March 18, 1997. Copyright, 1997, Graphic News. All rights reserved

COOKÕS ÔENDEAVOURÕ SAILS BACK HOME
By Julie Mullins

LONDON, March 18, Graphic News- A full-size working replica of Captain CookÕs famous ship, HM Bark ÔEndeavourÕ is soon to arrive in Britain from Australia, at the end of an historic voyage which began in Fremantle last October.
The ship took six years to reconstruct, using original plans and documents from the National Maritime Museum. Concessions to modern safety requirements, however, mean this ship is equipped with an engine, global satellite positioning and an ultra-modern galley Ð referred to by the crew as the Ô20th centuryÕ.
John Longley, Chief Executive of the HM Bark Endeavour Foundation, was Project Manager for the AmericaÕs Cup Challenge in 1983 and a crew member on Australia II during its historic win. Accustomed to state-of-the-art racing yachts, he was surprised when invited by the Bond Corporation to initiate the Endeavour Replica project as part of AustraliaÕs bicentennial celebrations. When BondÕs finances collapsed, Longley and his team of craftsmen continued on a volunteer basis for a year until new support established the Foundation in 1991. 
The ship was launched in 1993 and has since, says Longley, provoked a deep emotional response in many thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who see the ship as a link to their ancestral past. 
Captain James Cook was a minerÕs son from Yorkshire who learnt his trade aboard a collier ship before deciding to try his fortune in the Navy, where his precision charting skills and superb seamanship soon brought him to the fore. ÔEndeavourÕ, a former Whitby collier specially converted to accommodate a scientific expedition, was chosen for her sturdiness and capacity to hold the vast quantities of supplies needed for such a long voyage. Furthermore, the boatÕs flat bottom would enable close inshore sailing and lessen the risk of grounding.
Cook set sail from Plymouth in August 1768, his aim to observe the Transit of Venus from Tahiti to help scientists compute the EarthÕs distance from the sun, and go on to investigate the existence of the Great South Land Ð the unidentified southern continent that had intrigued explorers for centuries.
Cook reached New Zealand in 1769, where he charted the north and south islands so accurately that his maps can still be used today. Continuing west, he sighted the east coast of Australia, dropping anchor at a spot he would name Botany Bay.
ÔEndeavourÕ proved an excellent vessel for exploration and Cook, a skilled astronomer, was the first naval commander to determine longitude accurately at sea. He became the first European to chart the Pacific accurately, proving beyond doubt that the fabled southern continent south of Tahiti did not exist. His insistence on good habits of diet and hygiene ensured that not a single crew member was lost to scurvy, an extraordinary feat for the time. 
John Longley says the day the ÔEndeavourÕ replica comes home will be very special. Ten years after its initial concept, the ship will sail up the Thames, mooring at Greenwich before making a 15-port tour around Britain. At each port modern safety equipment will be hidden and the ship will be dressed with original artefacts, as if Cook and his crew had gone ashore. Visitors will be able to explore the vessel, experiencing the conditions that over 90 crew members had to endure for three years.

Source: National Maritime Museum

Endeavour UK Tour 1997 Itinerary

Mar 25 Ð Arrive London / Tower Bridge
Mar 28-Apr 13 Ð Greenwich
Apr 18-28 Ð Great Yarmouth
May 1-5 Ð Boston
May 9-18 Ð Whitby
May 23-Jun 1 Ð Edinburgh (Leith)
Jun 6-15 Ð Inverness
Jun 27-Jul 6 Ð Greenock
Jul 10-20 Ð Liverpool
Jul 25-Aug 3 Ð Fishguard
Aug 8-17 Ð Falmouth
Aug 22-31 Ð Plymouth
Sep 5-9 Ð Weymouth
Sep 12-21 Ð Brighton
Sep 26-Oct 5 Ð St Helier
Oct 6-12 Ð St Malo
Oct 17 Ð Arrive Plymouth. Depart Plymouth for U.S.