We set off on our first off shore trip. We were all quite excited and I don't think anyone of us expected how hard this would actually be. We sailed up wind for almost a whole day and the strong wind and choppy sea made us all realize sailing could be quite hard. We could hardly stand inside the boat. Everything was flying from one side to the other. We started our watch system. We split in 2 groups and took turns-3 hour sailing and 3 hours sleeping. It took our bodies quite a while to adjust to this rythem and we soon felt quite tired and week. All of us felt sea sick at some point which made the watch system even harder since we were a small group and we needed all hands we could get. We had few hours stop over at Dartforth and then we headed back. The way back was easier because there was almost no wind and we spent a lot of time sailing with the engine on. We covered 447nm, with 20 night hours and strongest wind of F9. I think during the course of this trip most people questioned weather they could actually do the legs they had signed up for. It was a big test for us as novices. But when we got back on shore I think all of us felt stronger and more confident for what we had been trough. It was a good initiation which deserved a good team dinner in the evening after we had clean Black Adder inside and out. The boat took good care of us and it was time to return the favour. After a debrief with the skipper we all received our RYA Competent Crew certificates.