Over before it started

[tjm]

It all started a couple of years ago when we bought a place in the Lakes and were admiring the yachts on Windermere.Wouldnt it be nice to own one. I mused and was somewhat surprised when against all my reservations SHMBO actually bullied a reluctant vendor under pressure at home to sell us his beloved Hurley 22, the first boat we looked at,no experience,armed with only a good survey we started sailing on the lake.ctually not so much sailing as keeping out of everyones way.
we even tricked Haydn and Jeremy from here to give us a day (or me at least) and in the meantime I did my day skipper theory course.
Things took a slight turn for the worse when I did a practical course in scotland and was ill for the first day and a half even tho the weather wasnt that bad in fact we had to do a lot of motoring.
Now comes the main point.
After much hankering I got myself fixed up with a day out last weekend on the Solway Firth with another H22 owner and was really lookingto learning a lot and picking the owners brains ruthlessly.It wasnt to be as I was horribly ill and were back in Maryport within a couple of hours and it has so severely knocked my confidence I am seriously considering my options.
I know the majority will say that I should persevere and not to give up and I'm not just looking for the sympathy vote but do you think some people are just not cut out for sailing (the wrist bands and tablets seem spectacularly ineffective)
So,do I 1 sail only on calm days on the lake
2 Risk the same again should I ever be invited on the sea
3 Call it a day and stick to golf
Has anyone else had this conundrum
Tom
ps sorry about length of post

 

[Magic_Sailor]

No problem with the length - you should see mine! (Er post that is - "First timers")

Anyway to more serious matters.

DO NOT GIVE UP. EVERYONE GETS MOTION SICK AT SOME TIME.

One of my mates Wives did a circumnavigation and suffered with sea sickness most of the time. Indeed I took her over to Cowes for the fireworks and even that brought it on - but it didn't stop her going around the world.

I've been badly sea sick at times but with regular sailing seem to have got over it.

Things to avoid

1. Going below when in a sea way for any length of time.
2. Smelling cooking - especially if its burnt! (I did and the effect was instant).
3. Sitting doing nothing.
4. Getting cold.

Things to do.

1. Do something - helm, trim - just concentrate
2. Chat
3. Keep stomach full.
4. My wife suffers sometimes so uses a herbal job called something like "Travelex" (I know thats a currency exchange - I did say something like). From chemist.
5. Stay wrapped up from the start - do not become cold.

Best of luck TJM

Magic

 

[tcm]

sympathy

getting seasickness is no joke. Perhaps have a look at
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.seasickness.co.uk/>http://www.seasickness.co.uk/</A>

 

[Chris_Robb]

Try Pot - weak joint - works wonders for my daughter who suffered similarly.
medicinal use only!

 

[Tiger Rag]

Definitely keep going, even Robin Know Johnston is still sea sick every time he goes to sea, it's just a matter of learning to cope with it!

 

[Opinionated]

YOUR decision

This comes straight from the heart!

Life is one long compromise. You must decide if the sickness is worth the plusses. I get seasick on about 50% of sailings longer than 6 hours. A trip earlier this year started in F5/6, uncomfortable seas, I started being sick after about 1 hour. The wind got up, and the last 5 hours of 17hrs out was F8. At the end of the 17hrs I was just beginning to feel distinctly better - I think!

Having made the decision as to whether it is worth it, you then face the fact that your BODY will feel sick, but that your MIND has to be detached as you will need to continue to function - even if rather degraded performance. Be split-personality:- Mr.Mind must overcome the Mr.Body's disability. Navigating and grinding a reef down, etc. will still need doing, even going forward and changing a sail if necessary. With SWMBO as first and last mate, there is no alternative. She is not strong enough to put in a reef, and the one time she tried to roll away some genoa in a squall, she let the whole lot out.....

For me, there is no question. Sailing is just about my be-all and end-all, and I just hope that one day, I'll wake up to find that s/s doesn't happen any more.

I have tried EVERYTHING: Stugeron or Patches are about the best, and will prevent s/s up to a point, but not when the motion really gets bad.

Have you ever noticed that you feel queasy even when the boat is just rolling about on a mooring? All the furniture down below is apparently staying in one place, but your balance system says that your body is swaying around. That is the s/s phenomenon, the discrepancy between what your body and eyes are telling you. All the stuff about looking at the horizon, not looking down etc. is intended to relieve that discrepancy.

