Do you get seasick?
- Thread starter rgranger
- Start date
Guys,
I have a tried & true way of not having anyone on my boat get seasick.
For my guests, I always had Triptone & Dramamine on my boat.
When first-timers would come on my boat, my first question was always, "Have you ever been seasick?"
If I didn't get a definitive NO, I would suggest the above. Over time, I found that some folks still got abit drowsy using these seasick meds even though in non-drowsy form.
I did some fact-checking & found that in all of these medications, the active ingredient was simply antihistamine. This by itself can cause some drowsiness. Over time, I found that what worked the best was to use,
get ready for it..........
Alka-Seltzer Sinus, Sinus & Cold etc. all Non-Drowsy formulas either in tablet or capsule form.
I would have guests decide on these, or the Dramamine or Triptone. They would take it right away while I was getting the boat ready. I can say, that all who have done this, have NEVER gotten sick. I myself like the fizz tablets as they get to work quicker. I suggest taking only one at the start. They last 4-6 hours & if out longer, I suggest they take the other tablet for the return trip.
I also use Alka-Seltzer (1 tablet) when spearfishing/diving & carry spares for others. In this way, my sinuses are always dry & open as far down as 160 ft. This also works well for people that have a hard time equalizing.
They work.
CR
I have a tried & true way of not having anyone on my boat get seasick.
For my guests, I always had Triptone & Dramamine on my boat.
When first-timers would come on my boat, my first question was always, "Have you ever been seasick?"
If I didn't get a definitive NO, I would suggest the above. Over time, I found that some folks still got abit drowsy using these seasick meds even though in non-drowsy form.
I did some fact-checking & found that in all of these medications, the active ingredient was simply antihistamine. This by itself can cause some drowsiness. Over time, I found that what worked the best was to use,
get ready for it..........
Alka-Seltzer Sinus, Sinus & Cold etc. all Non-Drowsy formulas either in tablet or capsule form.
I would have guests decide on these, or the Dramamine or Triptone. They would take it right away while I was getting the boat ready. I can say, that all who have done this, have NEVER gotten sick. I myself like the fizz tablets as they get to work quicker. I suggest taking only one at the start. They last 4-6 hours & if out longer, I suggest they take the other tablet for the return trip.
I also use Alka-Seltzer (1 tablet) when spearfishing/diving & carry spares for others. In this way, my sinuses are always dry & open as far down as 160 ft. This also works well for people that have a hard time equalizing.
They work.
CR
Before any long multi-day run, we always got scopolamine patches and had them aboard .. folks who had a tendency for seasickness got a patch.. Not a bad idea to have anti-emetic suppositories aboard in the event a crewmember can't hold anything down during the first day.. We had one poor soul who had to be tied into bunk (to keep from rolling out) after becoming very sick. She did not use a patch..The suppositories revived her after a few hours.. It was a rough night leaving the mouth of the Mississippi River, with a stout south wind blowing against the outgoing current.. made some terrible almost-square waves that had three of the five crew crashed. The next day, those who'd declined the patches wore them proudly !
I haven't been seasick in a very long time. Last year when I went to Catalina Island when I went to shore I felt land sick and couldn't wait to get back on the boat. Kind of a reverse seasickness. This seems to affect me for about a day and a half when I get back to the beach.
I tell people it's like a ride at Disneyland and were going to move around just like a ride at Disneyland is just going to last longer LOL I found if you give the person something to do like steering the boat it usually takes there mind off of it.
I tell people it's like a ride at Disneyland and were going to move around just like a ride at Disneyland is just going to last longer LOL I found if you give the person something to do like steering the boat it usually takes there mind off of it.
If I have a charterer or guest aboard my boat even start to talk about queasiness, I put them at the helm. Once they're in sync with the motion all is good. Just like getting motion sickness riding in a car, the driver never feels ill. As a child. my dad would love to take us out for Sunday afternoon drives. My sister and I would have to sit in the back. He hated breezes so he would roll up all the windows. This was before AC. He would then light up a cigarette. Well it didn't take long before I was out the door heaving. Then, I would get yelled at. He never did put the two together. It was the same with boating, he never got sick but thought it was funny as hell when I starting chumming. BTW, in all my years of boating whether power or sail, I still succumb that scourge occasionally. In a power boat it is usually while at anchor fishing and taking my eyes off the horizon to retie or rebait and while sailing it usually occurs in a following or quartering sea. Sometimes it just occurs when I think about those Sunday drives.
