Vital Alsar Pacific raft expeditions facts for kids
Between 1966 and 1973, a brave Spanish explorer named Vital Alsar led three amazing trips across the Pacific Ocean on rafts. These trips were called La Pacífica (1966), La Balsa (1970), and Las Balsas (1973). Starting from Ecuador in South America, they aimed to reach Australia. The first trip didn't make it, but the second and third ones did! They even set new records for the longest raft journeys ever known: 13,800 kilometers (8,600 miles) and 14,500 kilometers (9,000 miles) respectively.
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Why They Sailed
The main goal of these expeditions was to show that people from South America could have traveled to and settled the Pacific Islands long before Spanish explorers arrived. Vital Alsar believed that ancient sailors knew the Pacific currents and winds just as well as we know road maps today.
They also hoped to travel twice as far as the famous Kon-Tiki expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947. Like Kon-Tiki, Alsar's teams wanted to prove that rafts made from materials available in the 16th century in pre-Columbian South America could make such a long journey. Spanish sailors had seen these types of rafts back then.
After the success of the La Balsa trip, the crew was amazed at how well the raft handled the ocean. They realized they could have even reached Africa if they wanted! For the next trip, Las Balsas, they decided to use three rafts instead of one. This was to show that ancient civilizations could have traveled in large groups, carrying cargo, using fleets of 10 or even 100 rafts. The Las Balsas journey also aimed to convince anyone who thought the La Balsa success was just luck.
Getting Money for the Trip
To help get money for the Las Balsas expedition, Vital Alsar had the future crew build small models of the rafts. They showed these models to people who might want to help fund the trip. The famous artist Salvador Dalí even gave an original artwork for the sails. Selling this artwork later helped the crew pay off their debts and get home.
La Pacífica: The First Try
Vital Alsar's first adventure was in 1966. The day after his wedding, he got on a simple raft called La Pacífica. He planned to sail from Ecuador to Australia. However, this journey ended early after 143 days. Tiny worms called teredo worms attacked the wood of his raft, making it sink. A ship from Germany rescued him.
La Balsa: A Record-Breaking Journey
The second raft was named La Balsa, which means "The Raft" in Spanish. It was built using balsa wood logs tied together with hemp ropes. It had two strong wooden masts that held a large square canvas sail. Unlike the Kon-Tiki raft, which used an oar for steering, La Balsa had special moving wooden boards called "Guaras" (from Ecuador). These allowed the crew to actively steer the raft towards good currents, rather than just drifting.
The journey started from Guayaquil in Ecuador. Alsar had already recruited Marc Modena from France and Norman Tetreault from Canada. Later, a student from Chile named Gabriel Salas joined them. They even had a stowaway cat named Minet, who they called the "fifth crew member."
The La Balsa expedition lasted 160 days. It began on May 29, 1970, and finished in Mooloolaba, Australia, on November 5, 1970. This 13,800-kilometer (8,600-mile) trip was the longest raft voyage known at that time!
After the trip, the raft was taken on a tour around Australia, stopping in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Then, it was shipped to Spain.
Las Balsas: Three Rafts, One Goal
The 1973 Las Balsas expedition used three rafts. It became the longest-known raft voyage in history and is still the only known time multiple rafts have crossed the Pacific together.
The Crew
The expedition had three rafts, twelve sailors, and three cats. Each raft had four crew members and one cat.
Alsar wanted crew members who could navigate and speak three languages. Except for the captains, the other nine crew members swapped rafts sometimes.
Gabriel Salas, who was on the original La Balsa trip in 1970, was invited to join the Las Balsas crew.
The crew came from many different countries:
- Vital Alsar, captain of the Guayaquil and leader of the expedition (Spain).
- Marc Modena, captain of the Mooloolaba (France).
- Jorge Ramírez, captain of the Aztlán (Mexico).
- Fernand Robichaud (Canada).
- Greg Holden (Canada).
- Gaston Colin (Canada).
- Tom McCormick (United States).
- Tom Ward (United States).
- Mike Fitzgibbons (United States).
- Hugo Becerra (Chile).
- Gabriel Salas (Chile).
- Aníbal Guevara (Ecuador).
The Rafts
The rafts were named "Guayaquil" (after their starting point), "Mooloolaba" (after their planned arrival in Australia), and "Aztlán" (after Mexico, where the trip was planned). These rafts were copies of those used by South American natives for hundreds of years before Spanish explorers arrived in 1526.
