Kon-Tiki expedition dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6,900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotus on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was published in Norwegian in 1948 as "The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By
Kon-Tiki expedition Raft Across the South Seas", later reprinted as "Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft". It appeared with great success in English in 1950, also in many other languages. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called "Kon-Tiki", was produced from a write-up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip notes and won an Academy Award in 1951. It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar. The voyage was also chronicled in the documentary TV-series "The Kon-Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor Heyerdahl", directed by Bengt Jonson. The original "Kon-Tiki" raft is now on display