rama on the high seas, sea squalls, the lower coasts of Africa, one-computer towns and a host of other sights and sounds...

The crew of the ? including seven Bermudian students ? arrived here on Monday brimming with tales of adventure. They received a rapturous reception from families, some of whom flew in from as far afield as Vermont, Montreal and Boston for the occasion.

Parents, who were either in boats or on the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club dock, screamed ?hello? and ?I love you? to children, friends and in some cases God children. A few students and parents took the time to speak with about their adventures, what they had learned, where they had been so far and future plans.

Of course, it hasn?t just been about having a good time on the 188ft barque: the students have had to do a lot of classwork, which should stand them in good stead for their careers. Not that they were ordinary classes. That would be impossible when you have dolphins passing by and a myriad other distractions.

The Bermuda Seven are Katie Titterton, Florence Pedro, Jennifer Pereira, Kyla Smith, Melvin Martin, Joshua Emmerson and Stephen Bath.

They were They were among a group of students from Norway, Kenya, Germany, Canada, Japan and America, who leave our shores today for Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Melvin Martin, whose dad was on the tugboat, said: ?It?s great being back ? there?s a big smile on my face.?

Melvin said he was not sure what he would be doing, but figured he would work for the bank before heading off to study.

?I am going to take up business and a foreign language,? said Melvin who has been learning German and Japanese on board. Another student Stephen Bath said it had been a lot of fun so far.

?It?s been interesting and sometimes difficult, but you learn to live with it,? he said.

?It has been incredible ? we have seen some of the most beautiful places in the world. It has really taught me that you don?t need to mind the small things and sometimes it?s really difficult, but you just have to deal with it.?

In September, it will be off to university for Stephen, who has been accepted at two universities. ?I just need to decide which one I want to go to.?

For Joshua Emmerson, being home was ?heart throbbing?.

His mother Rhona Emmerson said: ?Last August when they got on in Vancouver they knew each other, but they didn?t really know each other ? so they have made seven lifelong friends and they have made a whole crew of lifelong friends.?

His father Mark Emmerson was there when the pilot boat picked them up.

?That?s my little baby,? he said. And when asked if he missed Joshua, he said, ?Yes, but I figure he is going to come back. It?s nice and quiet. You have to extract the good. And no worries, ?cause I figure that?s their worry.?

Just to say ?hello? again to Joshua was a wonderful experience. ?When we met them out on north shore ? I wore my hat so he would recognise me ? and we just stretched out our arms and closed them into a hug, but if he had been here all year, I wouldn?t have missed him.?

Florence Pedro said it had been really hard, but lots of fun.

?It?s hard being away from home and it?s a lot of work with school and stuff. We have made lots of new friends, we have become very close ? it?s hard not to.?

Bostonian Elsbeth Eustice?s father said they had not seen her since the Christmas holiday.

A Vermont mother, Cathy Sadwith, came to the Island to see her daughter Hannah, who had found out about Class Afloat on the Internet.

Mrs. Sadwith said she had trouble convincing her school about getting time off, but she did. Hannah said: ?It has been fun, sometimes hard, but that lasted like five minutes.

?But it?s sweet ?like, I am in Bermuda?.?

For Hannah the most amazing place that she went to was the Solomon Islands.

?There was only one computer that didn?t work very well, but I am going back ? definitely.

?We would be in class and someone would see a school of dolphins or whales and someone would say, ?dolphins? and everyone just runs out of class. The other day I was studying marine biology and I looked up and there were whales ? it?s really cool.?

Hannah has another year in high school before she heads off to university.

The Tremblay family from Montreal flew to Vancouver, Tanzania and now here to Bermuda to see their son Martin.

For Mr. Richard Tremblay one of the concerns was the state of his son?s hair: he had not seen a barber since leaving home.

Hair was not on Martin?s mind, however. ?It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,? he said. ?It was great. It changes your way of seeing things around you and it makes you appreciate things about home that you don?t have on the ship.?

Martin said they were incredibly busy on the .

?We stand watches at night and we stand watches during the day,? he said.

?And we have seven hours plus of class a day ? so we have 18-hour days. There is always something to do.?

He said the most amazing place he had seen so far was Zanzibar.

Mr. Tremblay said: ?He?s going to have quite a shock when he gets home.?

Stephen Bath said it had been interesting and sometimes difficult, but you learn to live with it.

Jennifer Pereira just wanted to get off so that she could run and say hello to everyone.

Kyla Smith said she was so excited and so happy to see everyone. ?We just came from Guadeloupe and it was really pretty there,? said Kyla.

?It has been a five or six day sail here and the anticipation almost killed us ? it was hard.?

She added that in the fall she would be attending university in New Brunswick. ?I am going with Katie (Titterton),? she said.

Of the entire world tour, she said: ?It has just been really amazing and I can?t really describe it. It has taught me how to interact with everyone from other cultures ? and with my little information about cultures it has taught me more. I love it.?

Kyla?s parents Allison and Thomas Smith said they were thrilled to bits to have her home.

Katie Titterton was happy to be home ? ?it is really exciting.?

?When we leave here we go straight up to Halifax ? it?s going to be cold,? said Katie.

?We Bermudians are probably going to die.?

One of their teachers Karen Morris was pleased with the Bermudian students and she said: ?They have been wonderful, stellar, awesome.?

The Class Afloat students are Morgan Ambrose, Monica Balanoff, Stephen Bath, Alison Brady, Regina Carter, Tayloe Dines, Gaelen Dwyer, Kimee Stephenson Ellis, Joshua Emmerson, Elspeth Eustis, Kate Fincham, Loisl Fortmuller, Katelin Gibbs, David Gunderson, Matthew Gustavson, Riley Harris, Lauren Kruyt, Patricia Lanoie, Moa L?nning, Sammy Lyster, Lisa Martin, Melvin Martin, Julie Martin, Sarah McCulloch, Robert McNamara, Krista Morrow, Kathleen Noble, Shelby Owens, Marie-Julie Lasalle- Parisien, Lee Paxton, Florence Pedro, Jennifer Pereira, Lauren Pickering, Angus Prittie, Agnes Reschke, Matthew Reschke, Alexander Riesenkampff, Rebecca Risberg, Dylan Rose, Hannah Sadwith, Connor Seacrest, Mathew Eric Shaunessy, Casey Smit, Charlotte Smith, Nelson Smith, Kyla Smith, Soichiro Tateishi, Emily Theisen, Laurel Thomson, Katie Titterton, Kelly Torrens, Carly Towsend, Martin Tremblay, Sebastian Von Stein, Crista Waldner, Jamie Webb, Julia Wells, Christina Werlau and Kelsey Yaremko.