Thor Heyerdahl deliberately did not take professional sailors into the team. The scientist did not want the success of the expedition to be explained by the experience of the crew. This would give reason to doubt the ability of the Peruvian Indians to repeat such a voyage.

The seventh unofficial member of the team and at the same time its mascot was the South African green parrot Lolita. The feathered comrade kept chatting in Spanish. Unfortunately, halfway through the journey, the bird was washed overboard during a storm.

How was the expedition?

The Kon-Tiki sailed on 28 April 1947 from the port of Callao in Peru. The boat "Guardian Rio" towed the raft for 50 miles, right up to the Humboldt Current. The team then took control. Every day "Kon-Tiki" covered a distance of 80 km. On one of the fine days, the raft covered a record distance of 130 km.

The most favorable time of the year with the South Equatorial Current and trade winds was chosen for the expedition. Therefore, during the trip, Kon-Tiki survived only 2 storms, one of which lasted 5 days. As a result, logs parted halfway, the stern oar was lost, and the sail and deck were badly damaged. When the storm ended, the crew managed to repair the damage.

On July 31, on the 93rd day of the trip, the team spotted the island of Puka Puka. However, it was not possible to stick to it, because the raft was instantly carried away by the current. On the 97th day of the voyage, the Kon-Tiki approached the island of Angatau.

All day the crew was looking for a passage in dangerous reefs. By evening, a village appeared on the other side of the island. However, even with the help of local islanders, the team was unable to steer the Kon-Tiki against the wind into a safe passage.

On the 100th day of sailing, the raft approached the Raroia atoll in Polynesia. However, the area was also completely surrounded by reefs. The crew decided to make their way to land at high tide. For several hours the raft was beaten by powerful waves. After that, the tide came: "Kon-Tiki" was able to get ashore and the team landed.

On August 7, 1947, on the 101st day of the voyage, the Kon-Tiki expedition was completed. The crew dragged all the necessary things to the island and spent a week there until the local islanders sailed to them. And some time later, the team was taken by a Norwegian ship sent by the authorities to save the expedition.

Encounters with sharks

The only difficulty during the swim was to regularly check the knots. To do this, the crew members had to go down under the water, where flocks of sharks swam. Predators surrounded the Kon-Tiki because of the smell of blood from the fish caught for food.

To make the descent under water less dangerous, the team built a special basket. Noticing the shark, the inspector hid in the structure and gave a sign to be pulled to the surface.

One day, a giant whale shark began to chase the raft. As a result, one of the expedition members could not stand it and stuck a spear into her, forcing her to hide. Sharks often surrounded the Kon-Tiki and even tried to bite scientists. Fortunately, everything worked out.

The meeting with a shark friend was special. The animal stuck to the raft for almost a week. Thor Heyerdahl personally fed the predator, throwing food directly into the mouth. However, one of the team members tried to catch the shark by the tail, and the "friend" swam away.

Provisions and drinking water

The Indians made do with dried sweet potatoes and jerky on the way. But Heyerdahl decided not to risk it. A 3-month supply of food and drink was taken on the raft: army dry rations, fruit and 1100 liters of water in small cans.

To protect against sea water, provisions were stored in cardboard boxes covered with asphalt (bitumen). The container was placed on the main logs below deck: the tree blocked the access of sunlight and provided coolness.

The products were prepared on a primus stove, which was stored in a mangrove box. Once the device caused a fire on board. However, the crew reacted in time: the trouble was avoided.

Most of the crew ate seafood. Flying fish often got on board, and plankton accumulated in a special net. In addition, fishing made it possible to catch a whole meal in 20 minutes. Most often, dolphin fish, bonito, tuna and mackerel caught the bait. A little later, the researchers learned to grab the tail and drag small sharks onto the raft.

As an experiment, two members of the team ate only army rations. At that time, such a diet was considered an innovation and was not tested. The rest of the crew also ate canned food, especially during a storm, when fishing was not very possible.

There was enough drinking water on the Kon-Tiki. But after a few weeks of travel, it became unpleasant to the taste. Therefore, the expedition members regularly replenished their supplies by collecting rainwater. An attempt was also made, like the Indians, to drink the lymph fluid from the glands of fish. In addition, the team found that oat grains eliminate the bad taste of seawater and make it drinkable.

To normalize the water-salt metabolism in the body, the crew periodically added sea water to drinking water. So, it was possible to make up for the lack of salt lost with sweat.

