1 00:01:38,577 --> 00:01:42,281 Located in an area of the Pacific that is situated closest to America, 2 00:01:44,751 --> 00:01:47,886 it is nevertheless been assumed that these people originally came 3 00:01:48,143 --> 00:01:51,518 from the Asiatic fringe, the cradle of the human race. 4 00:01:51,518 --> 00:01:53,853 But despite all the research carried out in this area, 5 00:01:54,506 --> 00:01:57,463 no solution to the problem has been forthcoming. 6 00:01:57,463 --> 00:02:03,377 (Thor Heyerdahl speaking Norwegian) 7 00:02:03,377 --> 00:02:06,237 While I was in the Marquesas islands, I kept coming across 8 00:02:06,237 --> 00:02:09,827 sculptured stone statues among the prehistoric remains 9 00:02:09,827 --> 00:02:12,720 which reminded me of similar relics of extinct and 10 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,414 vanished civilizations in South America. 11 00:02:15,414 --> 00:02:18,340 Could there be a connection, I wondered. 12 00:02:18,340 --> 00:02:21,200 At the same time it struck me that the light clouds 13 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,459 that drifted overhead were always moving in the same direction, 14 00:02:24,459 --> 00:02:27,783 that is to say from South America, day in day out, 15 00:02:27,783 --> 00:02:31,840 month after month all the year round. 16 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:34,733 The point is that Polynesia is situated at the heart of the 17 00:02:34,733 --> 00:02:38,191 trade wind system and as well as the easterly wind, 18 00:02:38,191 --> 00:02:40,952 a powerful ocean current reaches these islands from 19 00:02:40,952 --> 00:02:42,913 the coast of South America. 20 00:02:42,913 --> 00:02:45,839 Gradually, the possibility dawned on me that 21 00:02:45,839 --> 00:02:48,932 ancient civilizations had arrived here from the coast of 22 00:02:48,932 --> 00:02:53,321 South America long before Columbus reached America. 23 00:02:53,321 --> 00:02:55,283 The Spaniards who discovered America recorded that the 24 00:02:55,283 --> 00:02:58,010 Native Indians ventured many miles out to sea 25 00:02:58,010 --> 00:03:02,598 on large balsa rafts equipped with sails. 26 00:03:08,085 --> 00:03:10,889 These ideas, in time, prompted the work which I 27 00:03:10,896 --> 00:03:14,944 subsequently incorporated in my thesis, Polynesia and America. 28 00:03:14,944 --> 00:03:17,922 This was met by the objection that a racial migration 29 00:03:17,922 --> 00:03:21,066 of this kind was inconceivable as the only vessels in 30 00:03:21,066 --> 00:03:23,910 existence along the coast were primitive looking rafts 31 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:25,316 made of balsa wood. 32 00:03:25,316 --> 00:03:28,595 It was asserted that balsa wood was so brittle that the 33 00:03:28,595 --> 00:03:31,304 large timbers in the raft would collapse as soon as it 34 00:03:31,304 --> 00:03:35,888 encountered the open sea. 35 00:03:35,888 --> 00:03:38,833 As the scientific data I had accumulated had convinced me 36 00:03:38,833 --> 00:03:41,476 that Indians from South America had settled in the 37 00:03:41,476 --> 00:03:45,022 islands of the Pacific and bearing in mind the fact that 38 00:03:45,022 --> 00:03:48,067 their only seagoing vessels were balsa rafts, I came to the 39 00:03:48,067 --> 00:03:51,646 conclusion that these balsa rafts must possess characteristics 40 00:03:51,646 --> 00:03:54,657 of which so far, we were unaware. 41 00:03:54,657 --> 00:03:58,137 The only way to test my theory was to build one of these 42 00:03:58,137 --> 00:04:01,383 rafts on the basis of the Spanish descriptions, 43 00:04:01,383 --> 00:04:04,886 launch it in the sea off the coast of Peru and find out if 44 00:04:04,901 --> 00:04:08,388 wind and current would in fact waft us ashore 45 00:04:08,388 --> 00:04:10,868 on some Pacific island. 46 00:04:10,868 --> 00:04:15,259 Our first task was to procure balsa logs and build our raft. 47 00:04:15,259 --> 00:04:18,309 We'd assumed that like the Incas, we should be able to 48 00:04:18,309 --> 00:04:21,057 cut our timber down by the coast of Ecuador, 49 00:04:21,057 --> 00:04:23,101 but when we got there, we discovered that the balsa wood 50 00:04:23,101 --> 00:04:26,052 had been virtually decimated for export purposes 51 00:04:26,052 --> 00:04:28,231 and we should have to make our way inland 52 00:04:28,231 --> 00:04:31,414 in order to find logs of a suitable size. 53 00:04:31,414 --> 00:04:33,693 We were warned that it'd be impossible to travel 54 00:04:33,693 --> 00:04:36,375 now that the rainy season had set in and the roads 55 00:04:36,375 --> 00:04:38,453 leading to the jungle were flooded. 56 00:04:38,453 --> 00:04:41,872 We'd have to wait six months for the dry season. 57 00:04:41,872 --> 00:04:46,028 Meanwhile the members of the expedition had already set off for Peru 58 00:04:46,028 --> 00:04:51,190 and it was therefore vital to secure our timber as soon as possible. 59 00:04:53,335 --> 00:04:56,754 We hit upon a solution. Chartering a small transport plane, 60 00:04:56,754 --> 00:05:00,206 Watzinger and I flew over the jungle and landed at Quito 61 00:05:00,206 --> 00:05:03,558 on a spur of the Andes where we hired a jeep and drove south 62 00:05:03,558 --> 00:05:06,690 along the Andes down through sun burnt valleys 63 00:05:06,690 --> 00:05:10,687 where llamas browsed and the mountain Indians lived their primitive life. 64 00:05:10,687 --> 00:05:14,085 This way, we approached the rainforest from the interior 65 00:05:14,085 --> 00:05:17,050 and found the balsa trees we were looking for. 66 00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:19,981 With the help of the natives, we cut down the nine largest 67 00:05:19,981 --> 00:05:23,479 trees we could find, peeled off the bark in the native way 68 00:05:23,479 --> 00:05:25,444 and dragged them down to the river. 69 00:05:25,444 --> 00:05:28,410 We then stepped onboard our logs taking with us 70 00:05:28,410 --> 00:05:31,107 a certain amount of bamboo and in company with our 71 00:05:31,107 --> 00:05:34,406 native helpers, floated down river through the jungle 72 00:05:34,406 --> 00:05:43,134 all the way to the Pacific coast. 73 00:05:43,134 --> 00:05:46,665 From here we had the logs transported to Callao, 74 00:05:46,665 --> 00:05:52,594 the seaport town of Lima, the Peruvian capital. 75 00:05:52,661 --> 00:05:56,126 (Thor Heyerdahl speaking Norwegian) 76 00:05:56,126 --> 00:05:59,289 The Peruvian authorities were so interested in our expedition 77 00:05:59,289 --> 00:06:02,288 that the president of the republic personally ordered the 78 00:06:02,288 --> 00:06:04,687 strictly guarded naval dockyard with all its 79 00:06:04,687 --> 00:06:07,483 technical facilities to be made available to us 80 00:06:07,483 --> 00:06:09,647 and that we should have the assistance of its personnel 81 00:06:09,647 --> 00:06:12,276 to build our raft. 82 00:06:12,276 --> 00:06:16,271 The nine large balsa logs provided the structural basis for our raft. 83 00:06:16,271 --> 00:06:18,569 They would transport us across the ocean. 84 00:06:18,569 --> 00:06:21,465 We made deep grooves in each log to house the ropes 85 00:06:21,465 --> 00:06:24,362 that had lashed the logs together and to ensure that these 86 00:06:24,362 --> 00:06:27,125 would not slide off once the smooth logs started 87 00:06:27,125 --> 00:06:29,588 twisting with the impact of the waves. 88 00:06:29,588 --> 00:06:32,418 On top of these nine logs, which constituted the actual raft, 89 00:06:32,418 --> 00:06:36,280 we lashed nine smaller transverse logs. 90 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:37,844 These were to bind the other logs firmly together 91 00:06:37,844 --> 00:06:40,507 and to provide a basis for our deck, which consisted 92 00:06:40,507 --> 00:06:42,405 of a bamboo platform. 93 00:06:42,405 --> 00:06:46,200 Bamboo rods were split lengthwise and plated with a view 94 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,196 to making the deck as tough and pliable as possible. 95 00:06:49,196 --> 00:06:54,290 Indian log rafts and eskimo dog sleds both faced the same problem. 96 00:06:54,290 --> 00:06:57,219 They had no nails or rivets. For this reason, 97 00:06:57,219 --> 00:07:00,249 as they had no rigid joints, they had to be as elastic 98 00:07:00,249 --> 00:07:01,980 and pliable as possible. 99 00:07:01,980 --> 00:07:04,110 Among primitive races, the golden rule was 100 00:07:04,110 --> 00:07:10,269 "Don't resist nature, but yield to her commands and accommodate." 101 00:07:10,269 --> 00:07:12,999 Finally, our raft was launched. 102 00:07:12,999 --> 00:07:17,427 A vessel without a single nail, rivet or screw. 103 00:07:17,427 --> 00:07:21,089 Everything was fastened together Indian fashion with ropes. 104 00:07:21,089 --> 00:07:24,918 A small hut made of bamboo rods was lashed to the middle of the raft. 105 00:07:24,918 --> 00:07:27,714 Under the vigilant gaze of a number of pelicans, 106 00:07:27,714 --> 00:07:31,276 we attached a slab of balsa with strong thole pins 107 00:07:31,276 --> 00:07:35,005 to accommodate the steering oar. 108 00:07:35,005 --> 00:07:37,867 The last lashings and knots, more than three hundred in all, 109 00:07:37,867 --> 00:07:39,999 were eventually completed. 110 00:07:39,999 --> 00:07:42,595 From excavated graves in Peru, we know that the Indians 111 00:07:42,595 --> 00:07:45,391 were past masters in making almost unbreakable rope 112 00:07:45,391 --> 00:07:47,588 from tough fibers. 