As a replica of Captain Cook's famous ship sails into Teesside, Gavin Havery looks at what life was like on board The Endeavour for the ordinary seaman in the 18th century.

LIFE on board the HM Bark Endeavour was so dangerous you would wonder why anyone would voluntarily join Lieutenant James Cook as he set sail into uncharted waters 235 years ago.

The threat of disease loomed ominously above the 96-strong crew, on board accidents were common and it was conceivable that you could end up as dinner, either for wild animals or unfriendly natives.

Cramped conditions, atrocious sleeping patterns punctured by the watch bell and awful food while at sea for months on end during the three-year voyage make the whole experience sound unbearable.

Not to mention the threat of sinking.

But those that sailed with Cook were mostly volunteers who saw it as a opportunity for adventure.

You got to eat three times a day, got paid for the hard work required to sail the 368-ton vessel and got to see some faraway lands as yet undiscovered by white men.

There were a number of firsts for Cook's crew over the years. They were the first to see kangaroos, the first to see surfing and Robert Stainsby, from Darlington, was the first man on record to have had a tattoo, now a naval tradition.

On top of that, crew were given a gallon of alcohol, such as beer, wine, spirits or grog a day each.

They would pick up their hooch from whichever port they were staying, trading with natives for the local brew to drink instead of water, which was saved for cooking. It's not hard to see where the song about a drunken sailor comes from or why there were so many accidents and fights on board.

The crew would also use stops to restock on fresh food and always made sure the hull of the ship was crammed with produce that would keep during the months at sea.

Scurvy had long been the curse of a sailor's life and, although Cook didn't realise that it was caused by a vitamin C deficiency, he did deduce it had something to do with fruit and vegetables. So, to encourage his men to eat sauerkraut, he served it to the officers only and made the others so jealous they started asking for it. Cook never lost a man to scurvy in all of his three voyages.

A typical seaman's diet was not, by today's standards, an enviable one but it was high in calories to give the men energy. A pound of meat, in the form of salted pork or beef, was served every other day with a pound of bread or rock-hard weevil-infested ships biscuits and half a pint of peas or oats. On meat-free days the crew would have oatmeal, butter and cheese with bread, raisins and dried cod.

Sleeping arrangements were cramped, with only 14 inches of width for a hammock in the smelly conditions below deck. Hygiene was not one of the crew's priorities and regular washing was abandoned as soon as they left Plymouth on August 26, 1768.

But Cook ran a stern ship and knew that disease could ruin a voyage, so he encouraged his sailors to wash their clothes and keep themselves as clean as possible.

He was a fair man, but hard, and was known to order twice the recommended dozen lashes with the cat-o'-nine-tails for offences such as insolence.

It was not just the poor who joined Cook for his first three-year voyage on the Endeavour. As it was an exploration voyage there were a number of botanists, naturalists, artists and astronomers, as well as the ships' specialists including sail makers, surgeons, armoury workers and carpenters.

The rest of the crew was made up of able seaman and unskilled labourers, who learnt the ropes as they went along, and would do four-hour watch stints.

En route to the South Pacific, the crew visited Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Tierra del Fuego, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Batavia and Cape Town. Their mission was to observe the transit of Venus at Tahiti and find the Great Southern Continent, and all went well until they found Australia and ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

Seven weeks of work and the vessel was seaworthy again, but during another lengthy stay in Java, seven men died and 42 became ill with dysentery and malaria. On the voyage home, a further 24 died, depleting the crew so severely the ship had to stop at Cape Town to recruit more crew members.

Cook brought the HM Bark Endeavour home to England on July 12, 1771, and his achievements were recognised by the Admiralty who promoted him from Lieutenant to Commander.

Some of the crew and stayed with him for his second and third voyage, when he was promoted to Captain Cook. Others, well aware of what was in store, thought better of a life on the ocean wave and settled for a life ashore.

* A replica of the HM Bark Endeavour will be arriving at Middlehaven in Middlesbrough this morning at about 8.30am.

The ship shows exactly what life was like for Cook and his men over two centuries ago and is open for visitors from tomorrow until November 2, from 9am-5pm. Admission is £7 for adults, £5 concessions, and £4 for children, with a family ticket costing £18.