Today's
NY Times has a nice long story on surfing
in Peru by Julia Chaplin. One of the breaks she writes about
is named Kon Tiki, "which offers untamed waves so massive that it takes
a strong arm even to paddle out to it." Read Julia's fine article if
you want to know about surfing in Peru (the surfing is great).
The rest of this blog is about the raft and
expedition that the break Kon Tiki is named after. In
1947 the Norwegian writer and explorer Thor Heyerdahl set out to prove
that the islands of the South Pacific were settled by people
from South America. Heyerdahl believed that prior to the arrival of
Spanish Conquistadors, groups of people from South America set out on
huge balsa log rafts and sailed 4,000 miles across the Pacific to
Polynesia. His belief was founded on the similarity of
statues he saw on Easter Island, on the names South Pacific Islanders
used for their gods and other observations. Kon-Tiki is an old name for
the sun god. Heyerdahl said he would prove that ancient peoples had
sailed rafts to Polynesia by doing it himself, starting from Peru and using the same materials
that would have been available circa 1450 AD. He
named his raft and expedition Kon-Tiki
The main body of the Kon-Tiki was made from nine balsa tree
trunks up to 45 feet long and 2 feet in diameter. The logs
were lashed together with hemp
ropes. Cross-pieces of balsa logs 18' long and 1' in
diameter were lashed crosswise to give lateral support. Pine
splashboards were added to the bow, and pine boards were wedged between
the balsa logs and used as centerboards.
The main mast was an A-frame made of heavy mangrove wood that
stood 29 feet high. There was a
bamboo cabin with a roof of thatched banana leaves.
The rudder was a 19' steering oar and the main sail was a 15'
X 18' rectangle made of cotton. No metal was used in
construction.
All of the experienced mariners who saw the raft predicted that it
would break apart and that Heyerdahl and his crew of 5 would
die. In the event, the men sailed Kon Tiki for 101 days
across 4,300 miles of open ocean and made a "successful" landfall (in that they
all survived being thrown with the raft onto a shallow reef
by overhead waves) at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands.
The raft was salvaged and is now on display in the
Kon-Tiki museum in Oslo.
Once you get into the voyage itself Heyerdahl's book, Kon-Tiki, is a
great read. One of the interesting points he makes is that
the deck of the raft was just barely above the water's surface so that
he and the crew regularly viewed fish swimming above them as
they dipped below the swells.
In 1970 Heyerdahl embarked on another expedition. This one
set out to prove that the ancient Egyptians could have crossed the
Atlantic in boats made from papyrus reeds. Read more about Thor
Heyerdahl and the Ra Expeditions
Did Heyerdahl's voyage succeeed at proving his theory about
who settled the South Pacific? No. But this does not diminish
the accomplishment of his voyage. Here's the Wikipedia entry
on Kon
Tiki
In 2006 Olav Heyerdahl re-enacted ihis grandfather's voyage
from Peru to the South Pacific on a balsa raft named Tangaroa.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 May 2008 )
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Outlook as of Saturday 7 am - Sloppy today with onshore wind. Bigger slop tomorrow but maybe head high. Monday could clean up with chest+
Friday 7:30am - Onshore wind and lumpy water through Sunday. Waves growing to head high on Sunday. Cleaner conditions next week.
Thursday 6am - Yesterday's reality didn't conform to the forecast data. The waves were there but contrary to the forecast the wind blew onshore all day. This morning Nantucket Buoy is showing 3.3' ESE at 9 sec. And there is no wind at the moment (I'm looking at CG cam right now). Today's low tide is at 3pm; forecast shows wind blowing from SSW at 10+ this afternoon. Call it thigh+ today and tomorrow. Wind starts blowing in from E tomorrow at 10+ and stays that way through Wednesday. There should be wind waves in the chest+ range on Saturday and Sunday.
Wednesday 6:30am - Nantucket Buoy showing 8.5' SSE at 10 secs, light wind from west, low tide at 2:10. Doesn't get much better than this in spring. Light wind and glassy water all day today. Waves will drop from chest+ this morning to waist+ this afternoon. Tomorrow will be nice too with smaller waves.
Tuesday 6:10am - Nantucket Buoy currently showing swell at 7.9' from SSE. Today's wind will be 15+ shifting from SE to S. Tonight the wind will go WNW. Tomorrow will see chest high in the morning dropping to waist in the afternoon with low tide at 2:10 pm.
Monday 7:45am - Wind comes onshore hard today building to 25mph by tonight. Tomorrow's waves will be 2X overhead but wind will continue to be hard onshore. Early Tuesday evening the wind turns offshore. Wednesday looks good for chest high and clean.
Sunday 10:00 am - Today has building
5' SE swell coming in with increasing SE wind. Storm coming
through tomorrow. Wind may turn offshore by Tuesday afternoon
with head+ waves. Wednesday looks good for chest+.
NOAA forecast for the Cape Cod area.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 May 2008 )
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