The HMB ENDEAVOUR

I have today - after a long walk, spent some time looking into information and photos of Captain James Cook's HMB Endeavour. Why, well it all starts with an email from a good friend, telling me that she has two J.A. Kendall prints of her brother's and our dear friend, Al , who passed away in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in early February. Paula wanted a 3rd print to accompany these two of Al's - she went on line to the artist J.A. Kendall and found this was the most appropriate - see below.

*****

"The Endeavour - leaving Portsmouth in 1998."

and again in colour

This was the vessel used by Captain Cook to discover Australia and New Zealand (and many other places), and it was her choice as another memory of Al, who adored the sea and sailing, I couldn't help but think, what a choice!

******

Some history - Captain James Cook was one of the world's finest explorers and navigators (we are sure), who in 1768, sailed out of Whitby, Yorkshire on The Endeavour, and in 1770 was the first European to sight, explore and chart Australia's east coast - he named the land he found "New South Wales" and claimed it for Britain and King George 111.

Thomas Luny's (1770) drawing of The Endeavour leaving Whitby in 1768, she was originally launched in 1764, and named "Earl of Pembroke, till she was purchased by the Navy and named "The Endeavour".

******

Captain Cook was unfortunately killed on his second trip to Hawaii, and the ship was re bought in 1775, name changed again to "Lord Sandwich", and from what I have read there is the belief that she was scuttled in a blockade of Narrangansett Bay, Rhode Island in 1778 - her wreck has not yet been precisely located.

******

In January 1988, to commemorate the Australian Bicentenary of European settlement in Australia, work began in Fremantle, Western Australia on a replica of the Endeavour. This replica was commissioned in 1994 - the cost was $17 million. She has nearly 30 kilometres of ropes, and 750 wooden blocks or pulleys The masts and spars carry 28 sails that spread approximately 10,000 square feet of canvas. From 1996 to 2002, she retraced Captain Cook's ports of call around the world, including arriving in the original Endeavour's home port of Whitby.

This photo taken in 1997 as the Endeavour leaves Whitby - people fill the Tate Hill Pier, wind all the way up "199" steps and across the top, and St. Mary's Church flew the Aussie flag out of courtesy! (Another coincidence - yesterday I received an email from Frank's sister and her husband, saying they were leaving for a week's holiday in Whitby this weekend!!!!)

Now it was during her 170,000 nautical miles, twice around the world, visiting 29 countries and Pacific Islands, and opening as a Museum in 116 Ports - she entered Al's home port -Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The actual date was another weird finding - it was - September 11, 1998. I felt quite unusual about this, but then on the happy side, I realised my friend Lois would've been celebrating a certain "important" birthday that very same day, also in New Hampshire. Below is an artist's drawing of her route and crew into Portsmouth 1998.

Below, the Endeavour near the mouth of the Piscataqua River

I read an article by a member of this voyage crew (Ken Anderson) - he says - "with wooden decks and masts, canvas sails and authentic rope rigging, Endeavour sails like her 1768 counterpart. Designed as a collier, she is deep bottomed, broad and bluff in the bow. She rides as solidly as a ship her size could - 500 tons and just over 100 ft long. All original equipment on the ship has been duplicated in complete, working detail, including the cannons. Since cannons are my passion I was thrilled that we had four 4-pounders, made by the Australian military specifically for Endeavour. We fired a salute upon our arrival in Portsmouth."

She's in Portsmouth - 11th September, 1998

Portsmouth's welcome - both the USA and Australian flags were carried, and the Australian Anthem was sung by a Portsmouth School Choir (Where do I get this information, I tried "Seacoast NH".)

In 2005 ownership of The Endeavour was transferred to the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour - below. Because of this we have seen her so many many times, as she is, when not sailing around the Aussie coast.

However, the best of all was when we travelled across the Bass Strait down to Hobart in Tasmania for the 2007 Timber Boat Festival, she was there in all her glory, along with other impressive tall ships, sailing around a magnificent harbour. We took the opportunity of boarding her for a really good look.

The Captain's cabin - below

Well, the Endeavour will mean more than ever now, Al will always be there, and to think his wish was to have his ashes scattered across the sea out of Portsmouth to the Isle of Shoals - this was done just over a week ago.

*******

On the lighter side of this tribute, there are the different coincidences that seemed to have happened whilst doing this -

. the ship Paula chose to accompany Al's:

. the date the ship entered Portsmouth;

. it was also another friend's big day;

. hearing yesterday that Margaret and Kevin are going to Whitby this weekend;

AND to top it off, when looking through the photos of the Endeavour, I found the following one - where she is docked in 2001 at the Southport Yacht Club on the Gold Coast, and guess what, that is exactly where we are meeting Col and Den (from Auckland) for dinner tonight, the Southport Yacht club - we organised this a couple of weeks ago!!!!