has earned the reputation of being the most sought after training vessel in the Portuguese Navy.

The Sagres , with her 135-foot main mast, was berthed near the flagpole below Burnaby Street where the public could easily view her graceful lines and complicated rigging.

The ship had just completed a tour of American ports when she arrived in Bermuda on Tuesday, December 1. After racing across the ocean in a sailing regatta from Lisbon, she visited Puerto Rico, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Cartegena in Colombia, Panama, Manzanillo in Mexico and Jamaica.

Her stopovers were primarily to show the Portuguese flag.

Sagres' main mission is to train aspiring sailors, sometimes even from the venerable Portuguese Naval Academy.

Last week, her crew consisted of 156 men, including 11 officers.

Sagres' First Officer Pedro Gomes said: "People are very impressed with the ship. The crew of the Sagres think of it as `their baby -- a second home'.'' The three-masted, 270-foot long ship is a labour intensive operation. The crew's day begins with a 7 a.m. wake-up, with breakfast lasting until 8.30.

For the rest of the morning crew members work on the ship, scrubbing her teak deck, checking her extensive rigging, changing or repairing sails and painting rust spots.

Lunch is usually between 11.30 and 12.30.

The afternoon is mainly reserved for rest and recreation. Crew members can listen to music, watch a video, or engage in a game called deck soccer. Dinner then follows between 6.30 and 7.30 p.m.

Throughout the daily routines, the ship maintains a 24-hour watch with teams of two to three officers working six-hour shifts.

Mr. Gomes said the job of a watch group mainly involved watching the seas and telling the captain everything seen, no matter how unimportant it may seem.

He referred to a situation last year on another ship where a man on watch using binoculars spotted something in the distance. It was too far off to identify, but when the ship diverted to sail closer, they discovered a raft with three people aboard.

There are penalties for people "caught napping'' on watch, he said. Sagres' Capt. Jose Manuel Malhao Pereira, who personally selects the crew for his ship, said his sailors took great pride in sailing the ship.

Sagres was built in 1937-1938 at Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg. She was commissioned into the German Navy under the name Albert Leo Schalgeter .

She was the third ship of a series, following the Eagle , now serving as the US Coast Guard sail training ship, and the Tomvarish of the Russian Navy. The Gorch Foch of the German Navy and the Mircea of the Romanian Navy followed.

When Sagres flew the German flag during the Second World War, she sustained serious damage when she hit a mine in the Baltic. In 1945, the ship was captured by American Forces at the Port of Bremerhaven. She was given to Brazil in 1948 where she was commissioned into Brazilian Navy as Guanabara .

In 1962, she became part of the Portuguese Navy.

The ship's current schedule includes yearly instructional trips for cadets of the Naval Academy.

Mr. Gomes said Sagres sails "very well'' and is "quite comfortable'' at sea.

"She handles rough seas better than most other tall ships,'' he added. The figurehead in the bow of the ship is of Prince Henry the Navigator, a Portuguese who founded a navigational school in southern Portugal, which is now one of the biggest in the country. Christopher Columbus was taught at the same school.

Mr. Gomes said serving on Sagres was a dream come true.

"Finally, I was able to become an officer of this ship,'' he said. "As a child, I set a goal to one day eventually sail on this ship and I am finally doing it.'' COURTESY CALL -- Sagres captain Jose Manuel Malhao Pereira met Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan at the Cabinet Office last week during the Portuguese tall ship's stay on the Island. Capt. Pereira was accompanied by Portuguese consul Mr. Francisco Santos Correia, right.