THE replica of Captain Cook's ship, Endeavour, is due to drop anchor in the Brazilian port of Rio de Janiero today.

From Freemantle, Western Australia, through Cape Horn and the Falkland Islands, the £10m HM Bark Endeavour is due to arrive in Whitby, North Yorkshire, in June.

Due to slow winds and fog, the ship has been delayed on its journey to Brazil.

In order to keep up with the schedule, based on the Captain Cook's original voyage, it will only stay in Rio for 36 hours, instead of four days.

The crew, which includes 39-year-old Jon Preston, an ancestor of Captain Cook's family who is returning to his native North-East, have already encountered some of the world's most treacherous waters, but are on course to complete their journey on time.

Endeavour, built as closely to the 368-tonne original as possible, left Freemantle on February 3. Enthusiasts on the Yorkshire coast are expecting this year's welcome to be as spectacular as that which greeted the vessel on its last visit, in 1997.

Members of the crew are helping to give readers of The Northern Echo an intriguing insight into life on the ocean waves by keeping a log of their epic, and often dramatic, voyage.

In their latest entry, the crew report that they have been struck down by a mystery bug.

The illness is causing viral type symptoms affecting nine of the crew members, who had to spend a few days in bed. A cabin had to be set up as a sick bay with resident medic Peter Bath attending to the patients.

New Zealand and Australian crew members were reminded of home when they took part in a sunrise service for Anzac Day on quarter deck.

The captain read a moving poem called Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep, followed by a prayer.

Captain's clerk Camilla van den Broek wrote: "It was a truly fitting start to Anzac Day. And a reminder of home for those Australian and New Zealand crew members now half way around the world."

* To follow the Endeavour's progress, log on to its website at www.barkendeavour.com.au