8 Men and a Duck: An Improbable Voyage by Reed Boat to Easter Island - Hardcover

Thorpe, Nick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743219287 ISBN 13: 9780743219280

Publisher: Free Press, 2002

Synopsis

On a fateful South American bus trip, journalist Nick Thorpe overheard some fellow passengers discussing an improbable plan to sail 2,500 miles from northern Chile to Easter Island on the Viracocha -- a boat made of reeds. The crew's aim in reviving this pre-Incan boat-building technology was twofold: to reopen the controversial migration theories of Thor Heyerdahl, who sailed his boat the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947, and to have one heck of an adventure in the process. Thorpe talked his way on board Captain Phil Buck's Viracocha only to find himself plagued by uncertainty. Why did the crew include a tree surgeon, a jewelry salesman, and two ducks? What happened to the navigator? Did anybody actually know how to sail? And, most important, where was the life raft? 8 Men and a Duck charts this hilarious and un-nerving Pacific voyage as it rolls between waves of high drama and high farce: from the five-day launch off a Chilean beach to the bungled phone call that triggered a naval rescue alert to the sad fate of Pedro the duck to the constant race against the inexorable sinking of the soggy hull. Despite the best efforts of storms and sharks and fast-moving freighters, an alarming lack of sailing qualifications, and a rival explorer dogging the adventure at every turn, the crew members of the Viracocha lived to tell their extraordinary tale right through to its wickedly unexpected conclusion. Nick Thorpe's account is by turns funny, touching, and thrilling -- a story of friendship, fate, and the unlikely distances people will go for real adventure.

About this title

About the Author

An award-winning travel and feature writer, Nick Thorpe began his career as a reporter on the Edinburgh Evening News and Scotsman newspapers and has since worked for The Times (London), The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, and a range of other media, including the BBC World Service. He has covered Russian presidential elections, and reported on travels in Zanzibar, the Amazon, and Oman, among many other major stories. He has won Travel Story of the Year Award from the Foreign Press Association, the British Telecom Feature Writer of the Year award, and the Travelex Travel Writing Award. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Ali.

Reviews

When British travel writer and all-around thrill seeker Thorpe was traveling the wilds of Bolivia by bus, he passed the time by eavesdropping on a Frenchman talking to an Australian about a boat made of reeds. The conversation seemed more interesting than your average cross-cultural traveler exchange, so Thorpe listened intently as the Frenchman talked about legendary voyager Thor Heyerdahl and about continuing his legacy, about building this reed boat in Huatajata and sailing to Easter Island in it just eight men and a duck. Thorpe's enthusiasm for this insanity was such that he had to get involved. And not just as a documentarian: an original crew member dropped out, Thorpe dropped in and soon the journalist found himself making sails. The resulting narrative is witty, sad and as brave and daft as those who sail. Thorpe's British self-deprecation and eye for detail legitimize his passing comments on his fellow crew members, providing comic relief in an often claustrophobic text. A master of tension, Thorpe mingles storms, bruised egos, paranoia, food shortages, botched launchings, lamented loved ones and utterly inept seamanship into a tale of triumph against the odds. In Thorpe's hands, a travelogue becomes a comedy of errors, a farce, a Latinate epic and a picaresque tale. It's a warm, wonderful book, a story of enthusiasm superseding expertise in which Fate smiles favorably.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Scottish award-winning journalist and travel writer Thorpe happened upon this "improbable" adventure while riding a bus in Bolivia. He overheard a conversation about an ambitious voyage across the Pacific and instantly decided to join in. Phil Buck, the American who conceived and led the voyage, believed that Thor Heyerdahl's controversial migration theories could be proven with the Viracocha, a modern copy of a pre-Incan boat made of totora reeds. He recruited a local crew and employed local reed boat builders to make the craft. The only problem was that since reeds absorb water, the boat would start sinking as soon as it was launched. In this entertaining story of the 44-day journey, Thorpe recounts the many difficulties crew members encountered, such as storms and ship and shark sightings. Although the eight-man crew ultimately prevailed, when they reached Easter Island they learned that their sinking ship could not be saved and had to be burned. This well-written story is sure to be popular in public libraries. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Thorpe's chance encounter with a sailor on a bus in Bolivia led him to join an eight-man, two-duck crew of a reed boat on a voyage across the Pacific. They were attempting to replicate Thor Heyerdahl's sea voyage on the Kon-Tiki. Thorpe soon discovered that the crew's maritime experience was rudimentary. Ship captain Phil Buck was primarily a mountaineer, and so Thorpe was enlisted as a sail maker. Their amateur level of competence would have been alarming if not for the comedic potential of the madcap expedition. You get to know your neighbors well in tight quarters, and Thorpe's sardonic profiles and self-deprecation round out this appealing adventure tale. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743219287
• ISBN 13: 9780743219280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256