Pacific Challenge (1975) User Reviews

Animals Came Along Too

[bloody-3 · 7/10 · 20 September 2019]

A documentary which traces a 9000 mile ocean journey using balsa wood rafts equipped with sails. The crew started in Ecuador and finished in Australia. Narration is by actor Robert Webber. The captain of the expedition Vital Alsar was interested in finding out if the ocean voyages of the South American native peoples from centuries past could be replicated using the same materials for the rafts. The crew became adept at fishing and this became their staple diet especially as tinned food started rotting and had to be thrown overboard. Two monkeys and two kittens joined the sailors for the journey. The cats even befriended a bird that landed on one of the rafts and stayed for a couple of days. One of the rafts was called Mooloolaba which is the name of a place in the state of Queensland which was their intended destination. Unfortunately they were off course and landed further south in the New South Wales town of Ballina. Nevertheless they were given a warm welcome and were happy to be on dry land.

I certainly liked this documentary as I was a member of this raft expedition

[michaelf-4 · 10/10 · 7 March 2000]

It was exciting to be part of this Expedition-three balsa wood rafts, similar in construction to the Kon Tiki. We crossed the Pacific Ocean from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Ballina, New South Wales, Australia. It was a non-stop voyage of six months and traveled over 9,200 miles. We had a great leader, Vital Alsar and arrived as brothers, the twelve of us. Working with Robert Amram was also a wonderful experience. I also like to see the film as at that time I had hair.