The Plastiki's name is wordplay off the "Kon-Tiki, " a balsa raft made famous by Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl, who in 1947 sailed the vessel from Peru to the Polynesian islands.

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Kon-Tiki was the name of the balsa wood raft which was used to cross the Pacific Ocean in 1947 in a journey of 8, 000km (4, 900 miles).

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