113 00:07:47,588 --> 00:07:49,919 We then stepped the masts. 114 00:07:49,919 --> 00:07:54,280 Like our predecessors, we had two raked masts stepped 115 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,178 side by side joined together at the top. 116 00:07:56,178 --> 00:07:58,608 In order to withstand wind pressure, they were made of a 117 00:07:58,608 --> 00:08:02,337 wood so hard that it was incapable of floating. 118 00:08:02,337 --> 00:08:04,839 The yard to which our square sail was bent was a 119 00:08:04,842 --> 00:08:08,383 bamboo poles lashed together. 120 00:08:08,383 --> 00:08:12,359 When the raft was completed, it was towed to a nearby yacht club, 121 00:08:12,359 --> 00:08:13,929 where the authorities and the general public 122 00:08:13,929 --> 00:08:17,737 had an opportunity to inspect it before our departure. 123 00:08:17,737 --> 00:08:20,377 Large crowds turned up, including ambassadors and 124 00:08:20,377 --> 00:08:24,118 ministers representing nine different countries. 125 00:08:24,118 --> 00:08:27,258 We were treated to numerous [dia] for boatings. 126 00:08:27,258 --> 00:08:29,697 The country's leading shipping exporter maintained that 127 00:08:29,697 --> 00:08:32,704 the raft would sink before we were halfway across. 128 00:08:32,704 --> 00:08:35,610 The port authorities insisted on a written declaration 129 00:08:35,610 --> 00:08:39,319 before we set off absolving them from all responsibility 130 00:08:39,319 --> 00:08:42,425 while a naval attache somewhat rashly bet us all the 131 00:08:42,425 --> 00:08:45,198 whiskey the entire crew would ever be able to consume 132 00:08:45,198 --> 00:08:51,478 that we'd never make it to the Pacific islands. 133 00:08:51,478 --> 00:08:54,218 People were keen to secure our autographs, no doubt 134 00:08:54,218 --> 00:08:57,592 convinced that this was their last chance of doing so. 135 00:08:57,592 --> 00:09:00,966 After expressing our gratitude to the Peruvian liaison officer 136 00:09:00,966 --> 00:09:03,438 for his assistance, the raft was solemnly christened 137 00:09:03,438 --> 00:09:05,810 Kon-Tiki with the milk from a coconut 138 00:09:05,810 --> 00:09:08,750 in order to conform to past tradition. 139 00:09:08,750 --> 00:09:10,921 The expedition secretary, Gerd Vold, was given 140 00:09:10,921 --> 00:09:14,029 a bouquet of sunflowers as a reminder that Kon-Tiki 141 00:09:14,029 --> 00:09:18,038 was the name of the sun god in the ancient Inca legends. 142 00:09:18,038 --> 00:09:21,244 According to Peruvian tradition, a nation with a white king 143 00:09:21,244 --> 00:09:24,652 was said to have ruled the land before the Incas took over. 144 00:09:24,652 --> 00:09:28,293 His head is hewn in prehistoric stone statues high up in the Andes. 145 00:09:28,293 --> 00:09:32,402 One of these provided a model for the head on our sail. 146 00:09:32,402 --> 00:09:34,874 The last we hear of Kon-Tiki and these ancient legends 147 00:09:34,874 --> 00:09:37,815 is that he was banished from Peru and disappeared with his 148 00:09:37,815 --> 00:09:39,819 people across the Pacific. 149 00:09:39,819 --> 00:09:43,460 In the Polynesian islands, too, people speak of the great Tiki 150 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:46,066 who brought to their ancestors to the islands. 151 00:09:46,066 --> 00:09:51,611 We were now going to follow in his footsteps. 152 00:09:51,611 --> 00:09:56,222 On April the 28th, 1947 the pelicans for the first time 153 00:09:56,222 --> 00:10:00,097 for hundreds of years were startled at the sight of a balsa raft 154 00:10:00,097 --> 00:10:02,569 heading for the open sea. 155 00:10:02,569 --> 00:10:05,539 A naval tug towed us out of the bay to ensure 156 00:10:05,541 --> 00:10:07,979 that we'd not been in the way of coastal traffic. 157 00:10:07,979 --> 00:10:11,118 We bade farewell to the tug and rode across to the raft 158 00:10:11,118 --> 00:10:13,322 in a small rubber dinghy which we were elated to use 159 00:10:13,322 --> 00:10:16,729 when filming the Kon-Tiki out at sea. 160 00:10:16,729 --> 00:10:19,568 After waving goodbye to the tug, we were on our own 161 00:10:19,568 --> 00:10:22,373 afloat on our nine balsa woods. 162 00:10:22,373 --> 00:10:26,581 The nearest archipelago lay some 5,000 miles ahead of us, 163 00:10:26,581 --> 00:10:32,793 that is to say the same distance as from Callao to San Franciso 164 00:10:32,793 --> 00:10:43,246 or from San Francisco to Iceland 165 00:10:43,246 --> 00:10:46,151 or from Iceland to Ethiopia. 166 00:10:46,151 --> 00:10:52,797 (orchestral music) 167 00:10:52,797 --> 00:10:57,239 On the very first day, the trade wind blew from the chilly Antarctic. 168 00:10:57,239 --> 00:11:00,813 There was no one who could teach us how to maneuver an Inca raft 169 00:11:00,813 --> 00:11:05,187 and we had to learn by trial and error from the very first day at sea. 170 00:11:05,187 --> 00:11:08,260 All day long, two hands were required at a time 171 00:11:08,260 --> 00:11:10,530 to hold the steering oar in position, 172 00:11:10,530 --> 00:11:13,002 but as we got to know the raft and its characteristics, 173 00:11:13,002 --> 00:11:16,208 we discovered that all we needed to do was to lash the helm 174 00:11:16,208 --> 00:11:19,547 and the raft would steer itself. 175 00:11:19,547 --> 00:11:22,921 After this we have no major problems in handling the Kon-Tiki 176 00:11:22,921 --> 00:11:25,292 as long as the weather was stable. 177 00:11:25,292 --> 00:11:27,496 From now on it was the duty of the man at the helm 178 00:11:27,496 --> 00:11:29,867 to keep an eye on the lashings and to make the necessary 179 00:11:29,867 --> 00:11:32,472 adjustment if there was a change of the wind, 180 00:11:32,472 --> 00:11:38,985 so that our raft at all times presented her stern to wind and wave. 181 00:11:38,985 --> 00:11:41,990 We had a female on board. Her name was Lorita 182 00:11:41,990 --> 00:11:43,994 and she was a South American parrot. 183 00:11:43,994 --> 00:11:46,598 The first few days, Lorita in common with one member 184 00:11:46,598 --> 00:11:49,871 of the crew, was seasick but after four days both of them 185 00:11:49,871 --> 00:11:53,546 were excellent sailors. 186 00:11:53,546 --> 00:11:55,883 Shipping a little water makes no difference 187 00:11:55,883 --> 00:11:58,455 as it all runs out through the gaps between the logs. 188 00:11:58,455 --> 00:12:01,126 The advantage of a raft is simply, that water pours out 189 00:12:01,126 --> 00:12:03,898 just as quickly as it pours in. 190 00:12:03,898 --> 00:12:06,264 We had to make sure that the raft always presented 191 00:12:06,264 --> 00:12:08,030 her stern to the wind. 192 00:12:08,030 --> 00:12:11,795 If we lay a beam to the wind, our bamboo hut would be awash. 193 00:12:11,795 --> 00:12:14,195 As long as the sail filled with the following wind, 194 00:12:14,195 --> 00:12:19,258 the raft would ride the waves and float like a cork. 195 00:12:19,258 --> 00:12:22,291 Failure to react with the steering oar when the wind backed 196 00:12:22,291 --> 00:12:25,889 or veered would result in the square sail jibbing. 197 00:12:25,889 --> 00:12:28,089 We'd then have to work the heavy steering oar and 198 00:12:28,089 --> 00:12:31,455 wrestle with the sail to bring the raft back on course, 199 00:12:31,455 --> 00:12:38,552 otherwise the sail would flap violently against the bamboo hut. 200 00:12:38,552 --> 00:12:41,250 At night we were always lashed down to prevent being 201 00:12:41,250 --> 00:12:43,383 knocked overboard by the sail. 202 00:12:43,383 --> 00:12:46,515 The logs were always slippery and we had no guardrail 203 00:12:46,515 --> 00:12:56,911 and there'd nearly always be a shark following in our wake. 204 00:12:56,911 --> 00:13:00,077 In the end, the Kon-Tiki would gracefully submit and 205 00:13:00,077 --> 00:13:03,076 continue calmly her way with the wind astern. 206 00:13:03,076 --> 00:13:06,008 She never made any attempt to turn back. 207 00:13:06,008 --> 00:13:08,973 On the contrary, should she do a right about turn, 208 00:13:08,973 --> 00:13:19,202 she would continue on her course backwards. 209 00:13:19,202 --> 00:13:21,901 There was never a day when the wind veered right round 210 00:13:21,901 --> 00:13:24,500 and blew from dead ahead. It always came from the 211 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:28,966 continental stern as it swept across the Pacific. 212 00:13:28,966 --> 00:13:31,131 This is how we determined our speed and the distance 213 00:13:31,131 --> 00:13:32,930 covered over the water. 214 00:13:32,930 --> 00:13:35,029 One of the crew perches in the bows and drops 215 00:13:35,029 --> 00:13:36,862 a piece of balsa wood overboard. 216 00:13:36,862 --> 00:13:39,695 We know the overall length of our raft and a crewman 217 00:13:39,695 --> 00:13:43,226 in the stern times the piece of balsa wood as it floats past. 218 00:13:43,226 --> 00:13:45,426 In this way we can with a fair degree of accuracy, 219 00:13:45,426 --> 00:13:50,690 determine our speed through the water. 220 00:13:50,690 --> 00:13:53,523 Hesselberg would take some shots with his sextant 221 00:13:53,523 --> 00:13:56,322 and in this way, we could mark our position on the chart 222 00:13:56,322 --> 00:14:02,552 as we drifted across the ocean. 