Sea sickness

[Paddingtonbear]

I am about to embark on a short voyage with Swimbo who has never been on lumpy water before. She has in fact a great antipathy to the whole enterprise but has bravely agreed to give it a go and share my interest in exploring the East coast. Both of us think that the absolute 'killer' will be both of us going down with sea sickness. Any one got any ideas to lighten our concerns?

 

[Billjratt]

Do you already suffer from this or is it(a worrying) part of "the dream"? Were you/she travel sick as a child?
If you are a sickie, you'll already have met Stugeron and ginger, if not, don't make it happen by dwelling on the problem.
Don't have any trace of a hangover on the day!

 

[oldsaltoz]

Having never been seasick in my life I would have to be the last person to advise you, however I have had to deal with a lot of people who suffer from it from time to time.

I suspect one cause is simply a fear of being further from shore than you can swim. I always take care not alarm newbie's with tales of doom.

I have found that if they have some music and only eat 'normal' food early in a trip that tend to settle down well, I also make sure they have familiar drink, be it tea, coffee or other and have plenty of ginger biscuits on hand at all times.

There are a multitude of medical potions that people swear by and I am sure they work for most sufferers and no doubt you will get a list of them from others.

My advice would be to make sure the person is relaxed, comfortable and confident.

Here's hoping this will be the first of many great trips.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[elton]

Lean over the side, empty your guts and you'll be fine.

 

[siencyn]

seasick blues

As someone who has overcome dreadful seasickness I think I can offer some general advice. First you have to find what works for you but nothing beats getting used to it. As slowly or as quickly as you like. The old adage about finding your 'sea legs' holds a lot of truth I think. Go out as often as you can, perhaps for short periods to start.
You should try all the remedies as some will work and some won't. I find Ginger works quite well for me but I seldom need anything now, unless I have to work down below in a blow. That can be a challenge! Try Sturguron tablets as a lot of people swear by these. Try the wristbands as that works for others. Some doctors will proscribe scopamine patches,if you ask them nice. These are anti emetic patches that you stick behind your ear and are used to stop you throwing up. They work very well for me when I first returned to sailing after years of torture in the Royal Navy. Good luck but don't expect too much in the way of miracle cures. it can be a long hard road to freedom!

 

[siencyn]

seasick blues

Sorry! I meant prescribe not proscribe of course!! Doh!

 

[Dockhead]

Don't let her go below when you're at sea! Have her sit in the cockpit and keep an eye on the horizon.

Don't forget that sea sickness is caused by conflicting signals to the brain from inner ear and eye. If your eye has a point of reference so that your brain can reconcile information from your inner ear, then you generally won't get sick.

I can't count the times that I've seen people who were perfectly fine in the cockpit become violenty ill within a minute of going below.

"Getting you sea legs" is just a matter of your brain becoming accustomed to the inner ear telling it that you are pitching and rolling. Then the brain doesn't get nervous -- suspecting you've been poisoned-- and start comparing this information with visual information from your eyes. Once this happens, then you can cook or do other things below without risk -- your brain recognizes that you are at sea, not dying of food poisoning.

 

[Poignard]

The only time I have felt sea-sick was after eating a greasy or strongly flavoured meal, or having drunk too much wine but I have never had to resort to any pills/patches.

It's pleasant to start the day with a good fry-up, or to have a big dinner and a lot of wine the night before, but it's probably worth avoiding if she's likely to be sick.

 

[Golf Charley]

There have been previous comments about ginger, a long held solution from chinese medicine

The US Navy did trials and found it to be 60-70% effective, provided it was taken a few days in advance. No drug exceeds this sucess rate

Go to your local health food shop, and buy ginger capsules. If the minimum quantity is 100, and you are on a 1 week trip, take 10 a day starting 3 days before departure

If you are on a weekend trip, take 10 a day starting 3 days before the trip, and save the rest for next time!

Have stugeron on standby, but it may make you drowsy,

Keeping people involved on deck, ie helming is also beneficial

 

[alan_d]

Having never been seasick in my life I would have to be the last person to advise you, however ...

He bravely overcomes his reluctance to say ...

I suspect one cause is simply a fear of being further from shore than you can swim.

Like airsickness is a fear of being higher above the ground than you can jump?

This is a topic which has been extensively discussed in this forum, and a search will disclose that much good advice has been given in the past. Unfortunately, this good advice is buried among a much larger quantity of anecdote, misinformation, misunderstanding, plain nonsense and in a few cases dangerous nonsense.

