Endeavour II (barque)

Endeavour II was a three-masted auxiliary barque built in Vancouver in 1968 and originally named Monte Cristo.^[1] She was built along the lines of the brigantine Albatross as published in Uffa Fox's Second Book of Boats.^[1]

In late February 1971 she was embayed during a full gale and, after attempting to beat her way out for several days, on 22 February was driven onto the bar of Parengarenga Harbour, a few miles south of North Cape, New Zealand,^[1][2] and wrecked.

Her hull was constructed of mahogany planking on heavy fir frames with spars of Sitka spruce.^[1] Her three-sectioned mainmast rose 84 feet (26 m) from deck to truck.^[1] Her deck measured 94 feet (29 m) which bowsprit and jibboom extended to almost 140 feet (43 m) length overall.^[1]

She was rigged as a three-masted barque with square sails on the mainmast and foremast, a gaff rigged fore and aft spanker on the mizzenmast, four jibs and a variety of staysails for a maximum of seventeen sails set totalling 9,000 square feet (840 m²).^[1] The sails were controlled by around 5 miles (8.0 km) of running and standing rigging, all of natural manila rope and galvanised wire.^[1] There were no mechanical winches, all hauling being by block and tackle and man power.^[1]

The auxiliary engine was a GMC Jimmy 6-71 diesel.^[1] The only electronic aid to navigation was a marine VHF radio.^[1]

Originally owned and built by a consortium of business men (Fred Kolowrat, Frank Perner, Alex Brigola) keen to recreate the great days of sail she quickly became the sole property of Ron Craig, a Canadian businessman.^[1]

Initially, as Monte Cristo, she worked her way down the western seaboard of the United States giving costumed on-board tours to paying visitors at each port of call.^[1] On 22 July 1969 she had to be towed into Port Townsend, Washington in thick fog after suffering engine trouble.^[3] She had a number of movie roles and on 9 November was briefly involved in the occupation of Alcatraz.^[2][4]

After being renamed Endeavour II, she sailed across the Pacific Ocean to Sydney to take part in the bicentenary re-enactment on 29 April 1970 of James Cook's landing at Botany Bay, Sydney.^[1][5] She subsequently cruised up the eastern seaboard of Australia to Brisbane, giving costumed on-board tours to paying visitors at each port of call, and then sailed for Auckland, New Zealand, under American skipper Jeff Berry.^[1]

This proved to be her final voyage and she encountered a number of delays.^[2] Soon after sailing she was becalmed and carried southwards by a freak seventy-mile-a-day current.^[2] In the Tasman Sea the crew sighted distress flares and searched for over twelve hours without success; the consequent depletion of fuel reserves was to prove crucial later.^[2] On rounding North Cape she encountered a full gale and failed to make the intended Houhora Harbour.^[1][2][5]

After rounding North Cape, New Zealand, Endeavour II found it impossible to keep position in 40-knot easterly winds when fuel ran out, and she tried to anchor. Her anchors dragged and she was driven onto the bar of Parengarenga Harbour, a few miles south of North Cape, in the early hours of 22 February 1971.^[1][2][6] By 1pm she had settled on her side and began to break up. The crew of thirteen men and one woman reached the shore without loss.^[1][5]

She was the first square-rigged sailing vessel wrecked on the New Zealand coast for more than fifty years.^[2][5] Her masts are preserved, fitted to the converted sugar barge Tui in Paihia.^[7]