223 00:14:02,552 --> 00:14:04,820 From the top of the mast, we could look down on the 224 00:14:04,820 --> 00:14:08,157 starboard side of the raft where the hut was open 225 00:14:08,157 --> 00:14:09,924 and where we spent most of our time. 226 00:14:09,924 --> 00:14:12,960 This was also the galley which consisted of a wood crate 227 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,595 with a Primus stove inside on which we did our best 228 00:14:15,595 --> 00:14:17,697 to make meals the european way. 229 00:14:17,697 --> 00:14:20,932 After all, we were not Incas. Besides, we were keen to 230 00:14:20,932 --> 00:14:24,235 show how seaworthy our raft was. 231 00:14:24,235 --> 00:14:26,904 Occasionally when the Kon-Tiki rolled unduly, 232 00:14:26,904 --> 00:14:30,206 the wood crate would catch fire and the one occasion 233 00:14:30,206 --> 00:14:32,442 when the cook had dozed off, the actual wall of the 234 00:14:32,442 --> 00:14:34,276 bamboo hut caught fire. 235 00:14:34,276 --> 00:14:37,511 Fortunately, water was always readily available onboard 236 00:14:37,511 --> 00:14:41,314 and the fire could be put out very quickly. 237 00:14:41,314 --> 00:14:43,850 If we got a bit bored with one another's company, 238 00:14:43,850 --> 00:14:45,951 we could always paddle off in the rubber dinghy 239 00:14:45,951 --> 00:14:48,387 and observe our comrades at a distance. 240 00:14:48,387 --> 00:14:50,989 The first time we did this, we failed to realize that 241 00:14:50,989 --> 00:14:53,457 getting back to the Kon-Tiki would be a problem 242 00:14:53,457 --> 00:14:56,792 as the raft moved at such a speed that with our small paddles 243 00:14:56,792 --> 00:14:59,795 we couldn't catch up nor could the men on the Kon-Tiki 244 00:14:59,795 --> 00:15:03,732 reduce speed much less come about and back against the wind. 245 00:15:03,732 --> 00:15:06,233 Even after the sail had been lowered, the Kon-Tiki moved 246 00:15:06,233 --> 00:15:09,602 at a fair speed owing to the pressure of wind on the bamboo hut. 247 00:15:09,602 --> 00:15:13,638 As it turned out, we just managed to catch up on this occasion 248 00:15:13,638 --> 00:15:17,174 and were completely exhausted by the time we were close enough 249 00:15:17,174 --> 00:15:18,376 to catch a rope that was thrown out. 250 00:15:18,376 --> 00:15:24,447 (orchestral music) 251 00:15:24,447 --> 00:15:33,587 (water sloshing) 252 00:15:33,587 --> 00:15:37,490 From that day, it was strictly forbidden to paddle off 253 00:15:37,490 --> 00:15:39,125 in the rubber dinghy without being secured to the Kon-Tiki 254 00:15:39,125 --> 00:15:42,127 by a long rope. It wouldn't have been much fun being left 255 00:15:42,127 --> 00:15:44,362 astern in the middle of the Pacific. 256 00:15:44,362 --> 00:15:47,364 The nearest land was endless miles away and we never 257 00:15:47,364 --> 00:15:52,701 sighted a single ship in the entire course of our voyage. 258 00:15:52,701 --> 00:15:56,038 Our parrot had by now become a real sea bird. 259 00:15:56,038 --> 00:15:58,939 If the wind freshened, she'd entertain us with 260 00:15:58,939 --> 00:16:01,207 gymnastic displays on the stays. 261 00:16:01,207 --> 00:16:04,277 She'd be highly offended if we tried to shut her in her cage 262 00:16:04,277 --> 00:16:06,479 inside the bamboo hut. 263 00:16:06,479 --> 00:16:18,531 (orchestral music) 264 00:16:18,531 --> 00:16:22,369 After a month, the Kon-Tiki was way out in the ocean. 265 00:16:22,369 --> 00:16:25,741 The humbled current carried us north almost as far as the equator, 266 00:16:25,741 --> 00:16:29,479 after which we struck out straight across the Pacific. 267 00:16:29,479 --> 00:16:31,982 Ocean currents accounted for about one-third of our 268 00:16:31,982 --> 00:16:36,856 actual speed and the rest was the gift of the trade wind. 269 00:16:36,856 --> 00:16:45,535 (silence) 270 00:16:45,535 --> 00:16:48,172 (water sloshing) 271 00:16:48,172 --> 00:16:50,542 An average day out at sea would be spent in an 272 00:16:50,542 --> 00:16:53,246 atomosphere of utter peace and freedom. 273 00:16:53,246 --> 00:16:55,983 The sea would often be so calm and the wind so stable 274 00:16:55,983 --> 00:16:58,820 that we left the steering oar defend for itself 275 00:16:58,820 --> 00:17:01,090 and the raft to move at her own sweet will. 276 00:17:01,090 --> 00:17:05,964 On such occasions, we felt that we were truly living in utopian. 277 00:17:05,964 --> 00:17:08,501 The steering oar would bob lazily up and down in the 278 00:17:08,501 --> 00:17:20,117 smooth wake with no one to guide it, left to its own devices. 279 00:17:20,117 --> 00:17:22,487 There were no roast chickens flying around, 280 00:17:22,487 --> 00:17:25,391 but other delicacies presented themselves with no effort on our part, 281 00:17:25,391 --> 00:17:28,496 such as succulent flying fish. 282 00:17:28,496 --> 00:17:31,567 The cook's first task every morning was to take his frying pan 283 00:17:31,567 --> 00:17:34,404 and walk around the deck, picking up all the flying fish 284 00:17:34,404 --> 00:17:37,074 that had landed on the Kon-Tiki during the night. 285 00:17:37,074 --> 00:17:39,311 They were absolutely delicious. 286 00:17:39,311 --> 00:17:42,348 Once a flying fish had landed on the deck, it was helpless. 287 00:17:42,348 --> 00:17:46,054 These creatures cannot fly, merely glide. 288 00:17:46,054 --> 00:17:49,660 A flying fish has to thrust itself up from the surface of the water 289 00:17:49,660 --> 00:17:52,163 and is then able to glide for a few hundred yards 290 00:17:52,163 --> 00:17:54,800 before falling back into the sea. 291 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,271 One fish actually jumped straight into Raaby's sleeping bag one night, 292 00:17:58,271 --> 00:18:01,543 not particularly welcome as it had needle-sharp teeth. 293 00:18:01,543 --> 00:18:04,047 It was some consolation to discover later on 294 00:18:04,047 --> 00:18:08,251 this particular species had never before been seen by the human eye. 295 00:18:08,259 --> 00:18:12,706 Two fish of this kind, Gempylus or snake mackerel landed onboard, 296 00:18:12,706 --> 00:18:16,884 which just goes to show that one has to voyage on a prehistoric vessel 297 00:18:16,884 --> 00:18:21,699 in order to discover new zoological species in the twentieth century. 298 00:18:21,699 --> 00:18:24,240 Haugland worked at a scale model of our raft 299 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,015 using bits of balsa he found onboard. 300 00:18:27,015 --> 00:18:28,854 When the weather was really fine, 301 00:18:28,854 --> 00:18:31,361 journeying across the Pacific on a raft proved to be 302 00:18:31,361 --> 00:18:35,807 the best possible way to relax and enjoy life. 303 00:18:35,807 --> 00:18:38,582 About once a fortnight, we'd open our bamboo deck 304 00:18:38,582 --> 00:18:41,290 in order to check the ropes and sort out some special 305 00:18:41,290 --> 00:18:44,399 equipment that we had promised to test for the U.S. military 306 00:18:44,399 --> 00:18:47,977 authorities, in particular a kind of emergency ration 307 00:18:47,977 --> 00:18:50,852 which was being developed in laboratory tests that which 308 00:18:50,852 --> 00:18:53,561 had not been tried out in the field. 309 00:18:53,561 --> 00:18:56,502 We had supplies of nuts, edible roots, fruit and fish 310 00:18:56,502 --> 00:18:58,174 in baskets stowed on deck. 311 00:18:58,174 --> 00:19:00,782 This special American consignment was stowed 312 00:19:00,782 --> 00:19:04,393 between the logs under our bamboo deck. 313 00:19:04,393 --> 00:19:07,568 Opening up the deck revealed the simple yet ingenious 314 00:19:07,568 --> 00:19:11,247 design of the raft. On top there are elastic mats made of 315 00:19:11,247 --> 00:19:14,623 bamboo reed and under this stout bamboo poles 316 00:19:14,623 --> 00:19:17,933 lashed together on top of the transverse logs. 317 00:19:17,933 --> 00:19:21,042 Ensuring that the special packages stowed down there and awash 318 00:19:21,042 --> 00:19:24,921 with seawater remains dry was one of our problems, 319 00:19:24,921 --> 00:19:26,960 but Watzinger had covered the cardboard boxes 320 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,801 with a thin layer of pliant asphalt, which had been 321 00:19:29,801 --> 00:19:32,945 rolled in sand to prevent it becoming sticky 322 00:19:32,945 --> 00:19:35,218 and provide extra durability. 323 00:19:35,218 --> 00:19:39,798 Cardboard treated in this way proved an excellent solution to our problem. 324 00:19:39,798 --> 00:19:43,710 Opening up the deck reveals the raft's five center boards. 325 00:19:43,710 --> 00:19:46,484 The center board was invented by the prehistoric inhabitants 326 00:19:46,484 --> 00:19:49,661 of Peru. These are small boards, two feet in width 327 00:19:49,661 --> 00:19:53,840 and six feet long which it jambs down more as it random 328 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,381 in the cracks between the logs and are kept in place 329 00:19:56,381 --> 00:20:00,192 with rope. They act as a sort of keel as well as a rudder 330 00:20:00,192 --> 00:20:09,921 and assists the raft in moving forward and not sideways. 331 00:20:09,921 --> 00:20:13,021 Watzinger rips open an asphalt covered box 332 00:20:13,021 --> 00:20:14,955 in order to check its contents. 333 00:20:14,955 --> 00:20:16,855 Part of the tests we were carrying out for the 334 00:20:16,855 --> 00:20:20,122 U.S. Armed Forces involved two members of the crew 335 00:20:20,122 --> 00:20:23,823 abstaining from eating fresh fish, plankton or any other 336 00:20:23,823 --> 00:20:27,390 fresh food we might have onboard and subsisting exclusively 337 00:20:27,390 --> 00:20:30,557 on the special diet that was to be tested. 