Thor Hyerdahls Pacific Crossing

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marceldb

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Hello,

I'm interested to know about Thor Hyerdahls 8000km Pacific expedition from the coast of South America to Polynesia. What
exactly did he use for Navigation? Obviously it was pre-gps which leaves traditional celestial/astro
navigation using a sextant. if so specifically what equipment was used, timekeeping, sextant, celestial objects
used, when did he take sights and what charts did he use. Is there any comment of his accuracy

Cheers
 
The Irony of the Kon-Tiki expedition was that they proved that the Polynesians could have come from South America.
D.N.A. proved that they did not.
 
It's a long time since I read it, but I seem to remember that he carried a sextant and charts, which allowed them to identify the reef they eventually fetched up on. Kon Tiki was almost unsteerable; they drifted downwind and down current, so 'navigation' is a relative term in this case.
 
About ten years ago two French twins navigated across the Atlantic in a proa with no instruments whatsoever - no compass, no sextant. They finished exactly where they intended, in Martinique.
 
If I remember correctly the logs in the balsa raft became totally waterlogged on the first attempt and the craft had to be abandoned. It was a later raft that succeeded. Wouldnt have done the Amer-Indians much good in ye olde days. No one to rescue them.
 
marceldb said:
Hello,

I'm interested to know about Thor Hyerdahls 8000km Pacific expedition from the coast of South America to Polynesia. What
exactly did he use for Navigation? Obviously it was pre-gps which leaves traditional celestial/astro
navigation using a sextant. if so specifically what equipment was used, timekeeping, sextant, celestial objects
used, when did he take sights and what charts did he use. Is there any comment of his accuracy

Cheers
Click to expand...
His son or grand son has just retraced the trip, it was on tv a few weeks ago
 
If you are interested in navigation Polynesian style you need to read the books of Dr David Lewis. He navigated across the Pacific using a coconut shell with holes for specific stars...seemed to make it ok.
 
StormNorm said:
It's a long time since I read it, but I seem to remember that he carried a sextant and charts, which allowed them to identify the reef they eventually fetched up on. Kon Tiki was almost unsteerable; they drifted downwind and down current, so 'navigation' is a relative term in this case.
Click to expand...

It is some 50 years ago that I read Kon Tiki but I am sure I remember that initially they had major steering issues but late on in the voyage they discovered that raising or lowering the small keels between the logs gave them a measure of control.
 
Sinbad1951 said:
If I remember correctly the logs in the balsa raft became totally waterlogged on the first attempt and the craft had to be abandoned. It was a later raft that succeeded. Wouldnt have done the Amer-Indians much good in ye olde days. No one to rescue them.
Click to expand...
Your memory is wrong..
The Kon-Tiki did not sink, the balsa fleet made it to it's destination and is now in museum in Oslo. http://www.kon-tiki.no/

You are confusing Kon-Tiki with the two RA expeditions by Thor Heyerdahl '
RA I and II where built of Papyrus, the first sunk because the original construction plans where not followed by the boat builders..

more info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl
 
Sinbad1951 said:
If I remember correctly the logs in the balsa raft became totally waterlogged on the first attempt and the craft had to be abandoned. It was a later raft that succeeded. Wouldnt have done the Amer-Indians much good in ye olde days. No one to rescue them.
Click to expand...

No, you're thinking of the Ra expeditions in a reed boat; the first Ra did indeed get water-logged and had to be abandoned. Ra crossed the Atlantic. Kon-Tiki did it first time, and the logs were used green so that the sap would stop sea-water from penetrating.
 
TQA said:
It is some 50 years ago that I read Kon Tiki but I am sure I remember that initially they had major steering issues but late on in the voyage they discovered that raising or lowering the small keels between the logs gave them a measure of control.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's right. I think there were fore and aft dagger boards or something similar, so raising one would move the CLR, I guess.
 
Yes, it was the consensus by 'experts' at the time that the balsa logs would absorb water and sink. They did not and yes the raft which made it across to the Pacific Islands before hitting a reef, is now much safer in a musuem in Oslo. A huge boost for Norwegian pride after a long German occupation.
 
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