Following the footsteps of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his Kon-Tiki expedition, the Tangaroa raft left port in Peru 28 April on its long journey across the Pacific Ocean. Heyerdahl crossed the world's largest ocean on his balsa wood raft in 1947, and now the Tangaroa's crew of six men, including Heyerdahl's grandson, will explore the same route.
08/05/2006 :: The goal is Tahiti, a somewhat longer journey than Kon-Tiki's 101 day trip to Raroia in Polynesia. With the Tangaroa balsa wood raft and its crew of six en route in the seas outside of La Punta Callo in Peru, the start of the journey on 28 April marked 59 years precisely since Kon-Tiki set sail.
"Tangaroa got a magnificent farewell. Two ceremonies organized by the Peruvian Navy with admirals, ambassadors, horn blowers and canon salutes signalled that the expedition is now on its way," writes the crew in a travel log on the Kon-Tiki Museum's website.
And the expedition has been a long time in the making. Their departure had to be postponed for one year because of the tsunami in South East Asia, and the crew have been through several other delays in the process. So when the raft was finally ready to be launched, the atmosphere was pretty tense.
"How high would the raft lay in the water? Hugs and cries of joy spread as the raft floated well and beautifully. The farewell ceremony at Escuela Naval today (28 April) was unique, an unforgettable setting for an emotional moment," writes the crew.
On their journey across the Pacific, the crew will engage in oceanic research with a close focus on the pollution and its effects on the reproductive ability of the animals and plants in the ocean.
In addition to Thor Heyerdahl's grandson, Olav Heyerdahl (27) who is the expedition's repairman and construction worker, the crew comprises: the Swede Anders Berg (41) who is responsible for film and photo; the Norwegian Torgeir Sæverud Higraff (31), the expedition leader; the Norwegian Bjarne Krekvik (51), the captain; the Norwegian Øivin Lauten (54), security and logistics; and the Peruvian Roberto Salas (44), astronavigation.
A way to follow their journey, is to visit the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo where an updated exhibit in both English and Norwegian will map their progress. The Museum's homepage also contains information about previous expeditions.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs