what he recorded, such as weather data, was sent back to various people, since this area of the ocean was largely unstudied. The expedition also carried a pet parrot named Lorita who drowned in the middle of the expedition. Construction The main body of the float was composed of nine balsa tree trunks up to long, in diameter, lashed together with hemp ropes. Cross-pieces of balsa logs long and in diameter were lashed across the logs at intervals to give lateral support. Pine splashboards clad the bow, and lengths of pine thick and wide were wedged between the balsa logs and used as centreboards. The mainmast was made of lengths of mangrove wood lashed together to form an A-frame high. Behind the mainmast was a cabin of plaited bamboo long and wide, about high and roofed with banana leaf thatch. At the stern was a long steering oar of mangrove wood, with a blade of fir. The mainsail was on a yard of bamboo stems lashed together. Photographs also show a topsail above the mainsail, and also a mizzen sail, mounted at the stern. The raft was partially decked in split bamboo. The main spars were a laminate of wood and reeds and Heyerdahl tested more than twenty different composites before settling on one that proved an effective compromise between bulk and torsional rigidity. No metal was used in the construction. Supplies Kon-Tiki carried of drinking water in 56 water cans, as well as a number of sealed bamboo rods. The purpose stated by Heyerdahl for carrying modern and ancient containers was to test the effectiveness of ancient water storage. For food Kon-Tiki carried 200 coconuts, sweet potatoes, bottle gourds and other assorted fruit and roots. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps provided field rations, tinned food and survival equipment. In return, the Kon-Tiki explorers reported on the quality and utility of the provisions. They also caught plentiful numbers of fish, particularly flying fish, "dolphin fish", yellowfin tuna, bonito and shark. Heyerdahl and crew were equipped with water-tight sports wristwatches manufactured by Swiss watchmaking firm Eterna. After the journey, Eterna decided to brand their sports watches as "Kon-Tiki". Communications The expedition carried an amateur radio station with the call sign of LI2B operated by former World War II Norwegian resistance radio operators Knut Haugland and Torstein Raaby. Haugland and Raaby maintained regular communication with a number of American, Canadian, and South