Captain Cook’s ‘Endeavour’ sails into Rotterdam

29 April 2004

AMSTERDAM — Sailing ship enthusiasts in the Netherlands will have a rare opportunity over the Queen’s Day long weekend to get aboard an 18th century tall ship after a replica of Captain Cook’s Endeavour docked in Rotterdam.

The Endeavour will be open to visitors at the Scheepswerf De Delft in Rotterdam from 29 April to 2 May. The ship’s visit is part of the Zeehaven, or Sea Heroes, weekend.

Completed in 1994, the Endeavour was based on the original plans and is an exact copy of the famous explorer’s vessel.

Just 100 feet in length, the original Endeavour was a refitted coal ship. The British Admiralty dispatched Captain Cook and a crew of 93 men on the Endeavour in 1768 to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun’s disk, and to explore the South Pacific.

Cook was killed in Hawaii on a later mission on 14 February 1779.

The Endeavour replica will lie beside a replica of the East Indies Company ship ‘De Delft’ which is under construction at the Rotterdam dockside.

[© Novum Nieuws 2004]

Subject: Dutch news