Plagued with sea sickness

[Fr J Hackett]

Ff you want to change the orientation of the yacht one of the many things you can do and it's what johnalison indicated in post #9 ( I think ) is to put a rolling hitch with a longish line on the anchor rode and lead it back to either a midships cleat or stern cleat and adjust it which will tend to pull the boat around.

 

[ylop]

Some of my guests have reported good results with Kwells tablets for motion sickness. I believe you can get them in Boots.

One of the problems with any of the tablets is people convince themselves they will be “ok this time” and won’t need them. They only consider taking them when they they start to feel dodgy. Thats probably the worst time to go below and rummage in the medicine box. They take some time to work properly and if the vomit happens before that you are now left not sure if taking another would be overdosing. Thats why I prefer patches - although for best results you want to put them on before you even get on the boat.

 

[alan_d]

One of the problems with any of the tablets is people convince themselves they will be “ok this time” and won’t need them. They only consider taking them when they they start to feel dodgy. Thats probably the worst time to go below and rummage in the medicine box. They take some time to work properly and if the vomit happens before that you are now left not sure if taking another would be overdosing. Thats why I prefer patches - although for best results you want to put them on before you even get on the boat.

Yes. recognise the problem - Triumph of Hope over Experience (as Dr Johnson said of second marriages). I have found cinnarizine is most effective in preventing sickness for me, but it does have to be taken at least two hours before exposure, so no use as a recovery strategy. This means that I have taken many unnecessary doses before what turned out to be benign trips.

 

[Dellquay13]

Quite a while back, I, and the other competant helm, decided to take the anti seasickness pills for a long night passage. They were called Vomex (!!) We both experienced hallucinations over the trip, but only shared the experiences a bit later.

I once tried taking a double dose of stugeron to cope with a rolly anchorage and an early tide.
The next morning after a sleepless night I didn’t think it wise to tell the missus I could see a blue stackpack coloured Sloth hanging below the Boom as we set off for Kilmore Quay

 

[Sandy]

I can sail in rough seas no problem, but as soon as I put that anchor down and the boat starts rolling I'm finished.
Cooking anything down below is a no no, Last night was like hell on earth anchored outside Red Wharf Bay , no wind but never ending rollers coming in hitting the boat side on.
I tried the dinghy on the side and even put the chain through a front side cleat, so it went over the side,
I have read about a second anchor but I was not fit to mess about once I was done.
Sleep was the only temporary remedy and I still felt rough when I woke up.
On a positive not my 8 year old son really enjoyed the fishing and watching dad panting like a dog on a sunny beach leaning over the side of the boat.

Have you considered investing in a tent? Rowing ashore and camping for the night.

If you are lucky ice cream shops and pubs will be nearby.

 

[Klausen]

We use Meclozin and have good results

 

[StefanSG]

I too have experienced hallucinations after a particularly swelly night channel crossing, which led to many hours of hurling, at the time I put it down to lack of food and sleep, but another crew member gave me some “strong antihistamines” which she swore by. Nothing too alarming but I would have been useless on watch as I saw rocks everywhere, and saw waves turn into rocks..

 

[johnalison]

I too have experienced hallucinations after a particularly swelly night channel crossing, which led to many hours of hurling, at the time I put it down to lack of food and sleep, but another crew member gave me some “strong antihistamines” which she swore by. Nothing too alarming but I would have been useless on watch as I saw rocks everywhere, and saw waves turn into rocks..

That is similar to a sailing acquaintance who had to be taken off the helm, as she was steering an erratic course after medication in order to avoid the obstacles on each wave.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

Scopoderm patches. Pricey, but they actually work.

 

[johnalison]

Scopoderm patches. Pricey, but they actually work.

Very effective, and the drug used on D-day. As well as giving a dry mouth, its disadvantage for longer cruises is that tolerance to sea-sickness is delayed or prevented.

 

[ridgy]

If rollers.coming in then poor choice of anchorage. What was the forecast?

 

[Dellquay13]

I’ve been aboard now for a little over 48hrs, a lot of that time in the saloon, and no problem with sea sickness.

I am in the boatyard though, slapping the antifouling on…

 

[ylop]

Very effective, and the drug used on D-day. As well as giving a dry mouth, its disadvantage for longer cruises is that tolerance to sea-sickness is delayed or prevented.

I’ve wondered if the dry mouth was actually an advantage - encouraging you to drink regularly which in itself can help those with minor symptoms (and minor dehydration can exacerbate nausea). The flip side being that consumption of fluids make a visit to the head more likely and thus increase risk of being below deck in swells.

Interested by your comment about delaying tolerance. We might just have been coincidentally lucky but our experience was if used for days 1-3 (as intended) then symptoms did not develop on days 4, 5 etc. my guess was the pharmacokinetics of a patch based medication were quite slow and so even if you remove the patch at 72h you still have effects and get gradually weaned off it so unless it was really rough on day 4 you might be OK? But it’s definitely not a clinical trial, so interested to hear others experience. We dont do epic passages, so maybe its not the same.

 

[Rhylsailer99]

If rollers.coming in then poor choice of anchorage. What was the forecast?

Its not really an anchorage spot as there is no protection from the swells. In the future I will carry on to a different spot with some protection. Swells come in regardless of the forecast.

 

[Farmer Piles]

I am another one for Scopoderm - stick the patch behind your ear and they last for72 hours with the constant slow release of the drug. They have the same active ingredient as Kwells - hyocine.
The crucial element of any anti-seasickness drug is that it has to be taken ahead of going aboard. Listen to the Radio 4 programme; Sliced Bread. They delve into alsorts, but the one I heard was when they had a motion sickness expert scientist on and basically he said that the only effective method was over the counter seasickness drugs. The crucial element was the starting taking them ahead of time - from memory at least half and hour before boarding - but read the packet. I think that Scopoderm maybe longer because of its slow release.
Years ago I heard a former RN Sea Lord being interviewed on the radio and the presenter asked him that after so many years at sea, what his advice was for preventing seasickness?
He said, "Stand under a tree."

 

[StefanSG]

I did look up hyoscine and one of the side effects is confusion and hallucinations..

 

[Major_Clanger]

You have my sympathy. Rough weather doesn't automatically equal sickness - it's just a certain motion that sets things off. Nobody is completely immune..... Anyway, the line from the rode taken aft, as already suggested, is a good one but if that doesn't work then try a drogue over the stern on a fairly short scope. That should keep her head to the waves.

 

[Major_Clanger]

I did look up hyoscine and one of the side effects is confusion and hallucinations..

Which, ironically, are two of the major symptoms of seasickness!

 

[PCUK]

Stugeron works for me.

 

[johnalison]

Stugeron works for me.

I’ve always used Stugeron, though it hasn’t been a problem in recent years since plotters were invented. One advantage of Stugeron is that it tastes of nothing much and as a last resort you can just pop one in your mouth and chew it.