338 00:20:30,557 --> 00:20:32,424 They were just as fit and healthy when we reached the 339 00:20:32,424 --> 00:20:34,991 journey's end as the other members of the crew, 340 00:20:34,991 --> 00:20:38,091 so the diet must have been excellent. 341 00:20:38,091 --> 00:20:40,525 Meanwhile, Lorita prefers the contents of the basket 342 00:20:40,525 --> 00:20:43,326 on which she likes to perch, coconuts. 343 00:20:43,326 --> 00:21:00,995 But she's nonetheless an interested spectator. 344 00:21:00,995 --> 00:21:04,661 Watzinger makes copious notes with a view to compiling 345 00:21:04,661 --> 00:21:12,629 a detailed report once we reach civilization. 346 00:21:12,629 --> 00:21:16,063 Prehistoric man didn't live on army rations, 347 00:21:16,063 --> 00:21:18,130 but he had his own resources. 348 00:21:18,130 --> 00:21:20,497 The sea with its inexhaustible supply of food 349 00:21:20,497 --> 00:21:24,531 would always make up for any lack of supplies on the raft. 350 00:21:24,531 --> 00:21:27,165 The fish most in demand was the dolphin fish also called 351 00:21:27,165 --> 00:21:30,498 the bottle-nosed dolphin, not to be confused with the 352 00:21:30,498 --> 00:21:39,333 dolphin which is a species of whale and not a fish, but a mammal. 353 00:21:39,333 --> 00:21:42,600 This fact was of great importance to my theory. 354 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,867 Before we set off, experts maintained that primitive people 355 00:21:45,867 --> 00:21:49,567 couldn't possibly make such protracted sea voyages. 356 00:21:49,567 --> 00:21:52,668 They would perish for want of fresh food and no fish 357 00:21:52,668 --> 00:21:54,668 could be caught far out in the ocean. 358 00:21:54,668 --> 00:21:57,501 Fish, they insisted, were only to be found in the currents 359 00:21:57,501 --> 00:21:59,269 that sweep along the coast. 360 00:21:59,269 --> 00:22:02,669 This may well be the case if one travels by sea in a boat 361 00:22:02,669 --> 00:22:05,669 which would scare any fish with the noise of its propeller, 362 00:22:05,669 --> 00:22:08,337 but drifting slowly and noiselessly across the water 363 00:22:08,337 --> 00:22:11,437 on nine balsa logs, you'll see fish in large numbers 364 00:22:11,437 --> 00:22:15,237 often seeking shelter under the raft. 365 00:22:20,571 --> 00:22:23,305 The dolphin fish had a delicious taste and if we wanted 366 00:22:23,305 --> 00:22:26,372 fresh fish for dinner, all we had to do was to drop a hook 367 00:22:26,372 --> 00:22:28,939 overboard twenty minutes before the meal. 368 00:22:28,939 --> 00:22:32,373 The simplest method was to thrust a pole with a hook at the end of it 369 00:22:32,373 --> 00:22:42,375 into the water and give it a tug as soon as you felt the fish bite. 370 00:22:42,375 --> 00:22:45,075 The dolphin fish has sharp teeth and the man climbing 371 00:22:45,075 --> 00:22:47,575 onto the crate is taking a very necessary precaution 372 00:22:47,575 --> 00:22:50,575 as he has already had the misfortune to have his big toe 373 00:22:50,575 --> 00:22:55,010 in the jaw of one of these large fish. 374 00:23:02,210 --> 00:23:05,011 As long as the fish is raw, it will provide not only food 375 00:23:05,011 --> 00:23:06,378 but also drink. 376 00:23:06,378 --> 00:23:08,244 One of the experiments we carried out 377 00:23:08,244 --> 00:23:10,478 whenever we landed big fish such as these, 378 00:23:10,478 --> 00:23:12,979 was to cut a large hole in the side of the fish. 379 00:23:12,979 --> 00:23:16,980 This gradually filled with fluid from the fish's lymph glands 380 00:23:16,980 --> 00:23:20,213 and even though its taste wasn't very good, it could be drunk. 381 00:23:20,213 --> 00:23:22,280 It contained such a small percentage of salt, 382 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,447 that it was a thoroughly effective thirst quencher. 383 00:23:25,447 --> 00:23:28,114 When it's a question of life or death, neither white men 384 00:23:28,114 --> 00:23:31,648 nor Indians worry much about the taste. 385 00:23:31,648 --> 00:23:34,615 There's no doubt whatever that primitive people from Peru 386 00:23:34,615 --> 00:23:38,115 were able to survive onboard a raft drifting along out to sea 387 00:23:38,115 --> 00:23:41,549 in this ocean current. When they sailed their raft along the 388 00:23:41,549 --> 00:23:45,049 arid desert coast of Peru, the Indians carried ample supplies 389 00:23:45,049 --> 00:23:49,316 of water in large waterproof baskets, in large bottle gourd 390 00:23:49,316 --> 00:23:54,184 containers and furthernorth in thick, hollow bamboo canes. 391 00:23:54,184 --> 00:23:57,417 We carried not more than a ton of water and this proved 392 00:23:57,417 --> 00:24:00,452 more than enough for the entire journey. 393 00:24:00,452 --> 00:24:03,151 After awhile, we came to an area where there were 394 00:24:03,151 --> 00:24:07,986 frequent showers and this gave us enough fresh water to keep going. 395 00:24:07,986 --> 00:24:10,453 Following advice received from the Royal Air Force, 396 00:24:10,453 --> 00:24:12,820 we also carried out another experiment. 397 00:24:12,820 --> 00:24:16,187 On really warm days when the pores secreted a lot of salt, 398 00:24:16,187 --> 00:24:19,154 we mixed seawater with our drinking water. 399 00:24:19,154 --> 00:24:21,754 On a occasion, we'd mix as much as 40% seawater with 400 00:24:21,754 --> 00:24:25,321 60% fresh water and quench our thirst without any 401 00:24:25,321 --> 00:24:30,955 harmful consequences. 402 00:24:30,955 --> 00:24:34,090 We also collected parasites from the fish we caught 403 00:24:34,090 --> 00:24:38,190 and preserved them in bottles. 404 00:24:38,190 --> 00:24:41,256 The sea also contained lots of other smaller organisms 405 00:24:41,256 --> 00:24:44,790 that we collected and ate, namely plankton; tiny creatures 406 00:24:44,790 --> 00:24:47,391 and plants almost invisible to the naked eye floating 407 00:24:47,391 --> 00:24:50,292 around on and under the surface of the ocean. 408 00:24:50,292 --> 00:24:53,058 To collect sufficient quantities, we simply used a fine, 409 00:24:53,058 --> 00:24:55,692 mesh net which was towed to stern. 410 00:24:55,692 --> 00:24:59,093 When hauled in, our catch resembled a colorful gruel 411 00:24:59,093 --> 00:25:01,393 or porridge which tasted, according to its species we had 412 00:25:01,393 --> 00:25:05,396 caught like shrimps, row or oysters. 413 00:25:05,396 --> 00:25:07,365 Occasionally, this would contain something resembling 414 00:25:07,365 --> 00:25:10,768 a jellyfish forming an unappetizing scum, which had to be 415 00:25:10,768 --> 00:25:14,104 removed. But in every respect, plankton proved highly 416 00:25:14,104 --> 00:25:20,243 nourishing. After all, the largest whales live on a diet of plankton. 417 00:25:20,243 --> 00:25:22,646 The masthead lookout has caught sight of some large 418 00:25:22,646 --> 00:25:25,447 creature emerging from the depth of the sea. 419 00:25:25,447 --> 00:25:27,716 Quite right, it's a large whale. 420 00:25:27,716 --> 00:25:31,320 We were often visited by these leviathans. 421 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,354 The first time a whole school or pod of these air breathing 422 00:25:33,354 --> 00:25:36,491 creatures circled around our craft, we were all scared. 423 00:25:36,491 --> 00:25:40,428 To start with, they kept a respectable distance but not for long. 424 00:25:40,428 --> 00:25:43,830 Soon, whales were popping up in every conceivable direction 425 00:25:43,830 --> 00:25:46,099 and when they caught sight of the raft with us onboard, 426 00:25:46,099 --> 00:25:50,736 some of them turned about and made straight for the Kon-Tiki. 427 00:25:50,803 --> 00:25:53,973 We realized that the largest whales were bigger than the raft 428 00:25:53,973 --> 00:25:56,208 and we were scared of a collision when these huge 429 00:25:56,208 --> 00:25:58,811 creatures headed straight for us and we have no more chance 430 00:25:58,811 --> 00:26:06,084 of stopping a whale in its tracks than of stopping this film. 431 00:26:06,084 --> 00:26:09,687 A snorting colossus of this kind will weigh several tons 432 00:26:09,687 --> 00:26:12,222 and it was scary to be able to look straight down into 433 00:26:12,222 --> 00:26:15,659 that smooth, shiny blowholes, but it would always dive 434 00:26:15,659 --> 00:26:18,895 just short of the raft, gliding down into the translucent 435 00:26:18,895 --> 00:26:21,964 depths below our floating living room. 436 00:26:21,964 --> 00:26:25,001 Time and again, we could perch on the edge of the Kon-Tiki 437 00:26:25,001 --> 00:26:28,303 and look down on the broad, bluish black back of a whale 438 00:26:28,303 --> 00:26:33,141 lying almost motionless in the clear water below. 439 00:26:33,141 --> 00:26:36,944 We knew that the whales often attack small boats either 440 00:26:36,944 --> 00:26:40,281 crushing them or capsizing them with a mighty blow of their tail, 441 00:26:40,281 --> 00:26:43,317 but no whale ever threatened the Kon-Tiki. 442 00:26:43,317 --> 00:26:45,785 One might make straight for us with great speed, 443 00:26:45,785 --> 00:26:48,788 but would always dive in the nick of time. 444 00:26:48,788 --> 00:26:51,224 When the whales tired of frolicking around the raft, 445 00:26:51,224 --> 00:26:59,598 they'd disappear as suddenly as they had appeared. 446 00:26:59,598 --> 00:27:02,601 After one of these visits, we usually checked the lashings. 447 00:27:02,601 --> 00:27:05,670 They often broke, but this was not because of the whales. 448 00:27:05,670 --> 00:27:07,538 The ropes holding the steering oar in place 449 00:27:07,538 --> 00:27:11,676 were constantly in need of repair. 