HM Bark Endeavour - Captain Cook's ship

NEWS 17 May - Wrecks of six British ships found off Rhode Island by researchers with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project say there is a 47% one is the Endeavour. This replica of Cook's ship was open to the public at Melbourne's Docklands today so I took the tour which I found very interesting and am glad I went - even if I have a bruised head. It is considered world wide to be the best replica ship ever made. The tools and materials were very carefully chosen to be as nearly authentic as possible. The construction was carried out in Western Australia at a cost of $14 million dollars even with much volunteer work. It is 109 feet and 3 inches long and 29 feet 2 inches wide. The space between deck and the roof is very low indeed - the best being 4 foot six inches but sometimes so low that some people on this tour took to "walking" on their knees! There is a section below all the other decks which Cook used for food, fuel and water storage. This is now used for modern sailing and safety equipment below decks which makes everything above water level look exactly correct for the time when it was on the first voyage to Australia. It is called a Barque although the spelling on this particular one seems to be "bark" - perhaps this is from an era when spelling was allowed to be vague - "a sailing vessel of three or more masts and whose after mast [ back one] is fore-and-aft rigged". This sounds like double dutch to me.. will investigate... It is a square rigged ship and it would be great to see her under sail! To see below deck required climbing backwards down a very steep set of steps through a small square hole in the deck, while holding tightly to a long knotted rope suspended from above.