In 2000 and 2003, the professional explorer Phil Buck led multiple international teams across the Pacific Ocean, traveling from South America to Easter Island on two distinct ancient-style reed rafts with the aim of proving that South American mariners could have reached Easter Island. Both vessels were constructed using four Andean materials: totora reeds, natural fiber rope, cotton sails, and wood.

The ''Viracocha I'' Expedition

Inspired by explorer

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

before his death, Buck's plan was to support the theory that ancient South American voyagers crossed vast ocean expanses in various types of boats including the ancient style reed raft that were quite possibly the key factor of

human migration Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another (ex ...

and the spread of

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

. The expedition set sail from

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capita ...

, Chile and completed the voyage to Easter Island,

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

in 44 days in 2000. It was the first primitive boat of any kind to reach the island in modern times.

Controversy

Kitín Muñoz Antonio José Muñoz y Valcárcel (born 19 November 1958), commonly known as Kitín Muñoz, is a Spanish adventurer, scientist and former commando. He was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1997.

The ''Viracocha II'' Expedition

In March 2003, a team of eight men, again led by Phil Buck, set sail from

Vina del Mar Vina may refer to: People * Émilie Vina (born 1982), French cross-country skier * Ionuț Vînă (born 1995), Romanian footballer * Vina Bovy (1900–1983), Belgian operatic soprano * Vina Mazumdar (1927–2013), Indian academic and feminist ...

, Chile aboard a completely new reed raft, the ''Viracocha II'', in an attempt to sail 10,000 nautical miles across the entire Pacific Ocean to Cairns, Australia, via

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...

and other islands of

. The raft was severely damaged during the launch and the team was unable to test the raft to its full potential. Even with the starboard side damage, the raft still managed to make the long traverse to Easter Island for the second time.

Reed rafts

Raft building A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...

is one of the oldest maritime technologies. Throughout history, reed rafts have been constructed in almost every part of the world where reeds have grown, most notably in regions near the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, in South America and

. Today only a handful of places still practice the ancient art of reed raft construction. The

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

reed boat builders of Bolivia's

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

are the foremost builders in the world today, having built the hulls of ''Viracocha I'' and ''II''. The art of reed boat building has been passed down through generations and survives on both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides of the lake.

Construction of the Reed Rafts

The ''Viracocha I'' and ''II'' were long, wide at the center-line and weighed approximately 20 tons. Two and half million reeds were required for each boat and were harvested from the shores of the Bolivian/ Peruvian high altitude Lake Titicaca, where the totora reeds grow in abundance. The reeds were cut with a long cutting pole from small rowboat and bundled up into "amaros" (bundles) with roughly 500 reeds per bundle. They are rowed ashore and sun dried for two to four weeks with bundles stacked together in a standing position. After the drying process, the reeds are gathered up and stored, being careful to keep them from the rain. The reeds (Scirpus Riparius) are generally one half inch thick at the base (before being compressed) and 6 feet long. The reeds are then made into over 30 long cylinders or "chorizos", in diameter which are made the length of the boat. These form the main bulk of the ship. The jig is built next. This serves as a mold, constructed with eucalyptus poles every three feet, running perpendicular to the hull supported by poles from the ground. Two smaller boats that looked similar to "whales" are made to add rigidity to the boat with the technique the same as main hull, described later. They are laid side by side on top of the mold. The roles are laid on top of the "whales" until they form two large separate bundles. The "estera" or skin of the boat is the next phase and is made by weaving the best stock of the reeds, made the length of the boat. This skin is wrapped around the two large bundles. A heart, or third bundle is placed in the center of the much larger bundles. Two strands of sisal rope, each 2250 feet in length is than passed around one large bundle and around the heart in one foot revolutions for the entire length. The same is done on the other side. Never does the rope wrap around the whole ship. The rope tightening is next. A pulley system is used to haul on the boats to get them gradually tighter. There are only two long continuous ropes, 2,250 feet on either side. The pulling begins on one end and is hauled on until taut. The ropes are pulled roughly thirty more times on each side, shrinking the size of the boat each time. This ingenious design now consists of two large bundles linked together by a heart that has now disappeared into the larger two bundles forming a stable, almost double-hulled vessel. The next phase is to build up the bow and stern. Tapering cones of reeds are wedged together until a high bow and double stern are formed. The double stern adds more stability and carrying capacity to the ship while at sea. Attaching the two large bundles that form the gunnels or "sawi" is the last step of the hull construction. Rope is wound around each gunnel and passed through each main bundle rope along the length of the ship. The rigging will be attached here and the gunnels help break the larger waves. The crew and volunteers constructed the rest of the vessel. Two bipod masts were positioned on either side of a bamboo cabin for ''Viracocha I'' and a smaller mast was utilized further aft for the ''Viracocha II''. The masts were held in place by "shoes" roped into the bundles. Two rudder oars were lashed to a steering platform placed above and to the rear of the bamboo cabin. The ship was rigged with natural fiber sisal rope, the same rope that holds the reed bundles together. Two center boards were positioned in the slide boxes placed in the fore and aft of the ship and aided in the tacking into the wind. Several lee-boards were placed on the lee-side of the ship and were removable. Two cotton lateen sails were hand-sewed for the first journey and five sails were used for the second.

The ''Viracocha III'' Expedition

Fifteen years later, the ''Viracocha III'' reed raft was to attempt the complete crossing of the Pacific in February 2018. but the launch date was postponed for technical reasons. The expedition intended to follow the path of the Kon-Tiki Viracocha people and their impulse to follow the setting sun and desire to spread the seeds of civilization ever westward. Like the Virachocha I the Viracocha III was scheduled to sail from Arica, Chile, to Mangareva, in French Polynesia, and from there attempt to island-hop to Australia. As recounted by Youtuber Maks Ukraniets who recorded the entire expedition in his video,Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
the journey ended after 109 days when the crew had to abandon ship 85 miles from Tahiti, when they were rescued by a passing cargo boat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viracocha Expedition, The Sailing expeditions Replications of ancient voyages 2000 ships 2003 ships 2018 ships 2000 in Oceania 2003 in Oceania 2018 in Oceania Reed boats