Ever been seasick on your own boat?

[Daydream believer]

What annoys me is that whilst i get sea sick, my wife - who dislikes sailing, will sit below & play cards or read a book in the roughest of weather. She does committee boat work for our sailing club racing & is generally the only one who can go below & calculate & write down the race results.. Never a hint of sickness. i can get sick in Bradwell marina if below, with a gentle rocking, at the start of the season
My daughter holds the record on my boat-- 6 minutes from exiting Dover west entrance, to chucking up.

 

[LittleSister]

N.B. Do not eat a large fried breakfast and set out to beat into an F6. Don’t ask me how I know this.

You omitted to have the good few bevies the night before to settle your stomach first?

 

[mrangry]

I generally have to stay above deck in all but calm seas otherwise I start to feel somewhat dodgy. This has worked well over the years except for long passages. Recently however, I encountered engine failure in rough weather due to diesel bug and was down below trying to rig a fresh supply of fuel to run the engine. Being down below in a confined space and up to my elbows in diesel I was as sick as a dog.

 

[capnsensible]

In my early sailing career, I once swore I would never leave the Solent. Love sailing, hate seasick. However, adventure doesn't stick in Lake Solento, so despite everything, I started going offshore in service yachts with uncompromising skippers. Their encouragement fixed it for me ever since.

Major lesson learned was how to deal with seasick crew, remember how it felt for you! I reckon about a third of the students we've ever had get seasick at some stage, especially when nipping below to do a navigation task. Encouraging them through it is a very rewarding part of the job.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I have never thrown up from ss but have often felt ready to die -and it gives me the sh*ts instead. OK above deck except when already ill with stomach problems, always horrible below deck in F6 or choppy F5. My dear navigator is the same but fortunately she likes adventure so accepted my take which is that its just one of them things for the first few days

 

[Poignard]

Yes, once.

After unwisely dining on curried mussels.

 

[Adios]

Major lesson learned was how to deal with seasick crew, remember how it felt for you! I reckon about a third of the students we've ever had get seasick at some stage, especially when nipping below to do a navigation task. Encouraging them through it is a very rewarding part of the job.

I was on the deck of a ferry with a friend one time and this guy standing next to us we'd been chatting to started going green. I was telling him to watch the horizon and take some deep breaths which seemed to be working but this friend of mine who was also a yacht sailor started in the opposite direction telling him to imagine eating fried eggs out of an ashtray or something similar. I'd not noticed what a sick minded individual he was until then. Stunning lack of empathy.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Lunch on a friends boat, bit a blow going on in port, the yacht had big DS windows which made me feel a million $$$, all green and crispy.

 

[dom]

I have once; sheltered in Brixham from a passing F9/10.

Had a few scoops of Guinness in the local pubs. then set off a.m. for Alderney in a NW F2-3. Lolling downwind we opted for the usual antidote - bacon sandwiches - then for lack of progress switched to the iron topsail.

The diesel fumes slowly wafted forward into the cockpit as a big old swell rolled slowly by, knocking the boom back and forth as it went.

Not nice

 

[Never Grumble]

Yes ... I have been

 

[johnalison]

Never on my boat, or any yacht, but once when I was about 13yrs old on a Channel ferry. It was a rotten little French job called the Cote d'Azur, not the later one(s), and it was January. Fortunately I was on deck and able to control my ejecta.

On my boats I used to get a bit queasy if I had to spend time navigating below and was in the habit of taking Stugeron before an offshore trip. More recently, GPS and a plotter have made these occasions unlikely.

Part of the problem is the design of the boat and how it is sailed. I prefer the motion of a boat being fully driven rather than over-reefed and wallowing. I once had to contrive to take over the helm on a friend's boat when my family started going green around the gills, and according to my wife the improvement in motion in the quartering sea was immediately noticeable.

