Captain James Cook - the tie that binds

Captain James Cook. English explorer, navigator and cartographer. I had heard of him before I moved to Hawaii, but never knew much about him. He was one of those names that might have popped up three or four times over my 20 years of schooling. I think I knew he had discovered Australia, but that was about it. When we moved to Hawaii we bought a copy of Hawaii The Big Island Revealed for our trips over to the Big Island. (Off topic: All of the books in this series are terrific. I wish the authors did more than just the Hawaiian islands.) Revealed spends quite a bit of time talking about Captain Cook and his interactions with the Hawaiians he encountered in the 1770s. It didn't take long to learn that Captain Cook is an important historical figure in Hawaiian, English and Australian history.

Wait! Australia, you say? It just so happens that we were just there . . .

Here's Zac, standing in front of Captain Cook's statue in Hyde Park in downtown Sydney. On the base of the statue is his name, his date of birth, his major achievements, and his date of death. His death occurred on the island of:

If you're not familiar with Owhyhee, maybe this map of the Sandwich Islands helps:
Yup. There's Owhyhee, aka Hawaii's Big Island. Nine years after being the first European voyager to set eyes on Australia, Captain Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay. I've been to the site twice. (The snorkeling is great.) The story of Captain Cook's life, and demise, is pretty interesting so Zac and I were excited to get the chance to learn a little more about our good Captain while in Australia by going to the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. There we took a tour of a replica of Cook's ship HM Bark Endeavor, the last ship he commanded.
There she is, floating in Darling Harbour. It's a beautiful ship, and sea worthy. Yes, it's a replica, but it is an exact replica and pretty impressive in it's own right. This ship has been on trips to England and around Australia with volunteers sailing it. Maybe not how I'd want to spend a vacation, but to each their own.
Between our tour of the Endeavor and our recent watching of "Master and Commander" I think Zac is grateful that he's a sailor in the 2000s rather than the 1700s or 1800s. You can't really see it in this photo, but the toilets on board this vessel are a couple of wooden boards that hang over the bow of the ship that have a just-smaller-than-butt-sized hole cut into them. I didn't see a toilet paper dispenser anywhere. Yes, I'm pretty sure Zac is happy to be a sailor nowadays.
This is the area below deck where the crew ate and slept. At this point in the ship the ceiling is about six feet. There was a big wood stove where the cook could work his magic and then the crew would eat at the tables on the right. The frayed rope hanging up acted as napkins to wipe off their hands after eating. After all, no one wants pig grease on the ropes above-deck. When it was time to sleep, each member of the crew had a hammock that hung from the ceiling. When the hammocks weren't in use they were tied up to the rafters; at night they let them down and rocked themselves to sleep. In the whole 14" of shoulder-room they were given.
This is where the Marines slept. The Endeavor wasn't a war ship, she was on an exploratory mission, but she did have Marines on board as most vessels did in the day. The Marines slept between the crew and the officers to make sure nothing funny happened to the folks in charge. They also stood watch at the captain's quarters and at the magazine, where they stored gunpowder and such. As you can see, we went from 6 feet of clearance to about four. That's because the floor Zac is standing on was added after the ship was built. Originally the Endeavor was to haul coal below deck in a big, empty area. When they decided to take her out exploring they retro-fitted her with the living/sleeping area below deck. The result was enough headroom at the front and back of the ship, but in the middle you had to be careful about knocking yourself out. Again, oddly, I didn't feel to cramped. Suddenly being strong, healthy and tall doesn't sound so appealing, eh?
Moving through the ship we came to the officer's mess area, where they ate. It was nice and airy as there is a skylight right above the table. Again, I can't help but feel like they made this ship for me. Low ceilings, little doors, chairs where my feet can touch the groud. The short shall reign supreme!
This was Mr. Banks' cabin. He was the naturalist on board. (What a great job title - "What do you do for a living?" "Oh, I'm a naturalist.") He got the best cabin of the officers, even nicer than Captain Cook's. It looks much more comfortable than a 14"-wide hammock below deck.
This is the Great Cabin, where the captain, the naturalist, the astronomer, the botanist and other officers could do their work. It was really quite a nice room to be in, with windows that could be opened and the ability for tall people to stand up.

Here's me, thinking that perhaps steering my Escape Hybrid is a little easier than the Endeavor.

So, class, here ends our lesson on Captain Cook and the HM Bank Endeavor. The Wikipedia article about the ship is really quite interesting if you find yourself looking for something to do. Or, if you're thinking that roaming the seas on a ship like this looks like fun, check out the National Maritime Museum's page to see how you can spend your next vacation playing sailor.