Saturday, April 28, 2012

Sixty Five Years Ago Today


The Kon-Tiki set sail for the Polynesian Islands. Thor Heyerdahl wanted to prove it was possible that the Islanders came from South America using the sailing tech in pre-Columbian times. That meant building a raft made from balsa logs. Pretty crude stuff, frankly. Most anthropologists do not think that emigration happened, but it was an interesting exercise for sure.

I read the book as a teenager, and was fascinated by the tales of fishing, sailing difficulties, eating field rations, and the strain the men felt in their relationships. It's a good read, for sure.

5 comments:

drjim said...

The book "Kon Tiki" was on our "Summer Reading List" when I was in grade school.
I was fascinated by it.

threecollie said...

I loved those books!!! I still have the copies I brought home from my dad's old book store. Been trying to get the son to read them

Jess said...

I remember thinking of how it would be sailing on the Kon Tiki. The thoughts are still compelling.

Jinglebob said...

I too read it and loved it. what ever happened to him? Didn't he sail one made of reeds to from Egypt one time also?

Jeffro said...

Robert: I had to look it up - Ra and RaII were the names of the boats he sailed from Morocco. I had forgotten about that.