450 00:27:11,676 --> 00:27:15,412 The logs in the stern was smooth and slippery and anyone 451 00:27:15,412 --> 00:27:16,747 slipping into the water would be well aware of the many 452 00:27:16,747 --> 00:27:18,849 creatures milling around in the sea. 453 00:27:18,849 --> 00:27:21,151 By day, there would always be someone at hand to come 454 00:27:21,151 --> 00:27:29,058 to one's rescue, but at night, the man on the helm would be on his own. 455 00:27:29,058 --> 00:27:31,493 At regular intervals, we made a complete inspection 456 00:27:31,493 --> 00:27:34,729 of all the rope lashings. We carried spare lengths of rope, 457 00:27:34,729 --> 00:27:38,666 but only enough for a few logs if all the ropes disintegrated. 458 00:27:38,666 --> 00:27:40,467 But the experts have been quite wrong when they 459 00:27:40,467 --> 00:27:43,303 maintained that the ropes on a balsa raft would be chafed 460 00:27:43,303 --> 00:27:46,473 right through. As it turned out, the logs had no effect 461 00:27:46,473 --> 00:27:49,275 on the lashings and the secret was quite simply that 462 00:27:49,275 --> 00:27:52,779 balsa is as soft and pliable as cork. 463 00:27:52,779 --> 00:27:55,615 The ropes, being harder than balsa, would dig 464 00:27:55,615 --> 00:27:57,850 deeper and deeper into the logs until they were 465 00:27:57,850 --> 00:28:06,191 completely protected in deep grooves. 466 00:28:06,191 --> 00:28:08,759 The radio operators had no easy task. 467 00:28:08,759 --> 00:28:11,262 The transmitter had to be watertight and besides, 468 00:28:11,262 --> 00:28:16,266 there was not enough room on the raft to rig an aerial of any length. 469 00:28:16,266 --> 00:28:19,669 Raaby solved this problem by making a balloon. 470 00:28:19,669 --> 00:28:22,405 Our parrot was particularly interested in radio. 471 00:28:22,405 --> 00:28:25,407 Here she is seen closely watching Raaby's experiment 472 00:28:25,407 --> 00:28:28,143 producing hydrogen for his balloon by mixing a special 473 00:28:28,143 --> 00:28:29,945 powder with seawater. 474 00:28:29,945 --> 00:28:33,148 Once the balloon is big enough, all Raaby has to do is to 475 00:28:33,148 --> 00:28:35,983 attach it to one end of his aerial, send it aloft 476 00:28:35,983 --> 00:28:38,319 and get just the right length of aerial. 477 00:28:38,319 --> 00:28:41,656 All went well until the parrot decided to bite through 478 00:28:41,656 --> 00:28:48,094 the aerial wire ensuring that the balloon went even higher. 479 00:29:01,507 --> 00:29:05,210 The radio operator had his set in the corner of the bamboo hut. 480 00:29:05,210 --> 00:29:08,279 With a transmitting strength of 7 watts, direct contact 481 00:29:08,279 --> 00:29:10,381 was made with the radio ham in Norway 482 00:29:10,381 --> 00:29:12,282 at the opposite end of the world. 483 00:29:12,282 --> 00:29:14,985 This in itself was a sort of world record. 484 00:29:14,985 --> 00:29:17,387 Here, contact has just been made with a radio ham in 485 00:29:17,387 --> 00:29:19,790 Los Angeles who had picked up our message 486 00:29:19,790 --> 00:29:22,658 announcing that we're halfway across the Pacific. 487 00:29:22,658 --> 00:29:25,661 This means that after forty-five days, we'd already covered 488 00:29:25,661 --> 00:29:28,631 a distance more than that between Oslo and the North Pole, 489 00:29:28,631 --> 00:29:32,534 which meant that we had exactly one half of our voyage left. 490 00:29:32,534 --> 00:29:36,304 We were now 2,500 miles from the nearest land. 491 00:29:36,304 --> 00:29:38,839 We were entirely alone in a world of our own. 492 00:29:38,839 --> 00:29:41,375 We often pedaled off a considerable distance in our 493 00:29:41,375 --> 00:29:44,411 rubber dinghy whenever there was just a gentle swell. 494 00:29:44,411 --> 00:29:47,513 We never experienced a flat calm, however. 495 00:29:47,513 --> 00:29:50,984 We had two gales as we approached our halfway mark. 496 00:29:50,984 --> 00:29:54,387 One of these raged for five days and kept us too busy 497 00:29:54,387 --> 00:29:56,055 to do any filming. 498 00:29:56,055 --> 00:29:59,324 Our sails split, the steering oar broke and the center board 499 00:29:59,324 --> 00:30:02,628 came away. There was also some damage to the deck, 500 00:30:02,628 --> 00:30:10,070 but we managed to repair most of it and continue calmly on our way. 501 00:30:10,136 --> 00:30:12,438 The elements were driving us relentlessly west at an 502 00:30:12,438 --> 00:30:17,111 average rate of 42 1/2 nautical miles a day or about 80 kilometers. 503 00:30:17,111 --> 00:30:27,989 Our record for one single 24-hour stretch was 130 kilometers. 504 00:30:27,989 --> 00:30:30,926 We were constantly forced to make our way into the water 505 00:30:30,926 --> 00:30:34,163 below the raft to check the ropes and center boards. 506 00:30:34,163 --> 00:30:37,533 This was an unpleasant task. Two men had to stand by 507 00:30:37,533 --> 00:30:40,437 and pull the diver up by his feet should a shark launch 508 00:30:40,437 --> 00:30:43,840 an unexpected attack and had they failed to be 509 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,476 vigilant and quick enough, the diver would have suffered 510 00:30:46,476 --> 00:30:49,714 the same fate as this fish dangling on a hook astern. 511 00:30:49,714 --> 00:30:58,023 With a snap of its jaws, the shark cut it in two. 512 00:30:58,023 --> 00:31:00,960 We were constantly followed by sharks waiting patiently 513 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,330 to pick up anything thrown overboard. 514 00:31:03,330 --> 00:31:05,999 We fished shark for a very good reason. 515 00:31:05,999 --> 00:31:09,069 In fact, as well as to try shark meat which tasted like 516 00:31:09,069 --> 00:31:11,706 haddock provided it was sufficiently unsalted by rinsing 517 00:31:11,706 --> 00:31:16,143 in water. The main purpose of our shark fishing was to 518 00:31:16,143 --> 00:31:19,715 ensure that we got to the shark before the shark got one of us, 519 00:31:19,715 --> 00:31:23,085 should anyone fall overboard. 520 00:31:23,085 --> 00:31:26,356 Lorita's greatest pleasure was watching our battle with the sharks. 521 00:31:26,356 --> 00:31:28,391 Hooking a shark was no problem. 522 00:31:28,391 --> 00:31:34,098 This creature has a ferocious appetite and will eat just about anything. 523 00:31:34,098 --> 00:31:36,767 But this must be said to its credit, that it never attacked 524 00:31:36,767 --> 00:31:39,837 unless there was blood or fish afloat in the water, 525 00:31:39,837 --> 00:31:50,116 but if there was, it would attack anything that moved in blind fury. 526 00:31:50,116 --> 00:31:52,318 On one occasion, a shark even sank its teeth into a 527 00:31:52,318 --> 00:31:56,122 corner of the raft. Once a shark had been hooked, 528 00:31:56,122 --> 00:31:59,259 holding it onboard the raft presented no difficulty. 529 00:31:59,259 --> 00:32:01,061 But once it was up on the slippery deck, the real struggle began. 530 00:32:04,565 --> 00:32:07,368 The brown shark has a skin so tough that it is proof 531 00:32:07,368 --> 00:32:09,303 against any knife thrust. 532 00:32:09,303 --> 00:32:11,639 To make sure that the great fish would not amputate 533 00:32:11,639 --> 00:32:15,144 a foot or cut through ropes or snap anything within reach, 534 00:32:15,144 --> 00:32:18,280 we had to tie it down securely. 535 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,518 It would often lie on deck, trust up snapping viciously for 536 00:32:21,518 --> 00:32:24,454 as much as three-quarters of an hour and as we sometimes had 537 00:32:24,454 --> 00:32:26,923 as many as nine of these creatures lying on deck, 538 00:32:26,923 --> 00:32:29,994 it was often hard to distinguish between the dead ones 539 00:32:29,994 --> 00:32:32,530 and those alive. 540 00:32:32,530 --> 00:32:35,934 Sharks have small cat-like eyes on the side of the head 541 00:32:35,934 --> 00:32:37,803 and have poor eyesight. 542 00:32:37,803 --> 00:32:39,871 They were always accompanied by their companions, 543 00:32:39,871 --> 00:32:43,242 the pilot fish which would swim unconcernedly just in front 544 00:32:43,242 --> 00:32:46,646 of those powerful jaws on the lookout for anything edible 545 00:32:46,646 --> 00:32:49,215 in the water around. 546 00:32:49,215 --> 00:32:51,185 Once a shark had been pulled out of the sea, 547 00:32:51,185 --> 00:32:54,354 his faithful friends would be at a loss and in time, 548 00:32:54,354 --> 00:32:57,591 shoals of striped pilot fish had attached themselves 549 00:32:57,591 --> 00:33:01,329 to the victorious logs and swam on ahead of the Kon-Tiki 550 00:33:01,329 --> 00:33:06,301 in their typical fan-shaped formation across the ocean. 551 00:33:06,301 --> 00:33:08,671 When our parrot joined us in South America, 552 00:33:08,671 --> 00:33:10,940 she could only speak a few words of Spanish, 553 00:33:10,940 --> 00:33:13,742 but after two months Danielson insisted that Lorita 554 00:33:13,742 --> 00:33:16,480 was speaking Spanish with a Norwegian accent. 555 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,683 She came to be regarded as the seventh member of our crew. 556 00:33:19,683 --> 00:33:21,953 She provided a touch of southern temperament in a world 557 00:33:21,953 --> 00:33:24,489 full of so much cold fish. 558 00:33:24,489 --> 00:33:27,391 Lorita stayed with us for sixty days, 559 00:33:27,391 --> 00:33:30,295 but one day when heavy seas pounded the Kon-Tiki 560 00:33:30,295 --> 00:33:44,410 she was gone in a flash. 