Wednesday, October 17, 2007

While on the nautical theme...

here are a few photos from our trip to the replica Endeavour last week. For any international visitors, the Endeavour was the boat Captain James Cook sailed in when he discovered Australia.



A few facts I didn't know:


  • the Endeavour was originally a coal ship, so to accommodate all of the crew they needed for Cook's journeys, they had to add an extra floor below decks. It's *very* cramped down there!

  • Cook didn't get the best cabin for the trip! Joseph Banks was a major investor in the trip so he got to have the best cabin - he had a bunk and Cook had to make do with a hammock!

  • the cook only had 1-arm - now that's a challenge!

  • the nautical term for measuring speed "knots" came about because they used to have a rope knotted every 47-odd foot that they threw overboard for 28 secs (counted by a sand-timer). Once the time was up they hauled the rope back in and counted how many "knots" they had travelled to calculate their speed.

Enough facts, sit back and enjoy the photos :)



Cosy sleeping quarters!

The "mess"

Billy and his cousin Ana "steering" the ship


The highlight of Billy's trip - the "toilet" over the side of the ship (left) and the "toilet paper" (right). They used to trail the rope over the side to wash it ready for the next person!

5 comments:

The Tin House said...

Kez, a doco last year painted Banks as a bit of a #$%!. Did they feature any information about that aspect? It must have been very hard to deal with in such close quarters for such a long time. Also, Banks got the credit for discovering and describing all the flora and fauna, but the work was done by a team of 5 botanists he hired for the trip.

lightening said...

Hey Kez. I've tagged you for a meme. Details are on my blog.

Kez said...

Hi Lisa, No, they were concentrating more on the ship than the people, but it'd be interesting to see that doco.

Thanks Jodi - am thinking about it :)

Jill said...

Hi Kez, did you know the Endeavour replica was built here in WA, in Fremantle. Funded by Alan Bond !!! One of the good projects he was involved with. Glad you enjoyed it. I have photographs somewhere of it in the construction process !

Kez said...

Jill, They did mention that it was funded by Bondy, but I don't think they said where it was built. I love Freo :)