Age & sea sickness

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Jegs

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I have tickled the search engine, but no luck. It is, I believe, common for old people to have difficulties with their balance & I wondered whether this might make therm more likely to suffer from mal-de-mer: any thoughts/references?

Thanks,
John G
 
Jegs said:
I have tickled the search engine, but no luck. It is, I believe, common for old people to have difficulties with their balance & I wondered whether this might make therm more likely to suffer from mal-de-mer: any thoughts/references?

Thanks,
John G
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From my own observations of taking many, many people to sea, age isn't really relevant. I estimate that 2 outa 5 of my students got sick at some stage. Whatever their age, sex or nationality. Out of those, mebbe 1 in 20 didn't ever get over it at all.
 
capnsensible said:
From my own observations of taking many, many people to sea, age isn't really relevant. I estimate that 2 outa 5 of my students got sick at some stage. Whatever their age, sex or nationality. Out of those, mebbe 1 in 20 didn't ever get over it at all.
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Only 2 ;) 😁
 
capnsensible said:
The only '2' I knew was a guy we called 'two bag Ted' coz generally on a sail across the Gib Straits, he would use two plastic bags to vom in. American chap, guess he gave up in the end.
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Many years ago when I regularly made the overnight Felixstowe/Zeebrugge ferry crossing for motorbike rallies in mainland Europe we invariably ran a sweepstake on how many sick bags puker-Dave would use during the passage. I don't remember it ever being less than a dozen; fair does to him though, he kept on coming.
 
I briefly met a lady who had retired from her medical practice. She had also been the volunteer doctor for their local all weather RNLI lifeboat and would join the crew on call outs. She commented that sea sickness had been less of a problem as she got older, suggesting if could be due to age reducing sensitivity.
 
srm said:
I briefly met a lady who had retired from her medical practice. She had also been the volunteer doctor for their local all weather RNLI lifeboat and would join the crew on call outs. She commented that sea sickness had been less of a problem as she got older, suggesting if could be due to age reducing sensitivity.
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My experience exactly. Not that I ever suffered much, but last time was 30 years ago, sailing round the north of Scotland!
 
Working on the old coaster with frequent trips to the engine room I didn’t suffer from seasickness although I had been sick years before.Butwe had a guest deckhand who immediately started being sick and it lead to me starting to feel sick but not actually vomiting…….sort of pysclogically induced?
 
Wansworth said:
Working on the old coaster with frequent trips to the engine room I didn’t suffer from seasickness although I had been sick years before.Butwe had a guest deckhand who immediately started being sick and it lead to me starting to feel sick but not actually vomiting…….sort of pysclogically induced?
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There are clearly physiological reasons for sea sickness but psychological ones are also a significant factor, anxiety being a major one.
 
I was cured of sea sickness while working on N Sea seismic survey vessels. Lots of fresh air during a shift on deck, then go below to inhale a wall of engine room+kerosene+galley smells. That and the threat of being hauled out of my bunk "you are here to work, not lie in bed". It took a couple of months then I realised I was over the problem one day working in a cabin on the bridge deck. All the print outs and contents of the table I was working on slid on to the deck. I picked them up and continued only to have it happen again. Picked them up again then looked out at the horizon and realised how much we were rolling. That was in the 70's before starting my sailing career. I once had some tinned peaches bounce back during a F8-9 crossing of the N Sea when running a charter yacht, but other than that just find bad weather motion tiring.
When people asked how I did not get seasick my response was that being the skipper I had to stay responsive.
 
So far, I've never had sea sickness to the point of vomiting and the closest I came was changing a CAV filter in a very lumpy sea with hot engine. On a few occasions in early days, had to stay away from hot food. My wife initially suffered quite badly and found the wrist bands helped and over time gradually stopped using them. Living aboard for roughly six months each year on mooring or anchor for the past 17 years has I think cured us.
 
I don't think or at least can't remember ever vomiting, I have very occasionally felt a little queasy but I either soon forget it or it fades away and I have changed filters when the boat has been rocking like a bucking bronco, gone up a mast in a big seaway, cooked a hot meal when surfing down wind and other things that are causes of sea sickness in others. I have no explanation of it but it definitely made my sailing easier.
 
Had to lash my father to the sheet winch in the cockpit as he succumbed to sea sickness crossing the channel and mad all speed to Cherbourg….whence he recovered totally entering the breakwater
 
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