561 00:33:44,410 --> 00:33:47,815 As a rule, taking a dip in the sea was strictly taboo 562 00:33:47,815 --> 00:33:50,451 but on hot days when the temptation was too great, 563 00:33:50,451 --> 00:33:53,121 if the masthead lookout assured us that there were no 564 00:33:53,121 --> 00:33:58,426 unwelcome guests lurking in the vicinity, we could venture out. 565 00:33:58,426 --> 00:34:00,262 On such occasions, there was always a life belt 566 00:34:02,098 --> 00:34:03,933 on the end of a long line trailing astern for the swimmer 567 00:34:03,933 --> 00:34:08,137 to hold onto should the Kon-Tiki slip away. 568 00:34:08,137 --> 00:34:10,674 This was how we usually enjoyed the refreshing dip 569 00:34:10,674 --> 00:34:13,911 in the Pacific with a firm grip on the raft. 570 00:34:13,911 --> 00:34:16,113 As a rule, the Kon-Tiki would drift at such a rate, 571 00:34:16,113 --> 00:34:20,418 that anyone falling overboard would otherwise be a goner. 572 00:34:20,418 --> 00:34:22,921 One day Watzinger found himself left behind, 573 00:34:22,921 --> 00:34:25,024 and although he swam like a man possessed, 574 00:34:25,024 --> 00:34:27,226 he had no chance of catching up with the raft. 575 00:34:27,226 --> 00:34:30,296 He was already some 30 yards astern when Haugland 576 00:34:30,296 --> 00:34:33,266 dived into the water with a line and managed to reach him 577 00:34:33,266 --> 00:34:36,870 in the nick of time. 578 00:34:36,870 --> 00:34:40,007 In order to feel more secure, whenever we swam under 579 00:34:40,007 --> 00:34:42,476 the raft to inspect the lashings, we built a so-called 580 00:34:42,476 --> 00:34:45,913 diving basket with a rather rough and ready materials 581 00:34:45,913 --> 00:34:49,218 we had at hand. An old fruit basket from Peru had its 582 00:34:49,218 --> 00:34:53,088 sides extended with the addition of rope and slats. 583 00:34:53,088 --> 00:34:56,693 When completed, it had the desired effect on sharks 584 00:34:56,693 --> 00:34:59,996 as well as on us. We knew, that should we have an unwelcome 585 00:34:59,996 --> 00:35:03,234 visitor, we had only to crouch down inside the basket 586 00:35:03,234 --> 00:35:10,676 while the crew on deck hauled us out as quickly as possible. 587 00:35:10,676 --> 00:35:15,849 The diving basket is lowered for its first trial. 588 00:35:26,763 --> 00:35:30,167 After adjusting his diving goggles, Haugland takes his place 589 00:35:30,167 --> 00:35:44,287 in the basket. 590 00:35:44,287 --> 00:35:47,524 Once underneath the raft, he has a unique experience. 591 00:35:47,591 --> 00:35:49,860 Not only does he see the ropes and balsa logs, 592 00:35:49,860 --> 00:35:53,665 but numerous tropical fish of all sorts of shapes and colors. 593 00:35:53,665 --> 00:35:56,068 It was as though one had an aquarium under one's 594 00:35:56,068 --> 00:35:59,773 living room floor, a floating tank that would accompany us 595 00:35:59,773 --> 00:36:02,410 all the way across the Pacific. 596 00:36:02,410 --> 00:36:06,748 Diving under the raft, now proved a highly popular diversion. 597 00:36:06,748 --> 00:36:09,485 In fact, the Kon-Tiki acquired a new and entertaining 598 00:36:09,485 --> 00:36:12,990 basement in addition to its masthead and its deck. 599 00:36:12,990 --> 00:36:23,870 We were never going to be really bored. 600 00:36:23,870 --> 00:36:26,507 Unfortunately the film of the interior of the hut was 601 00:36:26,507 --> 00:36:30,446 spoiled by seawater, but we have preserved photographs. 602 00:36:30,446 --> 00:36:33,817 Danielson is reading one of the seventy-three ethnological 603 00:36:33,817 --> 00:36:37,188 tracks he brought with him on the expedition. 604 00:36:37,188 --> 00:37:05,057 (crew member singing) 605 00:37:05,057 --> 00:37:44,809 ("The Kon-Tiki Man Theme" by Prague Symphony Orchestra) 606 00:37:44,875 --> 00:38:03,599 (water sloshing) 607 00:38:03,599 --> 00:38:06,770 Haugland has just baited a hook with a whole dolphin fish 608 00:38:06,770 --> 00:38:11,276 to lure a shark when we had a visitor we shall never forget. 609 00:38:11,276 --> 00:38:14,314 It was the world's largest fish, the whale shark. 610 00:38:14,314 --> 00:38:17,050 As we hauled the dolphin fish onboard, 611 00:38:17,050 --> 00:38:19,920 the monster came gliding straight for the Kon-Tiki. 612 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,992 The whale shark is easily identifiable as its head and back 613 00:38:23,992 --> 00:38:25,761 are covered in white spots. 614 00:38:25,761 --> 00:38:29,700 According to zoologists, this rare giant whale measures 615 00:38:29,700 --> 00:38:32,470 from 15 - 20 meters in length. 616 00:38:32,470 --> 00:38:36,242 Here could be seen the striped pilot fish that frisk 617 00:38:36,242 --> 00:38:44,218 peacefully in front of the shark's wide jaws. 618 00:38:44,218 --> 00:38:46,388 When it came right up to the edge of the raft, 619 00:38:46,388 --> 00:38:49,726 we saw that its huge toad-like head is so large 620 00:38:49,726 --> 00:38:52,963 that its jaws are a meter and a half in width. 621 00:38:52,963 --> 00:38:57,269 Zoologists report that it has some 3,000 teeth in each jaw. 622 00:38:57,269 --> 00:39:00,439 So large was this creature, that we feared for the woodwork 623 00:39:00,439 --> 00:39:02,910 and the ropes should it attack us with its enormously 624 00:39:02,910 --> 00:39:06,447 powerful tail, but no attack was forthcoming. 625 00:39:06,447 --> 00:39:09,818 It swam calmly up to the Kon-Tiki and then dived under it 626 00:39:09,818 --> 00:39:11,453 to reappear on the other side. 627 00:39:11,453 --> 00:39:14,691 It was so large that when its head remerged on one side 628 00:39:14,691 --> 00:39:18,262 of the raft, its tail was still visible on the other side. 629 00:39:18,262 --> 00:39:22,434 It continued swimming around and under the raft and naturally 630 00:39:22,434 --> 00:39:25,872 we were not a little concerned as to how this visit would end. 631 00:39:25,872 --> 00:39:31,046 We had no firearms, only a few hand harpoons and a fish spear. 632 00:39:31,046 --> 00:39:54,176 (music) 633 00:39:54,176 --> 00:39:57,547 The tension proved too much for Hesselberg. 634 00:39:57,547 --> 00:39:59,782 It looked as if the whale shark intended to follow us 635 00:39:59,782 --> 00:40:02,219 all the way across. 636 00:40:02,219 --> 00:40:05,319 And as it once again approached the Kon-Tiki, 637 00:40:05,319 --> 00:40:08,419 he plunged the fish spear into its sinewy head. 638 00:40:08,419 --> 00:40:10,620 For a split second all was chaos, 639 00:40:10,620 --> 00:40:13,087 after which the great monster readopt and slithers 640 00:40:13,087 --> 00:40:14,653 down into the deep. 641 00:40:14,653 --> 00:40:18,020 The harpoon line snapped. The harpoon broke 642 00:40:18,020 --> 00:40:20,787 and the shaft floated up a few yards further on. 643 00:40:20,787 --> 00:40:23,887 In the course of a few seconds, the whale shark never 644 00:40:23,887 --> 00:40:27,821 repeated its visit. As the days passed, there was plenty 645 00:40:27,821 --> 00:40:31,421 to record in our log. Haugland amused himself using ink 646 00:40:31,421 --> 00:40:34,922 from a cuttles fish to write with. Small cuttle fish 647 00:40:34,922 --> 00:40:38,188 would arrive on their own on deck practically every night. 648 00:40:38,188 --> 00:40:41,421 When cut open, they provided an inkwell ready for use. 649 00:40:41,421 --> 00:40:44,356 The ink, too, was of good quality almost like Indian ink 650 00:40:44,356 --> 00:40:46,122 used by artists. 651 00:40:46,122 --> 00:40:49,823 On dark nights, giant cuttle fish, squid, measuring some 652 00:40:49,823 --> 00:40:52,856 3-4 meters in length would appear on the surface of the sea 653 00:40:52,856 --> 00:41:06,123 with their phosphorescent eyes, but they never invaded the raft. 654 00:41:06,123 --> 00:41:09,890 Finally, one day we had visible proof that we were approaching 655 00:41:09,890 --> 00:41:12,291 land on the other side of the ocean. 656 00:41:12,291 --> 00:41:15,724 The first frigatebird from Polynesia came flying towards us. 657 00:41:15,724 --> 00:41:19,524 We realized how important it now was to keep a sharp lookout. 658 00:41:19,524 --> 00:41:31,058 (musici) 659 00:41:31,058 --> 00:41:33,791 (water sloshing) 660 00:41:33,791 --> 00:41:37,092 We were drifting towards the dangerous coral shoals in the 661 00:41:37,092 --> 00:41:39,125 Tuamotu group of islands. 662 00:41:39,125 --> 00:41:41,392 They're notorious on account of the seemingly endless 663 00:41:41,392 --> 00:41:43,926 coral reefs with which they are surrounded. 664 00:41:43,926 --> 00:41:47,193 While the islands themselves are so low, that they are only seen 665 00:41:47,193 --> 00:41:54,126 when one is hulled ashore through surf pounding on coral reef. 666 00:41:54,126 --> 00:41:57,260 After being at sea for 93 days, the lookout climbed the mast 667 00:41:57,260 --> 00:42:00,027 one morning and announced that he could see land, 668 00:42:00,027 --> 00:42:02,494 a low palm clad south sea island. 669 00:42:02,494 --> 00:42:12,761 (music) 670 00:42:12,761 --> 00:42:16,328 We celebrated our arrival in Polynesia by hoisting all our flags 671 00:42:16,328 --> 00:42:19,128 and working the helm for all we were worth, 672 00:42:19,128 --> 00:42:22,128 but wind and current were too strong for us to alter course. 673 00:42:22,128 --> 00:42:24,895 Despite all our efforts, we continued to drift in the same 674 00:42:24,895 --> 00:42:33,496 direction and the island was soon out of sight astern. 