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An idea that started in a pub has taken an economics student from Germany to Bermuda in the Tall Ships 2000 race.

Randi Lukat and her friends Lars Hegar and Phillip Ostetag decided to join the race while in a pub one night.

They joined the 55-foot sloop Peter Von Danzig in Spain and teamed up with others who were replacing the crew that had sailed the vessel there from England.

The new crew of four women and eight men already had a loose association with one another from the university in Kiel where the vessel was used as a training vessel by the sailing club.

Ms Lukat described the seagoing lifestyle she had enjoyed during the 19 and a half days it took to reach Bermuda from Spain as "an experience''.

Sailing was handled in four hour watches, split so that a minimum of five people would be awake at any one time while the others slept.

Duties, including cook and watch leader, were rotated throughout the crew for the duration of the journey.

This opportunity gave everyone the chance to experience leadership and responsibility during the voyage.

"Everyone knew what to do,'' Ms Lukat noted, because of the rotation and this helped make the group more organised and integrated.

"You didn't do what you wanted but what you had to do; what you should do.

"You rely on each other. There is no I,'' she said.

However Ms Lukat pointed out that the journey was not all about a regimented and regulated lifestyle of back breaking work at sea.

"Someone had a guitar and we spent nights together singing and talking. You had a lot of time to think. Just you and the stars, out there. You don't get the chance to do that at home,'' she said.

She recalled her encounter with a whale one night while on watch.

"While I was at helm, I heard a whoosh sound some from starboard.

"It was the one time on the trip I was frightened. I was thinking, `ok, what fish out of the deep is coming up over here?' "It was about eight metres long and ten metres away from the ship. I'd seen them in aquariums and in books but that was like wow.'' Ms Lukat also told of the pods of dolphins that would follow the boat.

"Jumping in front of, along side of, or wherever. They were all over.

Sometimes two or three of them, or ten to if.'' The race was managed by another boat, she said, that would check on the vessels during "round calls'' where each boat reported their position.

"I remember when one boat went missing in our area. It was missing for three days by the time we found out.

"I started to think `what if that was our boat?'.'' The 55-foot sloop had a Jumarsat system for communication with other vessels during the journey.

"Its sort of like the Internet and handled via satellite,'' Ms Lukat said.

The Jumarsat system also allowed vessels in the race to speak to one another.

It proved very useful in the case of a medical emergency on board a smaller boat that did not have a doctor.

"The person who was cooking got boiling water thrown over his legs and was really hurt,'' said Ms Lukat.

"The smaller boat contacted the Gorch Foch , that had a doctor on board, and the guy was helped out like that.'' When asked about the inherent danger in traversing the Atlantic by sail, she replied: "It's dangerous to get in a car.'' But Ms Lukat conceded that she felt sorry for her parents who had no contact with the vessel during the almost 20 days it was at sea.

And as she nears the end of her voyage -- Ms Lukat will stay with the vessel until it reaches Boston before flying home -- she noted: "I thought I'd feel like a hero; but I don't.'' But she was content with her achievements.

"It's good for me. It's an experience,'' she said.

Tall ship mate: Randi Lukat, who has been sailing on the 55-foot sloop Peter Von Danzig from Kiel, Germany, talks aobut life at sea.