Sea Sickness

[Rhubarb]

I'm going on a fishing charter this weekend.

I suffer from chronic sea sickness.

Last time I only fished for 30 minutes of the 8 hour trip. The rest of the time was spent holding onto the rail. I didn't vomit but I felt incredibly sick.

The fishing is great so I really want to go but I don't want to get ill again.

I've tried Sealegs, Paihia Bombs and Ginger Pills - nothing works.

Does anyone have any fool proof sea sickness cures.



I'm sorry this is not Motorbike related - but I might go for a ride when I get back.

[Mort]

From http://www.seasickness.co.uk/

Prevention


You can often avoid seasickness by staying busy and keeping your mind occupied. Any activity that will keep you above decks and focus your mind on anything other than the swaying environment will help. Staying in fresh air instead of in a stuffy cabin may help.

Take deep breaths and drink plenty of water. The worst thing that you can do is go below decks with no land or horizon to look at.

Reading or staring at an object will assuredly bring on the affects of seasickness. Keep your senses, particularly your eyes, working flat out interpreting the motion of the boat and the waves.

Find a haven on the boat where the motion is at its minimum and which allows your eyes to gaze at the horizon. On a large ship try and face forward. Your peripheral vision is an important factor keep it out on the horizon but do not visually lock on to it.

Let you brain adjust to this unstable environment by allowing the horizon to act as a true point of reference.

If you can, try and eat lightly and avoid fatty or spicy foods. Try to stay warm, relaxed and comfortable. Try to sleep at the appropriate time and allow your brain to recover. Spending valuable leisure time in bed isn't fun, but a prone position could alleviate some of your symptoms. If possible try not to lie down in your cabin, instead find a deck chair and get some fresh air as well.

[duckonin]

I'm going on a fishing charter this weekend.

I suffer from chronic sea sickness.

Last time I only fished for 30 minutes of the 8 hour trip. The rest of the time was spent holding onto the rail. I didn't vomit but I felt incredibly sick.

The fishing is great so I really want to go but I don't want to get ill again.

I've tried Sealegs, Paihia Bombs and Ginger Pills - nothing works.

Does anyone have any fool proof sea sickness cures.



I'm sorry this is not Motorbike related - but I might go for a ride when I get back.

This is the best advice for you "don't go" you will only cause others grief..Sorry but that is the way it is, I gave the same advice years back to another chap he went anyway, we were over at Mayor Island, this bloke did turn green he had been dry reaching for 24 hours we had a two day charter which we had to forsake, to keep this chap alive we headed back to Tauranga

[vifferman]

Good stuff, Mort.

Seasickness comes about because your brain can't cope with the conflicting information from your inner ear ("We're moving about a lot!") and your eyes, if you're looking at something (like the boat) that seems to be stationary compared to you.
Being above decks also helps to minimise the conflict between the two sets of signals, if you focus on something that can give your brain a true visual reference point. Ideally something that's not too far from the boat, like an island is good, otherwise the horizon will have to do.

Fresh air helps (if the boat's a diesel, try not to be near wherever the exhaust fumes go), and so does minimising the rolling movement of the boat by standing up and absorbing some of it with your legs, particularly if you do this in conjunction with using your eyes fixed on a reference point.

The biggest thing is it's all in your head! Not just the eyes/inner ear thing, but also your response to the resultant nausea - Don't dwell on it! Don't think, "Ooh... I feel queasy..."
That's where the "keep your mind occupied" comes in.

[CookMySock]

All of the above, as well as carry some quickeze with you - it seems to take the edge off it, unless you cant stand the crap, and then it will just make it worse.

I tend not to eat at all before boating. Take a sandwich with you, and eat a LITTLE bit of it if you feel peckish. Drink a little water, but dont over do it.

Also carry a bottle of ginger ale. I don't subscribe to this "ginger prevents sea sickness" thing, but this is how I use it ;

Your guts will give you a warning about 20 seconds before it signals you that you want to puke. If you are alert, you will notice a burp for no reason - well there IS a reason and you are about to discover it, so VERY QUICKLY get the lid off that fizzy drink and swig about half a cup of it. This trick I have found tends to suppress the urge to puke, if it comes to that. Repeat as often as necessary.

Steve

[vifferman]

VERY QUICKLY get the lid off that fizzy drink and swig about half a cup of it. This trick I have found tends to suppress the urge to puke, if it comes to that. Repeat as often as necessary.

I know ginger helps, but wouldn't the fact it's fizzy make you burp more, and increase the likelihood of a burp turning into a chuck?

[Rhubarb]

This is the best advice for you "don't go" you will only cause others grief

If it was a two or three day charter then I wouldn't go.

I'm paying for my staff and some customers to go so I need to be there.

Even though I felt really shit last time I made sure it didn't impact on anyone else. They still caught 260 fish between the 12 of them and they had a great laugh watching the boss be ill. They still rib me about it to this day.

I've just bought a couple of Sea Bands which work on pressure points so I'll see how they go.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions.

