The Tall Ships 2000 Millennium Race is all about young people and great sailing ships, about the spirit of adventure in distant places and challenges on the high seas.

For Krystle DeSilva, Rebekah Cabrall and Aaron Jackson racing on a tall ship was a deeply affecting experience, which began among strangers in a totally new environment, highlighted by a storm on their very first night.

The three trainees, fresh from their thrilling race from Genoa to Cadiz aboard the Polish ship Pogoria , the joy of the voyage still bright in their eyes, shared their thoughts with The Royal Gazette .

Krystle : The first day we got introduced to everything on the boat. The very first thing we did was to go downstairs and put our bags on our bunks and get our harnesses and then go up top.

The harness is a contraption you put on so when you go up top, when climbing up the mast, you tie yourself on so you don't fall, and if you so slip you get caught,she explained.

On the Yardarm So they taught us how to put it on and we got sent up the mast right away. To the second yard!! They taught us how to fold and undo the sails. For me it was really fun. It was nothing like you could ever do in Bermuda. From that height you could see a lot of Italy and it was really pretty.'' Rebekah : I felt sort of scared. I'm sort of short and they said that it's harder for shorter people because you can't really get a grip on the yard easily and I could barely see over it! So I was anticipating if I had to let down a sail during wind that I would probably slip off! Thankfully I never had to do that. They tried me. I was hanging on pretty tightly to one of the masts.

Aaron : I wasn't scared. For me it was fun. You got to see all these small little people on the deck way down below! On Watch Rebekah: The watches were split up in groups of four and each watch had four-hour shifts and it went around 24 hours that way. Basically whatever needs to be done is what you have to do.

Contined from Page 21 On watch .

Rebekah: The watches were split up in groups of four and each watch had four-hour shifts and it went around 24 hours that way. Basically whatever needs to be done is what you have to do.

It was very cold at night, we had layers and layers of clothes and sometimes it didn't feel like that helped. You're sitting there in total darkness, so if you had someone to talk to you talked, if you could sleep you slept. That's what you did on watch.

"If a sail needs to be changed and if they require more help there was a sail alarm, a loud bell that wakes every body up and people put on their harnesses and run up on deck to help out.'' The storm .

Aaron : The first night we were on watch we had a storm and everyone got cold and scared. Some people went up the mast to change the sails, but I didn't because I was so cold I couldn't feel my hands. The boat was really tipped over and it seemed you could slide from one end to the other.

Rebekah : It was near the end of our watch when the sail alarm went off and we were like half asleep already on deck. So when it went off, everyone was startled because it was the first sail alarm that we had. I didn't know what to do. There were people shouting in Polish and Italian across the decks.

"The Bermudians were basically like stunned and feeling like 'What should we do?' Finally our watch leader - the watch leaders all speak English - told us what to do. Pull this line or ease that line out. It was a real experience of teamwork. That was the first time everyone had to work together. I think we bonded pretty well after that.

Krystle : "I wasn't on watch so I just remember a loud bell going off, getting up and putting as much clothes as possible and going up. A lot of people were going up the mast, and the boat was going from side to side and it was not really fun at all.

"When we went back down, the smell from the kitchen, which you're not really used to, was not mixing well with our stomachs. Everybody threw up, only Ross and Aaron and about four others did not.

The Dolphins .

Krystle : The thing that I really remember most of all is when we were leaving , and Italy getting smaller and smaller in the distance. It was really weird.

"And then all you have is ocean all around and you see little splashes and all the Bermudians are going `What is that?' They were dolphins. They were all in the front, racing with the boat!!! They were really, really pretty.

"And then when everybody was looking at the dolphins we saw a spurt of water (vapour) shoot up and that was a whale. We never saw a flipper or anything. We were told the whales stayed under the surface.

"Rebekah was always downstairs when the dolphins came. We found out that if you didn't make a lot of noise they would go away so we started making lots of noise to attract them in the sea.

Rebekah: "Every time they would call me up on deck I would just miss them. I was so mad. But one day I was on the 4 to 8 watch and I had just drifted off to sleep and the sun was rising and Aaron called to me `Dolphins! Dolphins!' So I jumped up as quick as I could so I wouldn't miss them.

"A few dolphins came by once and left right away and I was disappointed. Was that it?! Then all of a sudden about twelve dolphins came and stayed, jumping and splashing. And I thought this is really wonderful, the answer to all my prayers to see them.

The food .

Aaron : Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was not. One morning I remember they gave us spaghetti and milk for breakfast! We always had ham and cheese and stale bread with every meal. Continued on page 26 Teens share thrills Continued from page 25.

Aaron : "Sometimes it was nice to eat and sometimes you just went back to sleep.'' Krystle : I'm really picky, so basically all I ate was bread and butter and corn flakes. Sometimes all the Italian girls would make a big pasta dinner. I was surprised that I like that! Rebekah : You make do with what you get when you're on the boat. It was surprisingly delightful that they had a chef on board. He made little pastries sometimes and one day he made a pizza. A lot of the meals were good and going in there thinking the worst but hoping for the better was the best (approach).

It gave you a better feel for the food because it was better than expected! Friendships .

Aaron : I made a lot of new friends, but it was mostly me and Ross Everett, another Bermudian who goes to school in England. The Bermudians pretty much stuck to ourselves. But I was friendly with everyone, and they all knew me because I was always doing crazy things and making them laugh.

Rebekah : If you just wanted conversation and someone to understand, we would hang together for company, but we would mingle too with `foreigners' as you might call them.

Krystle : The only other Bermudian on my watch was Fiona, so pretty much the whole watch were my friends. One of the close friends I made was Clea (Clay yah) and she was Italian. She spoke really good English and she was really happy that she could speak English with us. I also made close friends with two Polish guys, named Mikhail or Michael in English and Julian...

Memorable moments .

Rebekah : I think the most memorable experience was learning how to become close to people you have just met when the time calls for it. You'd be surprised how quickly you can become close friends with people in such a situation.

"If we didn't pull together and do what we had to do, then we might not have made it through the storm. I think because of that I have made a few close friends and hopefully I will stay in contact with them throughout my life.

Krystle : The main thing I would like to say is: there's a really big world out there. I sailed just from Italy to Spain. I saw a lot of Italy, the coast of Spain and the coast of Africa.

"Once you see just little parts like that, it amazes you how big the world is and how little time you have to see it all if you want to. It's just amazing the things you can do traveling all over. It's just beautiful.'' Aaron : "The thing I remember the most is having to stick together and work together even when you don't know them. Just having to work together on the spot. We didn't really have much time to really get to know everyone, but we had to work together. It was really fun.'' The three trainees are all fifteen years old, Aaron attends the Berkeley Institute, Rebekah Cedarbridge Academy, and Krystle Mount St. Agnes.

Also sailing with them were Ross Everett and Fiona Herring.

Rebekah Cabrall, age 15, looks on with the Bermuda Gombeys.

Aaron Jackson, age 15, and a sailing matie aboard the Polish ship, Pogoria.

Sailor, Aaron Jackson, catches a few winks aboard Pogoria.