Kon-Tiki chapter 6 part 1

I think this chapter is very meaningful for the crew because they start taking short excursion from their raft on the dingy. It is significant because they realize how insignificant their raft is and how crazy their journey has been and will be. They realize that their raft is pathetic compared to the magnificence of the open ocean and the waves. Heyerdahl says, "The situation looked bad, and we could not realize that things had gone so well on board the zany craft." After they realize this they laugh at themselves and the madness of this voyage.

Later in the chapter a lesson is taught to the crew of the ship. A group of the crew goes out in the dingy to explore but can not get back to the raft. They eventually arrive back to the raft but they have learned a very dangerous lesson. The lesson they learned is that if one has gone out far they may not be able to get back. The author adds this anecdote to demonstrate that even with the enjoyment of the trip there can be severe consequences. He also adds this to portray that the journey is very dangerous and can be very frightening.

Another dangerous experience told in this chapter has to do with sharks. Knut was taking a break to go swimming and didn't realize that he was swimming with a dangerous marine organism. He calmly swam back to the boat and made it out safely. This actually lead to a game that the explorers would do. They started to grab sharks by the tail and pull them out of the water for both sport and food.