The Heart and Soul Men’s shed in Forrestdale has received kudos from the Governor General after building a large model replica of the ‘HMS Endeavour’.
The replica was built over three years and sat in the men’s shed for another two before a home was found for the ship in Cooktown, Queensland.
In 2019 Heart and Soul Men’s Shed founder Terry Thompson drove the boat on the back of a caravan trailer to the town ahead of the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s arrival in Australia.
According to Mr Thompson, a special display area was built at the James Cook Museum for the height of the model, which is now displayed in Cooktown.
“We donated the boat to Cooktown as we couldn’t find a good home for it,” he said.
“It took a couple years to build, and when it was built everybody loved it but we had nowhere to put it.
“The TAFE in Armadale gave us the boat because it was too difficult for them to restore.”
The men at Heart and Soul Men’s Shed stripped back the boat and took the existing masts and ropes off the ship before restoring it.
Mr Thompson built a special cage trailer for the boat to protect it during the journey to Cooktown.
The Heart and Soul Men’s shed received compliments from the Governor General of Australia David Hurley during a recent visit to the museum.
“Apparently he was impressed that we managed to get it from Western Australia to Cooktown the way we did,” Mr Thompson said.