Each raft was about 14 meters (46 feet) long and 5.5 meters (18 feet) wide. They were built from seven balsa wood logs. These logs were cut from female trees in the jungles of Ecuador during a full Moon. This was done because the sap content was best then, helping the wood resist soaking up seawater. The logs were then floated downriver to a naval base in Guayaquil for building. The rafts were made entirely of wood, using wooden pegs and sisal ropes. No metal parts like cables or nails were used.
The rafts couldn't turn around when carried by currents. However, they could steer using "guayas," which were short planks placed between the logs. This design made the rafts very stable on the water, even in rough seas.
They carried enough water for a few weeks, then relied on collecting rainwater in buckets. A daily chore was cleaning seaweed and slime off the logs. The rafts were stocked with rice, beans, and some canned food. But their main food source was seafood caught along the way, like tuna, mahi-mahi, and small pilot fish. Fish were plentiful around the rafts once a local food chain formed, starting with barnacles on the raft. Twice, the crew had to kill sharks because they were scaring away other fish. Another time, a raft was pulled around when a hammerhead shark took some bait without anyone noticing. Food became a big topic for the crew. In the hot weather, each man had to drink a pint of seawater daily to get enough salt and avoid dehydration. Each raft had a short-range radio for emergencies and to contact land every three days.
The Journey
On May 27, 1973, the rafts set sail from Guayaquil, Ecuador. They drifted across the Pacific Ocean, passing by the Galápagos Islands, The Society Islands, The Cook Islands, Tonga, and south of New Caledonia. They eventually saw land near Mooloolaba, Queensland. Near Tonga, they faced a very strong storm that lasted eight days.
To prevent the rafts from being damaged by waves when landing, the expedition accepted a tow from the Australian Navy ship HMAS Labuan as they neared the coast. While being towed, a storm hit. About eight kilometers (five miles) from shore, for safety reasons, they decided to release the Guayaquil raft. Its crew was taken aboard the Navy ship. The other two rafts then landed in Ballina, New South Wales.
They arrived in Ballina on November 21, 1973. After traveling 14,500 kilometers (9,000 miles) and spending 179 days at sea, the crews received a hero's welcome from the people of Ballina. All three rafts had stayed in sight of each other for most of the trip. One raft got damaged and separated in a storm. With only radio contact between the two rafts and the separated one, they didn't see each other again for a week.
The remains of the Guayaquil raft were left to drift and were later found by fishermen near Newcastle, New South Wales. Sadly, they were later burned as scrap.
In the News
A documentary film about the expedition was made, called The Pacific Challenge. The Ballina Maritime Museum distributes this film. The Las Balsas trip was also the subject of an 11-minute radio documentary in 2014 on the BBC's World Service, which included interviews with crew members Mike Fitzgibbons and Gabriel Salas.
Museum and Surviving Raft
The Mooloolaba and Aztlán rafts were tied up on the Richmond River. However, their hemp ropes started to break apart. When crew members and supporters returned to re-tie them, they found that Mooloolaba had mostly fallen apart. Its mast, sail, and many logs had floated away. The Aztlán was secured and moved to dry land a few months later by the Ballina Shire Council.
A few years later, the Council built a museum next to their Information Centre. Inside, they put a display raft built from the best parts of the two remaining rafts. The museum also has items dedicated to the aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Every year, thousands of visitors from around the world come to see this exhibit and marvel at the amazing journey of these twelve men.
What They Left Behind
After the initial excitement, the voyages were largely forgotten, even though some in the media compared them to the great achievements of pioneers like Charles Lindbergh or Edmund Hillary, and the Kon-Tiki expedition. The crew members have expressed sadness about this. They think if their raft had ended up in a museum in a big city like Oslo (where the Kon-Tiki raft is), more people would remember it. However, they also don't want the surviving raft moved from where it landed. The museum curator agrees but also thinks it's partly because Australians tend to be modest about their achievements.
In November 2013, a 40th-anniversary celebration took place at the museum. Some crew members reunited for the first time since their incredible voyage.
Images for kids
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Las Balsas raft - original sail design by Vital Alsar.
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Exhibit of the surviving raft at the Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum, in Ballina, New South Wales.