Lots of great info here, but here's the answer to the OP's question! Most people get sicker quicker on a power boat - especially a slower one - than on a sailboat IF THE SAILBOAT IS SAILING, WITH SOME WIND! The difference is the motion: a (slower) power boat moves in a circular roll, like a cork, and that 3D motion is tougher for our brains to resolve. A sailboat that's sailing is usually held at a relatively constant heal angle by the wind in the sails, so it can only move in a flat 2D pitching movement, no rolling. Put a sailboat out into calm wind with big ocean waves or leftover lake waves from past wind, and it moves 3D spherically like a powerboat and more people toss! If you hear external halyards slapping against the mast, keep your eyes on the horizon!
BTW, most of us have the gene/trait that makes us sick if our visual and vestibular motion signals don't match, because it's SURVIVAL ENHANCING!! Especially (pre-)historically, if those signals don't match, it's very likely because you ate something that had spoiled, or was otherwise toxic! So the "smart" thing to do is to toss it before it kills you. We are the descendants of people who survived eating the bad mushrooms or meat, and we inherited their survival trait. (When I do get queasy, I feel a little better just knowing this!)
And it seems contradictory - but ISN'T - that being below makes people sicker, but taking a nap below makes them recover: Closing your eyes makes the sensory mismatch go away! But when you sit down below, your eyes tell you that you're in a stationary room, and your inner ear tells you you're moving around. So your inheritance tells you to lose your lunch because it might be toxic!
And fear vs. confidence is also huge, and reminds me of a personal experience: I was on an airplane flying from Toronto to NYC or Boston. Terrible rough flight. I was just taking the one flight, but it was connecting with a flight to Portugal, and most of the passengers were Portuguese relatives returning home after visiting family in Toronto for Christmas or Easter. A LOT of them spoke little English or French. When the nasty turbulence began, it was accompanied by serious announcements in both official Canadian languages, but NOT Portuguese! The linguistic correlation with cookie-tossing was ~perfect!
BTW, most of us have the gene/trait that makes us sick if our visual and vestibular motion signals don't match, because it's SURVIVAL ENHANCING!! Especially (pre-)historically, if those signals don't match, it's very likely because you ate something that had spoiled, or was otherwise toxic! So the "smart" thing to do is to toss it before it kills you. We are the descendants of people who survived eating the bad mushrooms or meat, and we inherited their survival trait. (When I do get queasy, I feel a little better just knowing this!)
And it seems contradictory - but ISN'T - that being below makes people sicker, but taking a nap below makes them recover: Closing your eyes makes the sensory mismatch go away! But when you sit down below, your eyes tell you that you're in a stationary room, and your inner ear tells you you're moving around. So your inheritance tells you to lose your lunch because it might be toxic!
And fear vs. confidence is also huge, and reminds me of a personal experience: I was on an airplane flying from Toronto to NYC or Boston. Terrible rough flight. I was just taking the one flight, but it was connecting with a flight to Portugal, and most of the passengers were Portuguese relatives returning home after visiting family in Toronto for Christmas or Easter. A LOT of them spoke little English or French. When the nasty turbulence began, it was accompanied by serious announcements in both official Canadian languages, but NOT Portuguese! The linguistic correlation with cookie-tossing was ~perfect!
You get used to it
when I started sailing as a teenager About 60 years ago I did get seasick. but by the second season my body had gotten used to the motion. Motion sickness is not the same for all people Some never get sick others get sick easier. most of us fall in between these extremes The good news is if you go to sea enough your body will get used to the motion. Here are a couple of tips Ive learned over the years from having a wife that was prone to seasickness. 1 If you feel yourself getting queasy dont go below stay on deck and gaze out at the horizon. 2 Sugar helps for some people It will make you feel better and finally Do not take seasickness medicine. It will mke you feel better , but if you get in the habit of taking it your body will never get used to the motion
Looking at the horizon works because your eyes see the same motion that your inner ears (and legs) feel, so there's no mismatch.
The only time I fell ill to motion sickness was when I was subjected to some aeronautical engineers diabolical mind and had to adjust a stall warning switch that was installed underneath a floor board that was only accessible by kneeling facing the rear of the aircraft and bending down and using a small screwdriver to make the fine adjustment as the pilot slowed to a stall. I made it fine through the first few stalls but eventually the sudden pitching down of the nose of the aircraft as the pilot recovered from the sudden loss of lift got me in a state of total overload of sensory mismatch. I announced in quick succession...that's good enough ...GET ME ON THE GROUND NOW!!!!...He made a quick descent...( which didn't help much ) and ten minutes later I was on my hands and knees beside a taxiway fertilizing the grass.