Diesel engines and seasickness

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Hi,

My wife never felt seasick in our RIB (petrol outboard engine) but has been seasick during some ferry crossings. She is concerned that if our next boat has an inboard diesel she may feel bad due to the fumes/ smell. Has anyone experienced any problems with this on small boats (<25ft) with diesel inboards? Due to the budget, the boats we are looking at have older engines, not modern common rail diesels.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Some of the boats we plan to view are a bit of a drive away so it would save time and money to figure this out first. Plan B is another outboard powered craft.
 
dont know how I accidentally deleted that last post, anyway....

I dont think its the diesel fumes that are necessarily the problem (although they undoubtedly wont help), it could also be the different motion of the slow displacement boat versus a fast planing boat.

I've been boating 35 years in fast planing boats, and never felt seasick. Then I helped out on a sailing boat delivery trip from falmouth to gibraltar (so two weeks straight 24 hours a day sailing at ~7 knots) and felt immediately seasick. The sickness lasted 4 or 5 days (somewhere around northern spain) before I started to acclimatise.

So I'd say its entirely likely that either you or your wife might get seasick on a slower displacement/semi displacement boat. You'll get acclimatised eventually, but you may not be willing to get through that pain barrier.

regarding diesel fumes - I have a small (25 foot) diesel powered boat, but its a fast planing boat, and there are no diesel fumes to speak of.
 
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Thanks for the quick reply! I should have added... she has been sailing too and didn't feel sick, she seemed to think the smell on the ferry was the issue. The boats we are considering fall into the semi-displacement range. Not sure how much the exhaust fumes on deck would be influenced by the wind direction vs course steered etc.
 
Having said above that there are no deisel fumes on my boat I had forgotten that there is a particular speed range on my boat (somewhere around 15knots) where the exhaust gas from the diesel engine seems to get sucked back into the cockpit, and can be pretty bad. If I speed up a little, or slow down a little it goes away.
 
Cheers. One of the boats we want to look at is a Channel Islands 22. It has two inboard diesels from the late 80s. I don't think it will be a problem but she has her doubts. Maybe we should stick with outboards, just to be sure. I'd hate to put her off our boat trips.
 
do you mean fumes of diesel fuel before it's burnt, or the smell of diesel exhaust ?


Ferries use a heavy form of diesel and the combustion is often less than perfect, leading to part-burnt diesel particulates, which can be conducive to sea-sickness as the fumesa re often sucked into the ventilation.


A well-maintained small boat should not have any diesel fuel leak, and if you use good white diesel in a tidy engine, then there should be no residual diesel smell in the exhaust under normal conditions. Perhaps some at start-up until the engine is up to temp.
 
I used to have a 25ft sports cruiser and never found fumes an issue. There can be a little smoke on start up but once under way no smells in particular.
A diesel engined boat should not smell of diesel . If it does there is probably a leak.
 
The reason she was not sick on the rib is because she dare not hang her head out the side for fear of getting thrown out. To prevent mal de mare, if going fishing in the English Channel I always take a couple of "sea legs" or the like, but on our own boat in the Thames estuary I am fine, now this could be due to the mind being occupied (helming) or the different wave motion. Do not be afraid of being called a wimp take the pills and stay happy.
 
MartynG said:
I used to have a 25ft sports cruiser and never found fumes an issue. There can be a little smoke on start up but once under way no smells in particular.
A diesel engined boat should not smell of diesel . If it does there is probably a leak.
Click to expand...
Some exhaust fumes are inefitable when the wind is from the aft.
 
I appreciate the replies, thanks. She just described the general smell on the ferry, from the engines, as making her feel seasick. She is concerned that a diesel boat may cause her to feel ill in a similar way. But, going by what you guys say, if well maintained, the boat should not smell of diesel. I assume old fuel tanks can leak a bit but that could be fixed and even an older boat cleaned up nicely.
 
My wife has never been seasick. (As a girl she was on the Sir Winston Churchill during a gale in Biscay. Everyone, crew and all, were ill except for her and the captain. But when he saw her wandering around eating a ham sandwich, even he succumbed.)

However, during one night passage to Brittany in our boat she became completely incapacitated. We were both in the cockpit. I had noticed diesel fumes coming inboard at intervals, and took my usual automatic evasive action by shallow breathing and turning my head if that helped. Apparently she had breathed more normally.

I see the OP was asking about boats <25 ft. Ours is 31 ft but with a relatively small freeboard.
 
You can't equate a cross channel ferry with a RIB! The nearest I have ever been to being seasick is on one of those monstrous RoRos. Big problem is the slow rolling motion and you can't see out. Go out on deck and eyeball the horizon and it generally improves. Its sod all to do with diesel fumes (which should not be a problem anyway). It's the motion. If you want to prove it go to the nearest motorway service station and stand her behind a lorry. Bet she ain't seasick!
 
The smells of a ferry, vary from ferry to ferry and even time of day. When I take an am ferry it smell's of bacon.
Fumes from the vehicle decks, a particular wind direction right astern and at the ferries speed. Ferry exhaust may be unpleasant.
I find the motion is quite different. Smell doesn't help people who suffer from mal de mer. Some are sensitive to different things. I find the smell of gas(petrol) for outboards stronger than diesel. exhaust can be an issue when slow or down wind.

The thing about a Rib is you are out in the open and getting fresh air. A ferry not so much.

If its a real worry. Rent or charter a small diesel cruiser of size range you are thinking about. And go out for a weekend. Might be expensive but a lot cheaper than buying a boat the misses won't go out in.
 
I bet she feels ill on a ferry while outside at the back or near the back. The exhaust fumes are often drawn down towards the back of the boat and stink. I never get seasick these days but i stay away from the back of ferrys.

My lady is really bad on a cross channel ferry and she was really worried about getting a small boat (targa 33). But one 20 min trip and she found the planning motion fine for her and has been fine ever since...but she does still get ill on the red funnel..go figure.

I have two 200hp inboards and don;t get any fuel smell anywhere in the boat. I only get a bit of exhaust smoke coming back in while on the mooring with a following wind. When i'm past 5kts its never a problem. But i do always have the covers open so i can get a breeze coming through the cockpit at all times.
 
Depending on which way the wind is blowing we can get a bit of a fumey smell in the cockpit of our 25ft diesel boat. More usually on the rivers then on the coast as on the coast we will usually be on the plane and leaving the fumes behind :)
 
There is also the psychological aspect to seasickness aswell. If your wife is worried to the extent she expects to suffer then the likelihood is, she will. As a kid I was very seasick on a days mackerel fishing. Took me 3 days to get over it and to this day, just the thought of it can make me feel queasy.
We have a 36ft planing mobo and the only time I've been ill on her was a rather rough channel crossing and that had everything to do with motion and nothing to do with fumes. The more I thought about it, the worse it got.
Now, if we do a longer passage, I take Stugeron a couple of hours before hand and that sorts it. Simply knowing I've taken something to stop any possible onset is enough psychologically. Stopping the anticipation is half the battle imo.
L
:)
 
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