Sea Sickness

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Laundryman

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This is my first season sailing and i have been out maybe 20 times for a day sail. Ive been sick twice. (twice too many)seems worse when i heave to. I am embarrased. Is it a case of taking tablets just in case and if so, what do you recommend. Once i get the feeling its too late to take anything! Thanks
 
Seasickness is not nice at any time... there are lots of remedies on the market, what works for some doesn't for other's. personally I don't take tablets I find they don't work and make you very sleepy..

I swear by ginger. i find eating crystallized ginger, ginger snaps, ginger cake works well. you can also buy sea bands you wear on your wrist and special watches also patches from your doctor.

failing that sit under a tree.... seems to work.
 
Asking this question will like as not get you as many different opinions as contributers!

The short answer is that everyone seems to find something different works for them.
Best solution is simply to try them. There was an article about being in a liferaft for 24 hours where a new type of electronic wrist thing was given a massive thumbs up, I'd be looking to try that if I was in your shoes.

But you haven't told us what happens next? After being sick, do you carry on feeling awful, or is it like a switch and you're fine straight after?

I tend to be the latter, after being sick I'm almost always absolutely fine 5 minutes later. I keep having to remind myself this and stop fighting it, get it over and done with and enjoy the rest of the trip. That said I'm rarely sick these days.
 
I second ginger.

Also, try drinking fizzy drinks like diet coke (Yuk!). Brings up the gas.

If all else fails try eating a tin of pineapple chunks - tastes as good on the way up as the way down! - sorry!
 
First and foremost, there is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. I started sailing with the RNR and in those days the guy who ran their sailing was an old boy who was, it seemed, permanently groggy. He had been around the world three times and commanded the boat from the bench that sits athward the stern of the Nic55s, barking out orders between conversations with his maker.

Back then, I never suffered and later, when sailing with my rugby mates there was certainly machismo. I remember when my brother first suffered, there was certainly an element of hangover in there, but we teased him mercilessly, but it came to me eventually. For some reason I did not suffer at all for three years and then it hit me once. I've been sea-sick more often than not ever since. It doesn't bother me. I enjoy sailing enough to put up with it and I am to disorganised to do anything about it.

There are things you can do to mitigate it though.

First and foremost, if it bothers you, avoid sailing on a hangover. Most of my trips start with Friday night in the pub and we're hanging by the time we slip on Saturday morning. It really does not help.

Second, the pills are shown to help many. My preferance is a brand called Stugaron (sic) which seems to be known as sturgeon to many. I wish I was organised enough to take it an hour before breakfast.

That's the next one. Eat plenty. It seems to me that there is a direct correlation between the amount you eat and the amount you don't suffer.

Next, eat raw carrots. They don't help at all but it's good to know where the carrot in your offering has come from.

Finally, strawberry jam won't stop you being ill either but it will make it taste better!
 
If you are sick it rapidly leads to dehydration; top up your fluid intake with flat Coke, Lucozade Sport or similar.

I agree there is no worse feeling, for me it comes on occasionally when I am tired, usually at 4 am!t Try to avoid long passages immediately after a drive or busy working week.
 
I'm fortunate enough to go to sea at work as well, so my sea legs are usually there, although sometimes a bit wobbly.
Hunger has the same symptoms as seasickness for me, so when you feel an empty rumbling feeling, assume it's hunger and eat something. Something bland and filling, like a banana or a cheese roll is good. You may bring it back up again later, but that is better than throwing up on an empty stomach. Eat and drink regularly: as skipper you'll "do" the navigation each hour, so put the kettle on and pass round the biscuits at the same time. And if you do throw up, drink water (to remove the taste) and then try and eat something (nibbling a digestive works for me).
The only real cure is exposure: most people are fine after 2-3 days at sea. Daysailing, it took me 3 years to get used to the motion enough to go below in my own boat for more than 5 minutes to do the chartwork. Persevere, it's well worth it and it will get better.
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I don't know why but the line about carrots has had me in fits for ages. I now have a pain in my chest from laughing. From now on I will have a carrot before I go drinking.
Allan
 
I would second the suggestion of eating more. I don't get seasick but if I ever feel funny then it is hunger - hard to tell the difference initially - I never go sailing without a supply of flapjacks (my name is Roger and I'm a flapjackaholic) and bananas and always choc on board. Get stuck in.

