Speaker Malcolm Egan -

Malcolm said that he was fortunate enough to be a crew member on the Endeavour Replica in 2002 and he then went on to give us some insights into both Cook's original voyages and his own trip.

Cook was actually only a lieutenant on his first voyage which was the only one aboard H.M. Endeavour Bark which took place from 1768to 1771.This voyage was an exploration to record the transit of Venus from Tahiti. But he also had a secondary task to find out what kept the earth in balance as geographers of the time thought there was a continent that had not yet been discovered. Thus Cook became the first European to set foot in New Zealand and he also claimed the whole of the east coast of Australia for Great Britain.

Cook was later promoted to captain and returned twice more to the antipodes as commander of H.M. Resolution. During these 3 voyages he was the first person to chart latitude and longitude in the southern hemisphere.

Cooks original ship (Endeavour) was actually a 3 masted collier that was originally built to haul coal from Whitby to London. Cook thought it would make an ideal vessel for exploration because it did not have a keel and could easily be repaired (by beaching if necessary).

The replica is as authentic as current health and safety regulations will allow other than the fact that it uses modern material in it's sails. To meet the health and safety concerns it has engines, toilets a galley and a food store none of which were on the original.

The replica was built by the Australian National Maritime Museum with funding by the Bond Corporation. It was intended as a museum to be permanently anchored in Darling Harbour, Sydney. However after a few years it was realised that the ship was deteriorating quickly because it wasn't being used as it was designed to be and it needed to be sailed to keep it taught. So it became a living museum and has since travelled 3 times around the Globe.

Malcolm was fortunate to be able to buy a voyage on the ship from Woolwich to Southampton. This meant that he had to work during his 5 days onboard in the same way that Cook's crew would have done. He was allocated to the Mizzen Crew and had to take his turn at Watch sometimes during the day but also sometimes during the night. On one Watch a force 9 gale blew up which strengthened to force 10 and started to drag the boat towards the rocks even though it was anchored. The captain was about to have the anchor cut off so he could sail the ship out of danger when it finally broke free and they were able to winch it up.

Malcolm showed many photographs of his time on board the Endeavour Bark replica.