Life

On the very first day, the team distributed duties and assigned shifts. Members of the expedition resolved important issues at meetings. The approach provided a friendly atmosphere in a team of unfamiliar people. In addition, a rubber boat was tied to the raft.

You could stay in it if you wanted privacy. The boat also filmed the raft for a future documentary.

Thor Heyerdahl daily wrote down his observations in his diary, took samples of fish and plankton, and made a film. Radio operators monitored the safety of portable and stationary radio stations in damp conditions, sent reports and weather information on the air. Cook cooked and read: his personal library was kept in the cabin. The technician eliminated breakdowns, was engaged in meteorological and hydro measurements.

The artist patched up the sail, and also made funny sketches of comrades or marine life.

Scientific achievements: what did Thor Heyerdahl prove?

Thanks to the journey on the Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl was able to:

Film and book

Thor Heyerdahl wrote the book Journey to the Kon-Tiki. The work became a bestseller and was translated into 67 languages. A total of 50 million copies were published.

Traveling on the Kon-Tiki became a worldwide sensation. A team of 6 people covered 6980 km on a wooden raft, proving that the elements are subject to man. The Kon-Tiki itself is kept in one of the Oslo museums - in the homeland of Thor Heyerdahl. Scientists claim that the raft is still able to withstand a long swim. Dear Friends, share this story with your friends on social networks - the buttons below. We are sure that many do not know about it, but having learned, they will be surprised by such an event in history that causes admiration. Subscribe to site updates. There are many more exciting things ahead of you.

One riddle prompted him to the idea of ​​such a trip. Once upon a time, the leader of the ancient Inca tribe, Kon-Tiki, was defeated in a war and retreated with his soldiers to the ocean shore. And there was nowhere else to go. Then Kon-Tiki and his associates built rafts, sailed into the ocean and they did not return back. 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 to all the other islands. But how to prove it? Only by repeating this entire sea route on your own.
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 "Journey to Kon-Tiki" (I couldn't stop! I didn't even think it would be so interesting to read!), I really wanted to tell Osa about this trip. And we began to play with him, imagining that we ourselves have a dangerous journey across the ocean. I wanted to talk with Osya about Heyerdahl's journey, but at the same time I did not want to give out a lot of information in bulk. Therefore, we first discussed how Osya imagines such a journey, and then I told some interesting details of the adventures of Heyerdahl and his companions.

What will we build a raft from?
Thor Heyerdahl set sail on a raft made of balsa wood - the lightest tree 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 they would float logs down the river.

So, the raft was ready, and there was not a single nail in it! A mast with a giant (27 square meters) rectangular sail towered over nine mighty balc logs tied with ropes. The deck was lined with bamboo. In the middle of the raft stood a small but rather sturdy hut with a roof of banana leaves.

raft layout

Raft in a museum in the city of Oslo

Frame from the film "Kon-Tiki"

Crew members from time to time had to check the condition of the ropes under water. It was very dangerous because you could get into the mouth of a shark.

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

Heyerdahl knew that the aborigines had once easily made do with dried sweet potatoes and dried meat during their voyages. But if the supply of food suddenly deteriorated, six people could simply starve to death. So they took with them a lot of boxes of canned food, topped with a thin layer of asphalt to keep moisture out. Their supply should have been enough for four months. In addition, the raft was stocked with fruits, coconuts, and a lot of fishing tackle: 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 themselves jumped onto their raft. Every morning, Heyerdahl and his companions found dozens of flying fish on the deck, which immediately went to the pan (there was a small primus stove on the raft, which was 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 extinguished.
The ocean was teeming with tuna, mackerel and bonito fish, and often just throwing a hook into the water was all it took. Having adapted to sea fishing, friends even began to catch sharks, sometimes dragging them onto a raft, simply grabbing them by the rough tail.

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

What will we drink?
“In the tropics, on hot days, you can pour so much water into yourself that it will pour back through 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 islands of Polynesia. This stock would easily have been enough for several months of travel. But after a few weeks, travelers felt that the water had deteriorated and became nasty in taste. Heyerdahl often thought about how his Indian predecessors coped with thirst. They stored water in dried gourds and thick bamboo trunks. They drank water from the holes, after which they plugged the holes with strong corks. In addition, the natives owned secrets with which they survived even when the water ran out. They “squeezed out” the caught fish, as a result of which a liquid was released 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 got in touch.

What dangers of the ocean lie in wait for us?