675 00:42:33,496 --> 00:42:35,829 Four days later we were approaching another south sea 676 00:42:35,829 --> 00:42:39,262 island further west and spent the whole day outside the reef 677 00:42:39,262 --> 00:42:45,596 trying hard to find a way through. 678 00:42:45,596 --> 00:42:48,230 We were in fact so close to the shore, that natives 679 00:42:48,230 --> 00:42:50,863 on the beach caught sight of the Kon-Tiki and paddled out 680 00:42:50,863 --> 00:42:52,864 in a canoe to welcome us. 681 00:42:52,864 --> 00:42:59,964 This meant that we had made contact with our first Polynesians. 682 00:42:59,964 --> 00:43:03,064 Our new native friends, each one armed with a paddle 683 00:43:03,064 --> 00:43:06,998 joined us in our struggle against our long termed former allies 684 00:43:06,998 --> 00:43:11,231 wind and current, who had determined to push us further west. 685 00:43:11,231 --> 00:43:14,765 We realized now that the overriding factor was not distance, 686 00:43:14,765 --> 00:43:18,598 but direction. We had drifted automatically a fifth of the 687 00:43:18,598 --> 00:43:21,199 way around the globe in a westerly direction, 688 00:43:21,199 --> 00:43:23,898 but working our way a mere two or three hundred yards 689 00:43:23,898 --> 00:43:27,100 in the opposite direction proved impossible. 690 00:43:27,100 --> 00:43:29,599 We were so close to land that Haugland even managed 691 00:43:29,599 --> 00:43:32,400 to paddle ashore in the rubber dinghy and was very 692 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:36,000 nearly compelled to remain behind with the natives. 693 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,133 Once again, we drifted across the ocean. 694 00:43:39,133 --> 00:43:41,867 Our visitors departed and returned in their canoes 695 00:43:41,867 --> 00:43:53,534 and the six of us were left behind on our unruly logs. 696 00:43:53,534 --> 00:43:57,701 After 101 days, we sighted land for the third time. 697 00:43:57,701 --> 00:44:00,568 This time we were confronted with the veritable bastion 698 00:44:00,568 --> 00:44:03,601 of palm fringed islands and reefs stretching ahead as 699 00:44:03,601 --> 00:44:06,235 far as the eye could see from north to south. 700 00:44:06,235 --> 00:44:09,369 We put the helm hard over in an attempt to approach 701 00:44:09,369 --> 00:44:12,769 from the rear as the surf was breaking directly on the side 702 00:44:12,769 --> 00:44:14,202 to which we were drifting. 703 00:44:14,202 --> 00:44:17,502 If only we could circle the entire coral reef, we might be 704 00:44:17,502 --> 00:44:20,303 able to land on the other side in the lee of the surf, 705 00:44:20,303 --> 00:44:23,703 but as we drifted inexorably on, you could see from the 706 00:44:23,703 --> 00:44:26,603 masthead that the submarine reef was so extensive 707 00:44:26,603 --> 00:44:28,970 that we had no chance of avoiding it. 708 00:44:28,970 --> 00:44:31,903 All we could do was to prepare as best we could to be 709 00:44:31,903 --> 00:44:33,970 cost up on the reef. 710 00:44:33,970 --> 00:44:37,004 All valuable equipment was collected in the bamboo hut, 711 00:44:37,004 --> 00:44:39,004 which we covered with canvas for protection. 712 00:44:39,004 --> 00:44:42,037 We then hastily removed the bamboo deck and cut 713 00:44:42,037 --> 00:44:44,638 all the ropes that bound the decker boards. 714 00:44:44,638 --> 00:44:46,904 Once these were pulled up, the Kon-Tiki would have 715 00:44:46,904 --> 00:44:49,571 such a shallow draft that we hoped it would ride on top 716 00:44:49,571 --> 00:44:52,305 of the breakers. Every preparation was made for the 717 00:44:52,305 --> 00:44:54,605 moment when the ocean would rise up in its wrath 718 00:44:54,605 --> 00:44:57,171 and crash down on us, but I gave orders that no one 719 00:44:57,171 --> 00:45:00,572 was to swim ashore or try to land in the rubber dinghy, 720 00:45:00,572 --> 00:45:04,339 as this would mean certain death on the sharp coral reef. 721 00:45:04,339 --> 00:45:06,743 We should all have to cling to the raft and hope that the 722 00:45:06,743 --> 00:45:17,727 grace balsa logs would act as fenders against the deadly reef. 723 00:45:17,727 --> 00:45:20,097 At the very last moment, Raaby made contact with a 724 00:45:20,097 --> 00:45:23,302 radio ham in New Zealand informing him that we were about 725 00:45:23,302 --> 00:45:26,074 to be wrecked on a coral reef and that if there was 726 00:45:26,074 --> 00:45:29,011 no sign of life from us during the next thirty-six hours, 727 00:45:29,011 --> 00:45:31,816 he should inform the Norwegian ambassador in Washington 728 00:45:31,816 --> 00:45:34,654 that we had perished. His last words were, 729 00:45:34,654 --> 00:45:39,595 "Fifty yards left. Okay." 730 00:45:39,595 --> 00:45:41,899 "Here we go. Goodbye." 731 00:45:41,899 --> 00:45:44,570 He then switched off and crawled out onto the deck 732 00:45:44,570 --> 00:45:47,574 to join the rest of us as we clung desperately to our 733 00:45:47,574 --> 00:45:51,146 particular ropes and then it happened. 734 00:45:51,146 --> 00:45:53,684 The worst moment of the whole voyage, the crest of the wave 735 00:45:53,684 --> 00:45:56,589 reared up like a wall above us, hurling us into the breakers 736 00:45:56,589 --> 00:45:58,392 and down onto the reef. 737 00:45:58,392 --> 00:46:01,697 Twelve curling breakers propelled us in, but every time 738 00:46:01,697 --> 00:46:04,134 we were sucked back by the undertow. 739 00:46:04,134 --> 00:46:06,839 The thirteenth breaker was so powerful that it'd hold us 740 00:46:06,839 --> 00:46:09,777 over the edge of the reef and when it receded we were left 741 00:46:09,777 --> 00:46:12,447 suspended on top of the coral. 742 00:46:12,447 --> 00:46:15,619 With the arrival of low tide, as the ocean slowly ebbed, 743 00:46:15,619 --> 00:46:18,691 we found ourselves safe and sound on top of the reef 744 00:46:18,691 --> 00:46:23,732 and were now able to salvage our belongings. 745 00:46:23,732 --> 00:46:26,670 The Kon-Tiki was now an absolute wreck. 746 00:46:26,670 --> 00:46:29,241 The ultra hardwood of which the mast was made 747 00:46:29,241 --> 00:46:31,144 had snapped like a matchstick. 748 00:46:31,144 --> 00:46:33,782 The hut had been flattened. The stern crossbeam was 749 00:46:33,782 --> 00:46:37,053 broken and the steering log twisted sideways while the 750 00:46:37,053 --> 00:46:40,392 steering oar and the bow planks had splinted. 751 00:46:40,392 --> 00:46:43,196 The bamboo deck had crumpled like a paper bag. 752 00:46:43,196 --> 00:46:45,300 There was utter chaos onboard, 753 00:46:45,300 --> 00:46:48,772 but beneath all this mess, the nine logs that had brought us 754 00:46:48,772 --> 00:46:52,044 safely across the ocean was still intact 755 00:46:52,044 --> 00:46:55,583 and had resisted pressure from below and provided we 756 00:46:55,583 --> 00:47:01,091 could hang on to this foundation, we should survive. 757 00:47:01,091 --> 00:47:04,397 We managed to inflate the rubber dinghy and started dragging 758 00:47:04,397 --> 00:47:07,335 the most important items of salvageable cargo 759 00:47:07,335 --> 00:47:09,205 across the reef itself. 760 00:47:09,271 --> 00:47:11,776 Both the center boards and the logs were covered with 761 00:47:11,776 --> 00:47:14,313 edible shells, which we used to pick often, 762 00:47:14,313 --> 00:47:17,284 cook soup from when out at sea. 763 00:47:17,284 --> 00:47:20,289 Here we're using a board as a sort of sledge in order to 764 00:47:20,289 --> 00:47:24,195 salvage the last of our water supplies. 765 00:47:24,262 --> 00:47:26,900 A dead shark had to be removed as the reef was full of 766 00:47:26,900 --> 00:47:30,372 poisonous eels which were attracted by the shark's blood. 767 00:47:30,372 --> 00:47:33,677 This particular eel had razor sharp poisonous teeth 768 00:47:33,677 --> 00:47:36,983 and was our only real enemy among all the colorful fish 769 00:47:36,983 --> 00:47:40,555 in the quiet waters above the coral reef. 770 00:47:40,555 --> 00:47:44,127 Otherwise, the entire reef was a fairytale world of curious 771 00:47:44,127 --> 00:47:48,533 creatures and strange shapes and colors. 772 00:47:48,533 --> 00:47:50,704 When we'd rescued the most important equipment, 773 00:47:50,704 --> 00:47:54,477 each crew member seized whatever meant most to him. 774 00:47:54,477 --> 00:47:57,215 Here comes the steward with his kitchen utensils. 775 00:47:57,215 --> 00:48:00,654 His Primus stove was ruined by salt water, but he saved 776 00:48:00,654 --> 00:48:03,892 his pots and pans and there was plenty of dry wood on land, 777 00:48:03,892 --> 00:48:06,796 so we could carry on cooking our food. 778 00:48:06,796 --> 00:48:11,170 (wind blowing) 779 00:48:11,170 --> 00:48:26,161 (water sploshing) 780 00:48:26,161 --> 00:48:29,433 Thus we abandoned the wreck out there on the deserted 781 00:48:29,433 --> 00:48:33,272 coral reef and waded in towards a small palm covered 782 00:48:33,272 --> 00:48:39,082 island which lay inside the reef in the quiet lagoon. 783 00:48:39,082 --> 00:48:48,796 On reaching it, we discovered it to be completely uninhabited. 784 00:48:48,796 --> 00:48:51,668 I don't think any of us will ever forget the wonderful feeling 785 00:48:51,668 --> 00:48:56,142 of stepping on warm, dry sand and walking on solid ground 786 00:48:56,142 --> 00:49:00,081 after spending 101 days on a heaving raft. 787 00:49:00,081 --> 00:49:02,853 It was a delightful little island on which we had landed, 788 00:49:02,853 --> 00:49:08,428 covered with coconut palms. 