Sea Sickness

You've had all the tips: sobriety and plain food beforehand are essential, but by the time you feel naff it's too late to take anything orally. I hand out Scopoderm patches( available on prescription): stick one behind your ear and you soon perk up.
 
I'm nearly always sick at the beginning of the season, and find Stugeron very effective.

I fell foul of the continental sized Stugeron and they knocked me out, wasn't seasick though!

I experimented with quantitys over the years and would take a whole tablet (as bought from Boots) the night before and maintain the dose with a half tablet during the day. No drowsiness.

On JSSC cross channel trips the pills were handed out with the evening meal and lower levels of sickness were reported.(anecdotal as no blind test was done).
 
Another lifelong sufferer here, but still love sailing. Some extra points:

1. Get into oilskins and lifejacket/harness early.
2. On deck, hook on so that you can get to the leeward rail safely.
3. If taking extra pills when feeling queasy, dissolve them under your tongue, (don't swallow). Apparently this helps the body to absorb the chemical when the stomach is in revolt.
4. The electric wristband does work for me, but I need it on 4 or 5 which is quite painful!
5. For stomach calming food, try plain Pringles, one at a time. Keeps you occupied as well. I like Coke with mine.
6. And the one good thing about seasickness is that it stops the moment you reach dry land, so you CAN join the rest of the crew in the pub at your destination!!
 
Scopoderm or equivalent is probably the most effective for short-term use and apart from a dry mouth usually causes little upset. Its only disadvantage is that it seems to prevent the body developing tolerance to sea-sickness (usually about 3 days at sea) and is therefore good for single trips. Like most people, we use Stugeron when needed. It has the advantage that it tastes of nothing and you can chew one, which may speed up the effect.

Sea-sickness is certainly not psychological, unless you're one of those who get sick before they even step on board.
 
The 'throw up once and get it over with' school of thought certainly doesn't work for me. I've only had one bout of throwing up in 50 years sailing (as a result of sailing in a half boat in 30 knots of wind after 5 years of proper boats) and I threw up every few minutes for about 5 hours.
 
Once seasick - got a whiff of raw Calor gas, on an MFV trawling off N Kent Coast on a choppy night in '52.
Once airsick after a breakfast of herrings in oil, on a trip on a Barracuda 'in '49 or '50 doing formation flying and dummy dive bombing
Once felt v. sick lately for a while, on an escort boat with a cross-channel swimmer
My son was much more prone, but seemingly has overcome it.
 
Best cure ever given to me - sit under a tree!



In truth suffered for years - but seem to have got used to it! hunger, tiredness and fear all are easily mistaken for sea sickness. Try to eat even if you dont fancy it. Don't let it spoil your dream - it does get better!!!
 
I am guaranteed to get sick in choppy weather if I dont wear Sea bands from the outset, ie a few hours before arriving at the boat.
They really work for me, and dont make me fall asleep during valuable drinking time.
I also carry Kwels and Stugeron, for other folk to try, although, the Kwels are the worst for drowsieness.
 
In my experience, main contributors to seasickness are;

1/ Anxiety, will diminish with experience.
2/ Cold, as others have said, wrap up warm, lots of layers that can be shed/ replaced as required.
3/ Hunger, eat lots of nibbles, ginger biscuits, snack bars, apples, finger food you can keep in the cockpit with you (to avoid going below)
4/ Avoid going below, keep as near the centre of the boat as you can & watch the horizon rather than things around you on the boat. Helming (also already mentioned) is a perfect solution.
5/ Avoid alcohol, again already mentioned.
6/ Finally, avoid overfalls! Sounds obvious, but how often do we cut too close to or forget the existence of overfalls that create really confused sea states. Sail a few miles further in more predictable waves.

Good luck, it will get better. You may not be aware of it, but anxiety is likely to be the main problem, you are in charge and that is a big strain for newer skippers. As you gain experience, the anxiety will diminish and so will the risk of seasickness.
 
There have been some great threads on here over many years on this subject. My favourite was the one that mentioned cannabis as an option, and then went into detail on how to make cannabis cookies over many posts! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
You may get over this ailment eventuallly, but maybe not.

The only guaranteed method of cure for seasickness is to sit under a TREE until the feeling goes away.

I(mark) used to suffer really badly from the mal de mar and only got cured ( I still get it occationally now)by being on a ship in a Cyclone in Austrailia.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The only guaranteed method of cure for seasickness is to sit under a TREE until the feeling goes away.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not absolutely guaranteed. I once saw a Chinese junk with a tree growing in a container on the poop. I wondered .........
 
Don't know why you're embarrassed. It's amazing the number of professional seamen who get seasick sometimes. I fall firmly into the category of "I haven't been seasick YET" though I've felt queasy a few times, especially when below and there's petrol or diesel fumes about.

I reckon the trick is to find out what you shouldn't do - don't heave to if you can avoid it as you obviously don't like the motion, maybe some food sits heavy in stomach or you don't like having an empty stomach. One thought is that, apart from the change in the boat's motion, heaving to is usually associated with going below or at least not concentrating on sailing.

If I feel a bit dodgy then I make sure I'm on deck and looking forwards at the horizon and I'll often ask if I can helm for a while. If we're at anchor or not making any way I'll try and find something to do that will take my mind off everything else. I try to move with the sea as well, in other words I'll try and stay upright by moving my body and legs rather than hang on solidly with legs braced and roll with the boat.

The one thing that seems to be a constant is, when anyone starts to feel a bit rough, do everything you can to stop them just sitting there thinking about how they're starting to feel sick.
 
There was a Discovery Channel programme on this and the one thing that worked for the two experimneters was Ginger. I also have one of those expensive electronic devices that look like a watch and zap you every 4 seconds. It worked for me in all but the very worst conditions. I also know it does get better over the years.

Good luck
 
First sea trip of the season I use stugeron then ginger tablets are suffient after that for me I also stay away from acid type foods like tomato sandwiches which will usually tip me over.You can't buy stugeron in NZ had a friend bring some back for me I needed something good and non drowsy for solo passages, and these were recommended by a American sailer I know.
 
1. Never get hungry
2. Never get full
3. Never get cold
4. Avoid focusing on stuff inside the boat, especially below. (Chart plotter in cockpit is one of our best anti-seasickness acquisitions)
5. If safe to do so, pee over the side (see 4.)
6. Take stugeron before sailing and keep topping up
7. Boil kettle before setting sail - fill a flask and keep in cockpit
8. If you know you're in icky-territory (ie long bash to windward) fill tupperware box with sandwiches / snacks etc so you don't have to go below to cook
9. If crew feel bad - send below but must lay horizontal -
10. If you feel really bad consider going back - incapacitated skipper is a recipe for accidents
 
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