Vital Alsar Pacific raft expeditions
The aim of the expeditions was to prove that the Pacific Islands could have been populated by migrations from South America in the centuries before the Spanish Conquistadors arrived.
[2] It was hoped to double the distance achieved by the Kon-Tiki expedition, the 1947 raft crossing by Thor Heyerdahl from South America to the Polynesian islands.
[3] Like the Kon-Tiki expedition, the aim was to see if a raft made from the materials available in the 16th century in pre-Columbian South America, when such vessels had been observed by Spanish sailors, could navigate the journey.
[3] Having been surprised by the seaworthiness of La Balsa, being confident they could have gone on to reach Africa had they wished, the crew initially made plans for a third voyage, a circular navigation of the Pacific, from South America to the Polynesian islands and back.
[1] Surrealist Salvador Dalí donated an original artwork for the sails, the sale of which later helped crew members recoup debts and pay for their return journeys.
[3] In contrast to the oar used for steering on Kon-Tiki, the La Balsa featured a hardwood moving keelboard (known as Guaras in Ecuador) which allowed it to be actively sailed toward favourable currents, rather than drifting.
Alsar had recruited Marc Modena, a Frenchman, and Norman Tetreault, a Canadian, and with work already begun, they were later joined by Chilean student Gabriel Salas.
They were constructed with seven balsa wood logs which were cut down in the jungles of Ecuador from female trees during the full Moon when the sap content was at its optimum thus ensuring its resistance to saturation by sea water.
[1] The rafts are entirely built from wood with wooden pegs and sisal ropes for rigging, in its construction, it did not use any metallic elements such as cables or nails.
[1] The rafts were stocked with rice, beans and some preserves, but the main food source was seafood caught on the way – tuna, mahi-mahi and small pilot fish.
[1] In order to avoid the rafts being damaged by the surf during landing, the expedition accepted the offer of a tow by HMAS Labuan as they approached the coast.
While under tow, a storm hit, and five miles from the shore it was decided for safety reasons to release Guayaquil, its crew being taken aboard the Navy ship.
[9] Las Balsas was the subject of an 11-minute radio documentary as part of the Witness series on the BBC's World Service in January 2014, which featured interviews from Mike Fitzgibbons and Gabriel Salas.
[5][11] After initial attention, the voyages became largely forgotten, despite some in the media comparing it to the feats of early pioneers such as Charles Lindbergh or Edmund Hillary, in addition to that of the Kon-Tiki.
