LI2B 1947 Peru - Polynesia DXpedition

Kon-Tiki sailing vessel

LI2B 1970 "Tigris"

LI2B was the amateur radio (ham radio) call-sign of the Kon-Tiki raft expedition (1947). Through this expedition, Thor Heyerdahl tried to prove that it was possible for people from South America to have crossed the Pacific from east to west and thereby to settle the Polynesian islands. Heyerdahl was accompanied by five crew members, including former Norwegian underground radio operators, Knut Haugland and Torstein Raaby. Throughout the 101-day voyage, the expedition members collected meteorological and oceanographic data and sent them to the United States via widely-spread ham radio stations. The expedition's scientific and radio apparatus were among their only concessions to the use of modern equipment.[1] During the voyage, LI2B kept a schedule with W1AW and other U.S. stations.

The call LI2B was used by Heyerdahl again in 1969-70, when he built a papyrus reed raft and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in an attempt to show a possible link between the civilization of ancient Egypt and the New World.[2]

References:
[1] Thor Heyerdahl (1996). The Kon-Tiki Expedition (English ed.). p.
33. ISBN 0-00-655033-9.
[2]Thor Heyerdahl (1971). The Ra Expeditions (English Edition ed.).
New York: Doubleday and Company. p. 270.
Source: "LI2B," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LI2B/ .

If you look closely to the hut, at the arch is mounted a National speaker, for skeds and hearing out on deck.

LI2B Operator: LA3KY

Read extra info on LI2B by W8SU!

1st QSL Courtesy of W2VRK
2nd QSL Courtesy of UY5XE
Info courtesy of W5KNE
Extra info courtesy of W8SU
Photo courtesy of F2VX