Can this boat make it all the way across the Pacific Ocean? Adventurer Phil Buck hopes so!

Today, people have all kinds of high-tech ways to get around. They can drive cars, ride in planes, and even rocket into space. But Mr. Buck wants to use a very old way of travel on purpose—an old-style boat made of reeds.

Mr. Buck will set sail from northern Chile in February. He hopes to land in Sydney, Australia, six months later. To complete his journey, he has to travel more than 10,000 nautical miles. That’s a long, difficult journey for a boat that looks like a wicker basket! But Mr. Buck thinks the boat is up to the job. In fact, he wants to prove that boats just like it could have carried ancient peoples when they migrated.

Bolivia’s Aymara Indians are building Mr. Buck’s boat. The Aymara Indians live near Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world that boats can sail on. The Aymara have spent centuries learning to make reed boats. For Mr. Buck’s boat, they are using several tons of dried reeds from the totora plant. The finished boat will be transported on a trailer for more than 200 miles to the port at Chile. Then Mr. Buck and his crew will set sail. They will do their best to travel just like ancient people would have. They will navigate using the stars and currents. They will even eat quinoa, a grain that grows in Bolivia.

In 2000, Mr. Buck made a shorter journey in a reed boat. He traveled 3,500 nautical miles from Chile to Easter Island. He tried to make it all the way to Australia in 2003. But on the way, his boat got damaged. “On this second try,” Mr. Buck says, “I'm sure we'll reach all the way to Australia.”