[firefighter]

As someone who lived on a 50ft ketch for 8 years then served 5 years in the Navy, I consider myself a bit of an expert......

1. Ignore the drink water shit. I've tested this old merchant trick and it's true. You will be feeling fine, drink a gulp of water and it sloshes around in your stomach, and you puke.

The trick is minimal water intake the day before and gentle sips when needed.
Those of you about to wank on about dehydration-this will be avoided by not spending the day barfing.

2.Take some 1cm2 cubes of ginger, when you start to feel ill, pop one in and gently chew......it will go against your sick stomachs instinct, but just do it.

Gingernuts are ok and plain no salt crackers.

3. Take the helm, especially if it's rough, look at the horizon, stay on the weather deck etc.

Ignore me at your peril. I've helped many young ratings with this advice, who firstly listened to the retarded medics advice and drank up the day before, ended up on a drip, then tried the way i've mentioned and were fine.

[Sidewinder]

well why go if you get sea sick?
sound kinda silly to me lol

[ynot slow]

Mind over matter.I was on the Interislander years ago,was the worst sailing that year(and was labour weekend Monday)so our trip was last as the weather kicked in.Had a huge night on piss,and feeling seady a few of us spent time at the bow and outside,was good when in the harbour but the open strait was fun.

Can you head out a day or so prior and even better on a good day,maybe the brain will think shit this is ok,realise time factor to do this may be against doing it.

[Trudes]

I spent a week on the Spirit of Adventure when I was younger and was 1 of 2 who didn't spew (the captain even chucked... that was funny!)
My advice: Stay outside, preferably as far to the middle of the boat as you can get: taking the "wheel" is a good idea if you can as it gives you something to do: watch the horizon or like someone else said, an island or something that is not on the boat. I don't know anything about eating or drinking, personally if I was only out there for a few hours and was feeling a little green I wouldn't eat or drink anything, but if you feel ok I'd go for dry bread or cabin bread crackers or something similar and sip a little water. Those sea bands are good, I got a pair when I went sailing but didn't need them so lent them to someone else.... the other person who wasn't sick.
Good luck and hope you have fun!

[Dooly]

Kwells, from a chemist.

I know several people who have tried it all and Kwells has been the only one that works, and they have been using it for years now, and never any crook probs.

[Usarka]

It’s not nice but if you blend ginger, raw liver and carrot juice and drink just before getting on the boat you‘ll be grand for about 6 hours.

[vifferman]

Mind over matter.I was on the Interislander years ago,was the worst sailing that year(and was labour weekend Monday)so our trip was last as the weather kicked in..

Heh... reminds me - back on 24/08/1979 (no, I don't have a good memory - it was the day before my father died), we were returning from a skiing trip in the Sarf Oilund. Apparently, the weather had been atrocious, and the ferry sailing we took was pretty bad - we could hear stuff falling over in the galley, plates smashing and the like, and the ferry stunk of vomit. We'd been up since 5:30AM traveling from Haast, alternating between sight-seeing and driving at crazy speeds to get to Picton before the petrol stations closed for the weekend. So, we were dog tired, and mostly slept on the couches as the ferry had few passengers. Apparently, after the sailing the captain reckoned if he'd known just how bad it would be, he would've stayed in dock.

Traveling from Calais to Dover last year on the ferry we had gale-force winds on the English Channel. We'd missed out on lunch at the cafe - I queued for 25 minutes, only to have the person before me order the last of the pies I was going to buy.
I was really pissed off, and hungry as we'd driven for hours from Paris to get there. So, we went to the restaurant, and had a proper cooked meal, which was blardy expensive. Meanwhile, the ship's banging and crashing throught the waves, and the old tummy was starting to feel a bit queasy, so I was worried about seeing our expensive lunch all over again. Luckily, despite it being a crappy old tub, it didn't roll about too much (must've had stabilisers), so we were fine.

[phill-k]

If it was a two or three day charter then I wouldn't go.

I'm paying for my staff and some customers to go so I need to be there.

Even though I felt really shit last time I made sure it didn't impact on anyone else. They still caught 260 fish between the 12 of them and they had a great laugh watching the boss be ill. They still rib me about it to this day.

I've just bought a couple of Sea Bands which work on pressure points so I'll see how they go.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions.

Don't go to sea

Take them to a racetrack - cars or bikes

If you must go get hold of some seasick tablets / or patches, start taking them 36 odd hours before departure, keep busy on the boat, and if none of that works drink a reasonably large amount of beer, so that when u do chuck you won't know the cause.

It's not a physical sickness ( the results are though) anxiety, along with the conflicting messages your brain are receiving are the cause, I don't suffer but have been inflicted twice, first was lack of sleep / anxiety, the second was on a 120ft superyacht weighing 110 tons pounding into a 30knot breeze amplified by a 2knot countercurrent, trying to sleep off watch and being literally tossed out of my bunk, even though I had one of the best, to windward and in the centre of the vessel. Even the skipper chucked but he choked on a drink of water - yr right