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History of Ships Recreating History Jean Vaucher (August 2018) |
![]() Kon-Tiki Expedition (1947) |
![]() Kon-Tiki, Balsa Logs and Sail |
![]() RA-II (1970) |
![]() Ra II - Reed Boat |
The Brendan, a 36-foot, two masted boat was built in traditional fashion of Irish ash and oak, hand-lashed together with nearly two miles (3 km) of leather thong, wrapped with 49 tanned ox hides, and sealed with wool grease. Between May 1976 and June 1977, Tim Severin and his crew sailed the Brendan 4,500 miles (7,200 km) from Ireland to Peckford Island, Newfoundland, stopping at the Hebrides and Iceland en route. [Wikipedia]
![]() Route of the Brendan |
![]() The Brendan Leather Boat |
Island settlement implies some navigation legs over 100km in very primitive craft. There is also evidence of repeated trade (in obsidian) between some islands and the mainland. In recent years, experimental archeologists have repeated these voyages in bith reed craft and dugout canoes.
![]() Reed "Papyrella" (Tzalas 1988) [Ref] |
![]() Dugout Canoe "Monoxylon" Tichy, 1995 & 1998 [Ref] |
The First Mariners Projects showed how Homo Erectus could have reached Flores in the Indonesian Archipelago 800,000 years ago. They also demonstrated how the aborigenes could have sailed (600km) from Timor to Australia 50,000 years ago.
![]() Human migation out of Africa |
![]() Flores to Timor on Hominid Raft |
Strait of Dover: 21 mi. x 40 m *** Bering Strait: 80 mi. x 50 m *** Taiwan Strait: 100 mi. x 70 m *** Torres Strait: 150 mi. x 40 m *** Asia-Indonesia-Philippines *** Straits of Gibraltar 10 miles Entrance to Red Sea 20 mi. Cyprus to Coast 60 mi. Crete to Greece 60 mi. Timor to Australia 300 mi. (60 mi. during ice-age) Africa & Madagascar 300 mi.