789 00:49:08,428 --> 00:49:11,266 Our first impulse was to climb one of these palm trees 790 00:49:11,266 --> 00:49:13,669 and pick some of the nuts which we knew were full of 791 00:49:13,669 --> 00:49:17,977 cool sweet refreshing milk, a delicious taste after our long 792 00:49:17,977 --> 00:49:19,846 journey across the briny sea. 793 00:49:19,846 --> 00:49:56,939 (wind blowing) 794 00:49:56,939 --> 00:49:59,710 Meanwhile, the radio operators had set up their transmitter 795 00:49:59,710 --> 00:50:03,082 under the sail, which was still soaked with seawater. 796 00:50:03,082 --> 00:50:05,353 It was important to let the outside world know 797 00:50:05,353 --> 00:50:08,392 that we had reached land, safe and sound. 798 00:50:08,392 --> 00:50:11,665 If we failed to get this news across within thirty-six hours, 799 00:50:11,665 --> 00:50:14,972 the radio ham in New Zealand would divulge his secret 800 00:50:14,972 --> 00:50:19,380 and aircraft and naval vessels would set off to scan the seas for us. 801 00:50:19,380 --> 00:50:21,985 It was a great moment for the radio operators when 802 00:50:21,985 --> 00:50:25,091 their equipment had been dried and linked up only a matter 803 00:50:25,091 --> 00:50:28,264 of hours before our time ran out and our message was 804 00:50:28,264 --> 00:50:31,102 picked up by amateurs in New Zealand and America, 805 00:50:31,102 --> 00:50:35,076 thus preventing the dispatch of any relief expedition. 806 00:50:35,076 --> 00:50:38,950 On the headland, facing the spot where we landed, 807 00:50:38,950 --> 00:50:40,954 we planted a coconut from Peru. 808 00:50:40,954 --> 00:50:44,495 We originally had two hundred coconuts with us on the raft 809 00:50:44,495 --> 00:50:46,766 and most of these had been eaten on the journey. 810 00:50:46,766 --> 00:50:58,120 The ones leftover were planted in Polynesia in the native manner. 811 00:50:58,120 --> 00:51:01,160 We spent a week on our uninhabited island. 812 00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:04,299 One morning, we spotted a white sail on the horizon 813 00:51:04,299 --> 00:51:06,804 on the other side of the calm lagoon and we waved our 814 00:51:06,804 --> 00:51:09,643 flags to attract its attention. 815 00:51:09,643 --> 00:51:16,656 The small flag shown here is that of the New York Explorer's Club. 816 00:51:21,131 --> 00:51:23,970 Shortly after, the first natives waded ashore. 817 00:51:23,970 --> 00:51:27,143 Impeccably clad in european clothes, at any rate 818 00:51:27,143 --> 00:51:31,652 as far as their underwear was concerned. 819 00:51:31,652 --> 00:51:34,156 As we had little in common in the way of language, 820 00:51:34,156 --> 00:51:38,064 we were compelled to use what might be called international speech, 821 00:51:38,064 --> 00:51:40,468 but we did understand that there was another 822 00:51:40,468 --> 00:51:48,250 inhabited island on the far side of the lagoon. 823 00:51:48,250 --> 00:51:52,023 But they were, above all, eager to know what the radio was. 824 00:51:52,023 --> 00:51:55,397 Only two of them had visited Tahiti and seen this marvel. 825 00:51:55,397 --> 00:51:58,737 Fortunately, we were able to tune in to a station broadcasting 826 00:51:58,737 --> 00:52:00,773 south sea island music from Hawaii. 827 00:52:00,773 --> 00:52:15,135 (Hawaiian song) 828 00:52:15,135 --> 00:52:17,239 But the natives were most interested in finding out 829 00:52:17,239 --> 00:52:19,844 what sort of boat managed to land us safe and sound 830 00:52:19,844 --> 00:52:23,217 through the breakers on the windward side of the reef. 831 00:52:23,217 --> 00:52:25,321 When they waded out and saw the Kon-Tiki, 832 00:52:25,321 --> 00:52:29,529 they exclaimed that this wasn't a boat, it was a pei pei. 833 00:52:29,529 --> 00:52:33,136 [Taygee] who spoke french explained that peipei was the 834 00:52:33,136 --> 00:52:36,575 name of the sort of vessels described in the ancestral legends. 835 00:52:36,575 --> 00:52:41,117 Peipei or rungarungas of this kind were well-known in the past 836 00:52:41,117 --> 00:52:44,658 and were used by their distant ancestors for ocean voyages. 837 00:52:44,658 --> 00:52:47,931 The oldest of the natives knew numerous myths and legends 838 00:52:47,931 --> 00:52:50,235 that were of great interest in this context. 839 00:52:50,235 --> 00:52:53,375 These even included a song about the Maui, 840 00:52:53,375 --> 00:52:56,848 a relation of Tiki which stated in so many words that he 841 00:52:56,848 --> 00:53:00,822 had arrived from a country to the east at sunrise. 842 00:53:00,822 --> 00:53:04,196 The natives entertained us with roast pig and exotic fruit 843 00:53:04,196 --> 00:53:07,669 and in return we gave them all the equipment we could spare. 844 00:53:07,669 --> 00:53:14,081 (water sploshing) 845 00:53:14,081 --> 00:53:16,819 Meanwhile, the Kon-Tiki proceeded unaided to move 846 00:53:16,819 --> 00:53:20,292 further and further across the reef at every high tide 847 00:53:20,292 --> 00:53:22,998 and one fine day, it had moved all the way across and 848 00:53:22,998 --> 00:53:31,247 into the lagoon. 849 00:53:31,247 --> 00:53:34,052 With the help of the natives, we attached ropes to the bow 850 00:53:34,052 --> 00:53:36,857 and pulled the raft to the edge of our little island 851 00:53:36,857 --> 00:53:39,963 where we tethered it to some of the coconut palms on the shore. 852 00:53:39,963 --> 00:53:42,903 Today, this island has been named [Fenawa] Kon-Tiki, 853 00:53:42,903 --> 00:53:46,944 which means in polynesian the Kon-Tiki Island. 854 00:53:47,011 --> 00:53:49,882 The raft was so pliable owing to its all the rope lashings 855 00:53:49,882 --> 00:53:52,555 and the tough bamboo plating that we had only to 856 00:53:52,555 --> 00:53:55,661 pull some of the ropes and the hut returned to its original 857 00:53:55,661 --> 00:53:59,334 upright position. 858 00:53:59,334 --> 00:54:01,939 The reason why the balsa logs were still floating 859 00:54:01,939 --> 00:54:04,711 well above the water was that we had ignored the advice of 860 00:54:04,711 --> 00:54:08,184 the experts who had insisted that we should use dry wood. 861 00:54:08,184 --> 00:54:11,457 Instead, we had done just as the Indians had done, 862 00:54:11,457 --> 00:54:14,530 fell to the trees while they were still full of pith which 863 00:54:14,530 --> 00:54:17,201 acted as a kind of proofing or impregnation, 864 00:54:17,201 --> 00:54:25,651 preventing the seawater from penetrating more than a few inches. 865 00:54:25,651 --> 00:54:28,957 In company with the natives, we made our way to their island. 866 00:54:28,957 --> 00:54:30,828 Here we planted various seedlings that we had brought 867 00:54:30,828 --> 00:54:34,568 with us across the ocean, just as their forefathers had done 868 00:54:34,568 --> 00:54:37,307 1,500 years ago. 869 00:54:37,307 --> 00:54:40,413 One of these was the bottle gourd, an important plant 870 00:54:40,413 --> 00:54:43,552 grown both by the Peruvian Indians and the inhabitants 871 00:54:43,552 --> 00:54:46,691 of these islands before the white man ever came here. 872 00:54:46,691 --> 00:54:49,230 The prehistoric voyages must have carried them across 873 00:54:49,230 --> 00:54:52,903 the sea, together with the sweet potato or yam as well as 874 00:54:52,903 --> 00:54:55,542 other plants that were common to both areas. 875 00:54:55,542 --> 00:55:04,359 (silence) 876 00:55:04,359 --> 00:55:08,031 When we arrived on Raroia, we discovered a small boy 877 00:55:08,031 --> 00:55:10,669 who was on his deathbed suffering from a dangerous 878 00:55:10,669 --> 00:55:14,009 boil on his head, we managed to make radio contact 879 00:55:14,009 --> 00:55:16,780 with a ham in Los Angeles who phoned a doctor. 880 00:55:16,780 --> 00:55:20,286 The latter directed the operation by radio and with the help 881 00:55:20,286 --> 00:55:28,567 of penicillin, we saved the boy's life. 882 00:55:28,567 --> 00:55:31,840 A few weeks later, news of the arrival of the Kon-Tiki 883 00:55:31,840 --> 00:55:34,811 in French Polynesia had spread from New York to Paris 884 00:55:34,811 --> 00:55:37,349 and from Paris to Tahiti where the governor dispatched 885 00:55:37,349 --> 00:55:43,126 a boat to fetch us and towed the raft to Tahiti, pearl of the pacific. 886 00:55:43,126 --> 00:55:46,030 When we arrived in Tahiti, I was greeted by my old 887 00:55:46,030 --> 00:55:50,238 Polynesian friend, Chief Teriieroo who during my stay there 888 00:55:50,238 --> 00:55:53,544 ten years earlier had adopted me as his twenty-eighth son 889 00:55:53,544 --> 00:55:58,118 under the name [unintelligible] meaning blue sky. 890 00:55:58,118 --> 00:56:56,453 (lively music) 891 00:56:56,453 --> 00:56:59,758 The successful execution of the Kon-Tiki expedition 892 00:56:59,758 --> 00:57:03,030 does not of itself provide proof of the validity of my 893 00:57:03,030 --> 00:57:05,434 theory of racial migration. 894 00:57:05,434 --> 00:57:08,874 What it proved was that the Polynesian islands are within 895 00:57:08,874 --> 00:57:13,115 reach of prehistoric vessels from Peru and that primitive man 896 00:57:13,115 --> 00:57:16,922 can undertake limitless voyages across the ocean. 897 00:57:16,922 --> 00:57:21,029 The decisive factor is not the distance, but wind and current 898 00:57:21,029 --> 00:57:26,137 moving in the same direction day in day out all the year round. 899 00:57:26,137 --> 00:57:29,209 Trade winds and equatorial currents are caused by the 900 00:57:29,209 --> 00:57:32,481 rotation of the earth and have remained unchanged 901 00:57:32,481 --> 00:57:36,807 throughout human history.