Motion sickness, of which seasickness is a subtype, is a topic which has been well-researched (particularly by the military) and about which a lot is known. I suggest you perform a Google search for motion sickness and select an authoritative source to learn more.

 

[Csail]

Actually just being sick over the side then lying down seems to work but your a crew member down.

 

[VO5]

You must both drink a litre of water every day before you sail (whether you are thirsty or not) because it is essential for the body to be properly hydrated before a voyage. You must do this for a week at least. Tea, coffee, orange juice, beer, or any other alcoholic or fizzy drink does not count.
You will not get seasick.
I know this is astonishing but it works.
Next thing...
Remain upright or lying down.
Crouching, kneeling, putting your head upside down for any reason (engine room, locker etc.,)is to be avoided.
The advice to remain in the cockpit is good but is useless if the above two rules for the avoidance of seasickness are ignored.
Greasy food before a voyage is not a good idea either.
I have sailed thousands of miles and only been seasick once, just by following these two simple rules.

 

[Liz_I]

I swear by Joy Rides, Sturgeron Tabs make you very sleepy. Chew JR, orangy taste and no need to take them 2 hours beforehand. Avoid tea & coffee! Warm water with a slice of ginger. Ginger biscuits are great. As soon as the person starts to feel unwell, make sure they lie down, knees up & warm and comfy. On the cockpit floor if necessary. An hours sleep works wonders. Yes, agree stay in the cockpit, don't go below. Most of all don't make them feel they are useless. It's fairly normal. The few that have never been sea sick I envy

 

[VO5]

I swear by Joy Rides, Sturgeron Tabs make you very sleepy. Chew JR, orangy taste and no need to take them 2 hours beforehand. Avoid tea & coffee! Warm water with a slice of ginger. Ginger biscuits are great. As soon as the person starts to feel unwell, make sure they lie down, knees up & warm and comfy. On the cockpit floor if necessary. An hours sleep works wonders. Yes, agree stay in the cockpit, don't go below. Most of all don't make them feel they are useless. It's fairly normal. The few that have never been sea sick I envy

A study was conducted by a German group to try to discover why some people are never or seldom seasick. They concluded lack of proper hydration is a strong contributing factor. The ratio is very low. They found only 22% do not suffer from the malady. Of the remainder all suffer from it, even if 32% of them do not admit it. They also found what I posted above, which has to do with unsettling of the balance in the ears, that crouching etc., leads to deasickness and in some cases to permanent affliction. They also found that it can take up to 5 years for the inner ear to return to normality if it is upset in this way while exposed to motion, so that sea sickness does not occur.

 

[Babylon]

My ex-wife once threw up in her bunk when we were tied to a pontoon! (It was a tad uncomfortable on the river, what with a bit of wind-against-tide.)

What doesn't help:
Fatigue, cold, de-hydration, caffeine, greasy breakfasts, hangovers, fear, staying below.

What can help:
* Stugeron (take the first dose the night before so the intial drowsyness is less of a factor, followed by the second dose no later than a couple of hours before you get underway the next morning);
* Ginger (caramelised from your local health-food store, something to suck on if you feel a bit green, and takes the taste if you've already been sick);
* Helming (the more you give people to do, to concentrate on above decks, the less they'll be effected);
* Sea-time (this doesn't help novices).

Whenever I feel seriously seasick, two things follow:
1. I resolve to give up sailing forever.
2. Once I've thrown up, I immediately feel normal again and withdraw my previous, hastily-made resolution!

 

[Csail]

I don't get it, but i get land sickness after a few days at sea so what stops that?

 

[guernseyman]

Don't let her go below when you're at sea! Have her sit in the cockpit and keep an eye on the horizon.

Good advice; better still let her take the helm, preferably steering by marks rather than compass.

Remember the outside possibility that she might be totally incapacitated by seasickness and that you would have to single-hand as well as do your best to look after her.

 

[sighmoon]

A lot of people seem generally fine, but get seasick when down below preparing food. So prepare food before you set off, and wash up after you get in somewhere. If you must be downbelow, watch the horizon through the open hatch.

 

[CreakyDecks]

Keep her busy helming, fiddling with sail trim, tidying decks, coiling ropes etc. The worst thing for seasickness is having nothing to do but sit worrying about being seasick.

 

[sinking-s!]

you can buy tablets from most chemists that will help with sea sickness, also i saw a guy at the boat show selling "power bands" which he claimed would help with sea sickness, anybody given that a go before?