If a coffee shop yesterday they had ginger flapjack - wow! Now that will have to put on the list. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Experience tells me to not be hungry or cold. This seems to work and I'm generally the last to actually feel too bad. Avoid strong coffee and stick to sweet tea.
When it gets really bad [ the weather] then work hard at keeping warm and well fed. Avoid excessive sugar, good dry biscuits, 'leek & potato cuppa soup' seems to go down well and stay there!
The hangover advice is good, just one thing too many for the body to cope with!
Persevere and build your confidence - that makes a huge difference
 
Some sound advice on here. A couple more things that I always find useful:

Keep warm - being cold makes you feel more miserable. So far as possible, stay in the fresh air; don't linger down below more than you have to. Finally, try to keep your vision fixed on the horizon: focussing on a stationary object seems to help. This is probably something to do with the fact that motion sickness is linked to your sense of balance, so you're fooling your body into thinking that you're not lurching around. Not very scientific, but you can probably see what I mean.

Don't worry: Nelson was notoriously prone to seasickness but very few people are chronic sufferers. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Oh lord yes, the best thing about being a known seasickness sufferers is a legitimate reason for someone else to make lunch! Avoid going below underway. Three minutes of it ruined a whole passage from Hamble to Torquay for me recently.
 
Ex RN, north Atlantic…..winter on the roof (submariners term) is enough to test anyone.
Suffered….Yes! but thankfully not severely.
Remedies:

1, Ships biscuits (equate to edible MDF) if you can get them. They tend to help settle your stomach and take your mind off the issue while attempting to eat them.
2, Plain bread (no crusts) with a very slight smearing of strawberry jam. This helps absorb digestive fluids, prevents straining your internals during serious retching…..and yes! it does taste much better on the way up. Or Farley’s Rusks as a more accessible option than the biscuits.
3, Do-Not! take fizzy drinks, and flat coke is only to help rehydrate if dehydrated. Sips of clean water and the above will help.
4, Do-Not! take alcohol or sail in heavy weather the day after a good session (You Will Regret It).
5, Medication is not recommended if you are soon to be on watch and require to be alert.
6, Cannot think of any reason why not to use any form of pressure point or modern electrical stimulation device.
7, There are two schools of thought out there but I believe it is a combination of psychological and physical.

So do not give in, keep yourself occupied/busy and use some of the above.
 
First time I went out to sea in a small boat was on a fishing trip and I was sick as a dog, now this was something of a surprise as I didn't think i suffered and I was about to join my first ship in the Navy.
Once on the ship (a fine county class destroyer) and first day out at sea I had the forenoon watch and felt really queasy, it was blowing a gale. Now an old hand hand took pity on me (so I thought) and told me that the cure was to have a jar of cockles and a can of coke from the naafi and sit in the middle of the mess whilst having them as it was midships there would be less motion.
I took him at his word and went for it, in no time at all I felt fine and have never felt seasick since.
I still believe though that it was a wind up and my misery was meant to be the messdeck entertainment. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
There is one infallible cure that works for everybody: sit under a tree.

Motion sickness is caused by the balance organs in the ear giving a diffrent signal to the eyes. If you are sitting down below and looking at something in the boat, your eyes are telling your brain that everything is stationary while the semicircular canals in your ears are telling you things are swaying all over the place. To solve the problem you have two options: either stare at the horizon so both eyes and ears are giving the same message or lie down and shut your eyes so there is only one input.

There are lots of medications available. Stugeron works for me and I'm never affected by drugs that are supposed to cause drowsiness. British Stugeron comes in 15mg doses and 2 taken 2 hours before the motion starts will help a lot of people. In Spain the dose was 75 mg per tablet!
 
Thanks for all the remedies, i am going to try all of them (one at a time) until i find one that suits me. I cant help thinking that 'flaming' has the answer. Get on with it , throw up then you feel much better. Whatever does work, i have a feeling it will be as much psychological as medical. Thanks
 
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