Kon Tiki

[shipstamps]

Peru has issued a set of stamps depicting the famous raft Kon-Tiki of Thor Heyerdahl, who, with his five companions, Knut Haugland, Bengt Danielsson, Erik Hesselberg, Torstein Raaby and Herman Watzinger, sailed in 1948 across the Pacific to show that the Polynesian Islands could have been peopled by Indians drifting from South America on a raft like the Kon-Tiki. Heyerdahl's raft was built in the ultra¬modern naval dockyard in Callao Bay by the members of the raft's crew. It was named after Kon-Tiki, high priest and sun-king of the Incas who was driven out of Peru and sailed overseas to the westward by raft, similar in construction to that of Heyerdahl. The bearded face of the legendary Kon-Tiki, copied from a prehistoric carving, was painted on the sail of the raft and can be seen on the stamp. Heyerdahl had many difficulties to face before the voyage itself, not least the obtaining of balsa timber for the raft itself. Eventually it had to be cut from trees growing in the Quevido forest in the jungle of Ecuador. Then they had to be floated down the Palenque River to the Pacific coast for transshipment to Callao. Herman Watzinger was the chief constructor of the raft. It was the first time for hundreds of years that a balsa raft had been built in Callao bay. The Peruvian Navy placed their dockyard at the convenience of the raft builders, as regards the use of the carpenter's and sail-maker's shops, as well as half the storage space for the raft's equipment, and a small floating pier where the timber was put into the water when the building began. Nine of the thickest logs were chosen to form the actual raft. Deep grooves were cut into the wood to prevent the ropes which were to fasten them and the whole raft from slipping. Not a single spike, nail or wire rope was used in the whole construction. The nine great logs were first laid loose side by side in the water so that they might all fall freely into their natural floating position before they were lashed securely together. The longest log, 45ft. was placed in the centre, and it projected a long way at both ends. Shorter and shorter logs were placed symmetrically on both sides of this, so that the sides of the raft were 30ft. long, with a bow sticking out like a blunt plough. Astern the raft was cut straight across, except that the three middle logs projected and supported a short tick block of balsa wood which lay athwartship and held tholepins for the steering oar.
When the nine balsa logs were lashed securely together with separate lengths of 11/4in. hemp rope, thin balsa logs were then made fast crossways over them at intervals of about 3ft. This completed the raft, but a deck of split bamboos was then laid upon it, fastened in strips, the whole being covered with loose bamboo reed mats. A small open cabin made of bamboo canes, with walls of bamboo reeds plaited together, and a roof of bamboo slats and leathery banana leaves overlapping one another, was erected on the centre of the raft but toward the stern. Forward of the cabin two masts were set up, bipod style from each side of the raft and lashed together crosswise at the top. The masts were cut from mangrove, as hard as iron. A large square-sail was hauled up on a yard made of two bamboo stems bound together for double strength. Where there were gaps between the nine trunks forming the raft, they were filled with five fir planks, the edges going right down into the water under the raft to a depth of about 5ft. They were kept in place by wedges and ropes and acted like centreboards. The whole raft was a faithful copy of the old vessels of Peru and Ecuador. The Kon-Tiki was towed out of Callao on April 28, 1948, by the naval tug Guardian Rios until she was clear of coastal traffic, and 101 days later she stranded on the Raroia coral reef in Polynesia. Thor Heyerdahl had conclusively proved that the Polynesian Islands had been populated in the way he had so practically demonstrated in the Kon-Tiki. Thor Heyerdal's own story "The Kon-Tiki Expedition" is the source of the information above.
Peru SG988, Fr Poly SG158 808. Cambodia SG1257.
Sea Breezes 11/69

[aukepalmhof]

Norway 2014 inland mail

[Arturo]

Kon Tiki

Peru 1969, S.G.?, Scott: C239.

Peru 1997, S.G.?, Scott: 1144.

[Anatol]

Kon-Tiki
S.Tome Сан-Томе1982;0,50Db;SG? Palau200…;2$;SG? France Polinesia1972;16f;SG158.

[Anatol]

In 2022, the Peruvian Post issued a souvenir sheet in honor of the 75th anniversary of Thor Heyerdahl's voyage on the Kon-Tiki balsa raft.
The journey began on 28 April 1947 from the port of Callao and ended on 7 August on the reefs of Raroia Island in the Pacific.
Peru 2022;7,60.