Thor Heyerdahl’s grandson to recreate Kon-Tiki voyage
The grandson of famed explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who sailed the Pacific Ocean in a balsa raft to prove his theory that the South Pacific was populated by voyagers from South America, is preparing to recreate the feat six decades later.
While the design of Olav Heyerdahl's ship, Tangaroa, is primitive, it's outfitted with satellite navigation and communications and solar panels to generate electricity. The ship's sail has also be redesigned to more closely match prehistoric Peruvian designs that have been unearthed since Thor's voyage in 1947, which will give the sailors far more directional control than Kon-Tiki had.
The voyage will be filmed for a documentary.