High waves that crash on the raft. Saved by the fact that the water easily went into the cracks between the logs.
- impossible control of the raft and submission to the flow. Pilot and steering oar. The stern of a ship must always be exposed to the wind.

sharks
- at night it is necessary to become attached
- how to land on the shore?
“Many ships in the area of ​​the Tuamotu archipelago fell into the trap of underwater reefs and broke into chips on coral. From the sea, we could not see the insidious trap.
After 90 days of travel, Heyerdahl's team began to feel the approach of the earth. Schools of birds appeared in the sky, purposefully flying to the west. The raft carried directly to one of the many islands of Polynesia - the islet of Puka Puka in the Tuamotu archipelago. But the current carried the raft past a piece of land and dragged on.
A few days later, the raft sailed to Raroia Atoll. Here the crew was waiting for a whole obstacle course: to get to the ground, the team had to find a passage in the wall of razor-sharp coral reefs. Having exhausted themselves in an attempt to break through the reef, the travelers decided to "saddle" it at high tide. Holding on tightly to the raft, they survived several terrible hours under the blows of powerful waves. After that, they managed to get over 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 solemn return home - already on a passenger ship.

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

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

It is necessary to keep a ship's log and write down all observations there, sketch new types of fish and other sea creatures.

Here are examples of fish entries in Heyerdahl's logbook:
"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 will foam all the water and disappear. We could not understand what it was."

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

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

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

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 were no ink spots anywhere, 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 watchmen could remember such a hefty wave.
It is known that the squid moves on the same principle as a jet plane. With great force, it pushes water through the channel inside the body and swims backwards with quick jerks, and the tentacles collected in a bunch stretch behind the head, making the squid streamlined. Two rounded, fleshy skin folds on the sides act as rudders and paddles when the squid is in no hurry.

If at night our little kerosene lantern stood on the deck, its light attracted guests - flying fish, big and small, swept over the raft. Crash into a cabin or a sail and plop down on deck. After all, they can only accelerate and take off in water, so they lie helplessly waving their long pectoral fins, a kind of big-eyed herring. The fish flew pretty fast. How to poke your muzzle right in the face - it turned out very sensitive. In the morning we roasted our prey. The cook's first duty, when he got up in the morning, was to walk across the deck and collect all the flying fish that had landed during the night. Usually there were about six or eight of them, and once we counted twenty-six fat fish. Knut was just upset when the flying fish hit his hand, and not directly into the pan in which he had just melted the lard.

The sky was covered with clouds, and at night there was impenetrable darkness, so Thorstein put a kerosene lantern near his head so that the watchmen, entering and leaving, could see where to step. About four o'clock Thorstein woke up because the lantern fell and something cold and slippery whipped his ears. Flying fish, he decided, and began to fumble around to grab it and throw it overboard. He came across something wet, long, snake-like, and he jerked his hand away as if burned. While Thorstein was fiddling with the extinguished lantern, the invisible night visitor dodged and crawled towards Herman. Herman jumped up, and then I woke up, and the giant squid immediately came to mind, which at night floats to the surface just in these latitudes. At last the lantern was lit, and we saw Herman: he was sitting with a triumphant air, clutching writhing eel thin fish. She was about a meter long, serpentine body, huge black eyes; long predatory jaws are studded with sharp teeth that could fold back, skipping food.
All this fuss woke Bengt, and we brought a lantern and a long fish to his eyes. He sat up in his sleeping bag and said sleepily:
- Nonsense, such animals do not exist.
Then he turned around and fell asleep peacefully again.
Bengt was almost right. Later it turned out that the six of us were the first to see a snake fish - snake mackerel - live. Until then, only her skeletons were found on the coast of South America and on 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 from one side, and his tail from the other. His muzzle was so ridiculous and stupid that we simply could not help laughing, although we perfectly understood: if this mountain of muscles decides to attack us, only splinters will remain from our balsa logs. The whale shark continued to circle under the very raft, and we wondered how it would end. Here again she slipped under the oar and lifted it with her back. We stood ready along the sides, holding hand-held harpoons that looked like toothpicks in front of this colossus. It seemed that the shark did not even think of leaving us, it followed us like a faithful dog, keeping close to the raft.

Map.
The Kon-Tiki sailed from the Peruvian port of Callao on April 28, 1947. And already on August 7, the raft reached the end point of its journey - the Raroia atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. Thus, about 3770 miles (or 6980 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 Osa. Just in case, I will write excerpts here in time, in case someone else wants to show them to the children. I did not show the whole film, especially since there is an unpleasant scene when they rip open the belly of the shark, and the shark also eats the parrot, although this was not in the book, and I decided that the information that the bird was carried away by the 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
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
Well, in the end - how they hugged and rejoiced.

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

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