 

[grandpaboat]

After being deep sea for many years and sailed since I was 10 I have only been seasick once.
About 20 year's ago I was heading North for the Clyde in December on my Bruce Robert's 34 with three of us onboard. We where motoring up the North Channel into a blow with wind over tide and steep seas. One of my crew became badly seasick. I couldn't turn back against the tide so carried on to Girvan. After spending too much time below trying to establish on the VHF if it was safe to cross the bar in the prevailing wind I came up on deck to immediately throw up, quickly followed by my other crew.
Fortunately we both soon recovered and made it safely to Girvan. Our less fortunate crew crawled on hands and knees up the icy pontoon on arrival at Girvan. He took some pursuading to continue with us for the rest of the trip.

 

[LittleSister]

I am actually sick very rarely, but sometimes feel a bit queasy. If so I try to either stay on deck, so I can see the horizon, or if going below lie straight down and close my eyes.

As others have said, having to have your eyes down and concentrate on engine maintenance or whatever is the toughest, especially if there's fumes and you're having to hang upside down or whatever.

I've had a couple of moorings that were very conducive to feeling sick. One in shallowing water off Marchwood on Southampton Water, where the boat lies most of the time facing up or down river, and the wake from the passage of ferries, etc., rocked the little boat near continuously side to side in a most unpleasant manner. I soon abandoned it and rented another mooring at Lymington. Some years earlier I had a mooring off Cockwood on the River Exe, that was OK much of the time, but the tide was very strong, and if there was any wind against it any attempt at cooking or maintenance was unwise. It was either cast off and go sailing, or give up and go home.

When I first started cruising the friend I sailed with was adamant that maintaining a full stomach (or at least avoiding getting hungry) with plain food was key to staving off seasickness, and the ship was always well stocked with Matzos or other dry, plain biscuits, which we munched near continuously on passage. I've no idea if there's any real basis to this, but have tended to maintain the habit, and find nibbling on plain biscuits when sailing pleasantly comforting.

 

[Kukri]

I use Stugeron “before”, and crystallised ginger “during”.No idea if the ginger does any good, but it tastes nice!

 

[ryanroberts]

Only ever actually chundered while fishing so far, never when sailing. I assume it is a matter of time. Have felt queasy on the way to and from the head when it has been bouncy but ok as soon as looking out of a window or outside.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Because it was very rough or just a weird motion? I always thought the smaller the boat the less chance of feeling seasick. Like I couldn't imagine anyone getting sick in an open dinghy

I don’t think your suggestion is true. Divers get sick underwater (which is very dangerous). It’s all to do with the motion and various other factors IIRC. No direct simple correlation with size of the boat.
Some people are more immune than others, but those who say they’ve never been sick I suspect just haven’t been thrown around enough yet..
Some people ard very susceptible to motion sickness, but for most people it does wear off eventually. I’ve sailed multiple thousands of miles and I still get sick sometimes the first day out.

 

[trevbouy]

My wife used to say ' you've been sick in every ocean in the world, so expect to be sick anytime around the UK'

 

[Kukri]

It is possible to feel seasick on a VLCC, in Singapore. DAMHIKT.?

 

[Gwylan]

Wow! It's confession or coming out time.

Me, first week of the season, feel queazy but can comfortably sleep. Still able to do all the necessary to manage the boat.
Cannot cook,well no more than brew tea or cuppa soup and pot noodles.
At sea the smell of coffee makes me want to throw up.
Did get green, but put that down to anxiety.
Then about 18 months ago had a spate of dizziness spells. Fell down in the middle of a field one day. Had to lean against a lamp post in the middle of town another time. Assume people thought, as I would have done, that I was pissed.
Took to going about with a walking stick. Really torrid time, terrified of doing anything like sailing. Cycling and skiing were off. Avoided driving

Doctor diagnosed the problem gave me some exercises to do. After about a month it all went away. Better than ever.
Before the diagnosis we tbought it was game over and sold the boat.

 

[Black Sheep]

crystallised ginger “during”.No idea if the ginger does any good, but it tastes nice!

Me neither. But it comes up bright yellow!