In the Captain Cook tradition, preference was given to solid roomy craft for the expedition. Naval storeships (gabare) were chosen, the same class as La Pérouse’s two vessels, l’Astrolobe and La Boussole. The selected ships originally were named Truite and Duranse. The former, a four year old vessel, was imaginatively renamed Recherche, while the second ship became Espérance (Hope). This latter was built 10 years earlier and it proved tediously slow. Both craft were comparable in size and were reclassified as frigates (ironically implying swiftness). Recherche measured 114 by 26 feet (34.7m x 8m). Earlier sources gave their tonnage as 500, but following a critical appraisal of their measurements by Frank Horner, his more reliable estimate made their tonnage closer to 350.^[9] This means that they were comparable in size to Cook’s Endeavour and Flinders’ Investigator, much smaller than a true frigate.

Vessels of this type were crewed normally by 60 sailors, but due to their special requirements each now required capacity for 110 persons. In an attempt to save deck space (and, incidentally, showing their peaceful intentions) most cannon were removed. Three 8-pounders remained on either side of the gundeck, while two of the recently developed close-range 20-pounder carronades were added. On both ships this armament was cluttered and confined by pens holding six sheep and 50 fowls. Added armament on each ship included 45 muskets, 35 pistols, 130 battle-axes and 50 swords.^[10]

On each vessel provision had to made for extra accommodation and stores. This was met by constructing an orlop deck below the lower deck. This divided the deep hold in half, to which meagre light and ventilation came through three hatches. Cabins were crammed into any available deck spaces, while the captains occupied special quarters built on the quarterdeck. The great cabin across the stern served multiple functions — as the mess for officers and scientists, a meetings area, and a much disputed working place for the naturalists. As for the crew, they socialised on deck in the confined space beside the long boats. Iron galleys instead of brick cooking galleys were installed. Each ship had a small corn-grinding windmill installed above the poop deck. Little bread was baked from the flour, however, as one mill soon toppled during a storm.

For voyaging into the unknown, the hulls required strengthening against grounding or damage and it was becoming customary to attach thin copper sheeting, whose smoothness assisted speed and offered protection against worms and barnacles. An alternative solution was necessary in the event that this protection needed to be replaced, as copper would be unavailable in remote lands. This solution was a double hull of pinewood into which flat-headed nails were hammered so closely together that they virtually presented an unbroken metal surface. An ingenious solution, but at a cost, because the surface was not as smooth as copper sheeting, so the nails served to slow the ship and encourage weed growth.

Kermadec was instructed to secure only good quality rations, although in this task the future proved that dishonest provisioners ignored him. When opened on the high seas, many stores were stale and weevil infested. During the late eighteenth century the staple French seaman’s monotonous ration amounted to a daily issue of 600 grams of bread or biscuit, fresh or salted meat or cod, cheese and dried or pickled vegetables. Sometimes special items were provided, such as soup tablets, butter and coffee. In theory this provided about 4,000 calories daily, a diet superior to that of most peasants ashore, although it was seriously deficient in vitamin C. Naval officers received a monetary table allowance, so they brought their own rations, or purchased food and drink at ports of call. Naturalists followed the same practice.^[11]

Then there were liquid supplies. Water required regular replenishment, but alcohol proved less available to explorers. An indication of French thirst was provided by Bougainville’s voyage to the Pacific during the 1760s. His crew of 200 drew upon 50,000 litres of water and 60,000 litres of wine and brandy.

Scurvy posed the critical sea voyaging problem of the era. Sailors succumbed to unaccountable lassitude and debility due to vitamin C deficiency (ascorbic acid). Swollen and bleeding gums, loosened teeth, stiffness in joints and anaemia followed. It was believed that antidotes were sauerkraut and vinegar, or citrus fruit. Consequently, the expedition carried lemon rob, a syrup made from boiled lemons. Unfortunately, the boiling process probably destroyed the essential vitamin C, robbing the rob of much value. Everybody at that time deferred to Captain James Cook’s wisdom, so they relied upon quantities of malt extract, a residue from brewing, which he favoured, served as spruce beer. Modern opinion is that Cook erred. Malt extract lacked vitamin C, so it was not antiscorbutic.

A decade later — too late to save lives on the d’Entrecasteaux expedition — Nicolas Baudin found a partial solution. His crew had suffered severely on the voyage to Sydney. In 1802, he pursued library research in Sydney, due to the courtesy of Governor King. He consulted 35 narratives of voyaging and determined that scurvy became serious only when ships exceeded 60 to 70 days at sea between ports. So he wisely put into port more frequently and took lime juice aboard, proving the correctness of his deductions. The d’Entrecasteaux vessels frequently exceeded the 60 days rule. Baudin’s research was shown to be valid only in 1986. Clinical trials in USA proved that the store of vitamin C in a human body disappears within 68 to 90 days.^[12]