Something that has been suggested to me, but I have not tried, is, before a journey which is going to be a bit long, or involves some wind-against-tide - is to spend the previous day on the boat in a somewhat rolly berth. Take a Sturgeron, which should deal with such a mild situation. By the next day, your body should be more acclimatised and, with the help of Stugeron again on passage, you may not be seasick at all. [anyone else tried this?]. About Stugeron, really do what it says, take them two hours before takeoff, and then again 6 (or is it 8) hours later. They will NOT stave off seasickness if you take them when you start to feel a bit odd.



(I don't have to agree with YOUR opinions, but I'll defend your right to express them).

 

[pugwash]

Take your medicine

You don't say much about treatment. The bands are useless (you're still sick but you don't feel so bad about it) but many of themedications really do work, especially the ear patches. Don't just gulp a pill and cast off. You have to find the right one by experiment (for me it's Kwells and I don't get drowsy), you should start the medicine several hours before you set off, if not the day before. Once you find the right recipe you're set, then you can start cutting back on it as you spend more time at sea.

 

[jimi]

I've got a friend who gets severely seasick and has tried most remedies. The only thing that seems to works is a lot of sailing coupled with doing something, particularly helming and avoiding looking down. Winching hard on the genoa sheets
particularly seems to precipitate an attack.

Funnily enough the only time my wife has been sick has been after taking stugeron or quells.

Advice .. its supposed to be fun so if it means you're not enjoying it, do something else, otherwise persevere!

Best Wishes
Jim

 

[Twister_Ken]

FWIW

Madame used to get sick when she started sailing - not on gentle days, but in anything over about F4. It didn't take long for her become pretty well impervious, as long as there's not a nasty and lengthy task to do downstairs.

I know it's different strokes, etc, but it's probably worth perservering a while to see if you do turn the corner.

 

[Jacket]

Re: YOUR decision

>Something that has been suggested to me, but I have not tried, is, before a journey which is going to be a bit long, or involves some wind-against-tide - is to spend the previous day on the boat in a somewhat rolly berth

This method works well for me. I suffer quite badly from sea sickness, but on a cruise the worst will generally wear off after a day or two. However, if I decide to take a day or two off from sailing, I'll generally try and spend it at anchor. this way, I find I'm still imune to seasickness when I set off again. If I spend the same time in a marina, I'll almost always be sick on setting off again.

 

[aod]

I guess the 64 dollar question is 'Are you enjoying it and if so, does the pleasure gained exceed the unpleasantness of seasickness'.

Another factor is that there are degrees of debilitation. Some people just puke and then they are fine. Others take to their bunk never to be seen again until the end of the passage and they can escape to land, and there's a great deal in between.

Another factor is does your sickness make you a liability for the remaining crew. If so there are then other issues to consider.

If you genuinely enjoy sailing but are fed up with being ill I would recommend that you have a go at dinghy sailing. That way you get to have some fun and then go and sleep in your own bed. I remeber once sailing back from Amsterdam in north sea gale in January..........bloody freezing cold and a blizzard half way across. On the entrance to Titschmarsh (however you spell it) all the entrance buoys had been blown all over the place and we ran aground which on a fin keeler made for an interesting night. The next morning we entered the marina and while walking to the loo cold, knackered and dirty an old boy said to me "Been far then", "Yes, I replied we have just sailed back from Amsterdam", the old boy than said "Yes, I used to do stupid things like that until I got some sense"!

and I had to smile because I knew that he was expousing words of wisdom!

If it's not a pleasure it's a pain and why bother doing it at all.

 

[chas]

I have a feeling that its a lot to do with the fear of being sick. I was very prone to sea sickness for 20 yrs in the RN. At first, I was frightened of being sick and therefore the apprehension was as bad as the sickness. As soon as I realised that I was going to be sick anyway so what the heck, I was far better able to do my job and cope with the whole situation. In the end it became a matter of course and did not really worry me. Kept me nice and slim though!

