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Naval students on board the tall ship Juan Sebastian De Elcano are learning that life at sea is not an easy task.

But for the crew members on board the Spanish naval ship, it is worth the challenge.

Despite the language barrier, midshipmen from the Spanish vessel spoke to The Royal Gazette about life on the ship, which was summed up as "hard work''.

Midshipman Romero said many of the men who were on the ship are training at the Naval Academy in the south of Spain. In their third year, they are taken to the north of Spain where they spend the remainder of their training aboard one of the Spanish naval vessels.

He said: "Life is hard, but it's an interesting way of life.'' The vessel was commissioned in 1927. Since then it has trained countless Spanish sailors and taken them to various ports of call around the globe.

Mid-seaman Sanches said: "We are studying navigation as well as attending to other duties on the ship.'' He added that the race to the Island was slow for them as they had found very little wind to aid them.

Mid-seaman Carlos Cordon, who spoke the best English of the three, said life for the sailors was strictly scheduled.

He said they start their days at 7 a.m. and, for some, the shift lasted through the entire night.

He said: "We have to get up and check out the position of the sun with the sextant.'' Next they attend classes before they are put through several exercises on the top deck. This is followed by lunch after which the crewmen are required to clean the deck before they go back to class.

They continue with their studies until dinner time and then after that they are given a few hours to study, watch television, listen to the radio or enjoy any other recreational activity they are involved in.

Mid-seaman Cordon added that the sailors never really get time to rest because they are constantly drawn back and forth between duties on the bridge or in the chart room and watching the stars with their sextant to make sure they are on their planned course.

One of the most rememberable experiences he enjoyed during the race was watching the ships line up and leave from Paris. He was impressed by the various ships and how they looked with their many flags over their masts.

He said: "It was very beautiful leaving from Paris.

"When we left the ships ,we did not see many of them until we got here. We kept updated by radio and we could always tell where the other ships where.'' One of the key points for him was the arrival of the ship into Bermuda waters.

He said: "Arriving in Hamilton was beautiful.'' He noted that watching the Island as the ship sailed would be something that he would never forget.