 

[claymore]

This hits it on the button really. only you can know whether you want to put up with the discomfort and no-one can really make the decision except yourself. Sometimes the things that prevent us from making decisions is to do with loss of face. I thought it was very revealing this week when I read that one Trimaran sailor retired from the Route du Rhum because he was 'too frightened'
I have spent almost all of my working life in one form of Outdoor Education or another and so have been in all sorts of situations that have challenged me. I think it is better to say goodbye to something than persevere with it for questionable reasons.
The only other comment I would add is that you mentioned the Solway which can be a fairly uncompromising and exposed environment - More sheltered waters such as the West Coast or the Clyde might prove less challenging to your senses.

regards
Claymore

 

[jimboaw]

SHMBO used to suffer horribly. She had tried all the available pills and potions to no avail but she still loved to sail. After a lumpy trip to Cherbourg many years ago she decided to check out the local chemists to see if the Frogs had anything she had not tried. What she found was a product called "Mer Calm" She was never sick again....Good Luck

 

[tcm]

Good point: what\'s \"rough\"?

Yes, the first time at sea in a small boat, one doesn't know if this is "quite normal" or "quite rough", and it makes an obvious difference to seasickness.

A friend used to invite his friends and clients to come down to the boat, and bewailed the fact that pretty much whatever the weather, he felt he just had to go out. Perhaps that's what happened here.

 

[snowleopard]

don\'t b****r about...

with tablets, the spanish serve up stugeron in 75mg tablets as opposed to our wimpish 15mg. they work.

 

[rhinorhino]

I know it is a bit radical, but the profoundly deaf do not suffer from seasickness.
A quick bit of surgery on the nerves and you are free for ever. What was that you said?

 

[charles_reed]

You have my heartfelt sympathy because, like you I suffer badly from seasickness.

I did persevere, and found time and sailing single-handed have mitigated the scourge.

Some of my observations:
1. sailing single-handed definitely reduces the option of indulging yourself in being ill - I remember a crossing of Ceiregedon Bay in a SW7, which resulted in an inguinal repair because projectile vomiting is ompossible on an empty stomach. I did get across the bay and into Fishguard and the following day made it down to St Mary's tho' I did chicken out going into Porthcressa with no moon at LW Springs.
2. I have tried Stugeron (definitely works - you're seasick when you stop taking it and non compos mentis whilst you are).
3. I've tried those elastic bands round the wrist - they work as long as you have faith. Far better though to keep out in the cockpit with your eyes fixed on the horizon.
4. It wasn't till I met one of Cousteau's bebés in le Conquet, that I realised that it's commonplace - he confessed to having to be in his bunk for the first 36 hours at sea.
5. Like him I find that I'm only nauseous for the first 36 hours and, providing I don't get too tired and don't allow myself to dehydrate, it always passes.
6. Looking down, causes it and being below is a sure-fire road to being sick. The best purchases I ever made was a chartplotter which every hour records, Position, Log speed and distance run, SOG, wind speed, wind direction and COG (when it's connected to the fluxgate compass). This obviated the need to go below to write the log and check position, thus saving many breakfasts.
7. When you are being seasick, it's best to divide tasks into 20 minute phases - that's as long as you can go between bouts of vomiting - if you can rest and recover for about 40 minutes, you can move on to the next task.
8. That it's all in the mind is amply proven - when you get a real fright seasickness is soon forgotten.

So, it's really up to you - have you the stoicism to go through the inevitable nausea (remember you're not really ill, it's your silly semi-circular canals allowing themselves to be fooled).
It always passes, keeping yourself busy reduces the effect dramatically and a good flush of adrenaline washes it away totally.
The Yanks swear by Scopolamine, in a cutaneous patch - that's illegal in the EU and I don't like the increase in pulse rate and the other sympathatomimetic responses you get - that's definitely the most effective anti-seasickness remedy of which I know. If you really want to keep sailing but can't face feeling sick, get a few patches from the US of A and try them out.
Finally, the problem has reduced over the last 25 years, age does have some benefits apart from the pension.

 

[ponapay]

I\'m often sick, just be sick

and get it over with. Have a bucket handy BUT DO NOT STOP WORK - keep yourself active, look at the horizon, don't go into the galley (get someone else to cook while you are feeling ill), move around a much as you can (might be difficult in a 22 footer), be sick when you need to be - it only lasts a brief while, then get back to work.

I find after an hour or so (sometimes u to 8) I begin to lose the sickness and can eat normally and forget the bucket but it requires perseberance. I rarely use seasick pills but have used Stugeron effectively.

My cruising is mostly in the Baltic which can have strong winds but often with short fetches and steep seas.

Don't give in to it, perseverance is worthwhile.

 

[tonywar]

Speak to your GP and ask if he will prescribe you some Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine), it does work and it doesnt't leave you with a mouth like sandpaper.