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Old 10-12-2016, 06:51 PM   #1
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Sea Sickness ? How do you avoid it?

I do not own an ocean going boat, but I do fish out of Half Moon Bay CA and Berkley CA twice a year or more on half or whole day charter boats.

My most recent trip was memorable in that without exception everyone on board, less the captain, the hand and myself were heaving their guts over the side and green faced in the cabin, with no fishing going on.

Why was this?

Myself, I do not take any magic medicine or patches. What I do is as follows.

I refrain from any alcohol the night before. I eat a reasonable dinner the night before at an early hour. I drink lots of water.

The morning of my trip I usually eat Oatmeal with Walnuts, and a large slice of Cantelope. No Caffeine.

Once on board I pay very, very close attention to the design of the ships exhaust system. I make it a point to avoid the chance of breathing ANY Diesel exhaust. Even if I have to bundle up and ride in the bow.

Fresh air and no Diesel fumes, those are my cure all's to sea sickness

My last trip out of HMB there was a bad boy biker type guy, being an abnoxious loud braggart on the rails. He and I were seated port side outside along the Captains helm.

Once he began puking into the wind and water off the wonderful waters of Frisco. I decided I needed a beer and a sandwich. I shook my Budweiser and popped it and made certain there was a bit of a spray and dug into my side dish of Peperocinis. RALPH!!!!!

So what are your remedies to avoid sea sickness? (Hopefully you recognize some TIC)
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:00 PM   #2
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There is only one true 100% remedie for sea sickness that is to sit under a tree.

I feel your pain
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:05 PM   #3
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Every time I've exited the Golden Gate (participating in lightship races 12 miles out), I got seasick. I now avoid the sickness by staying inland of the gate or traveling on a stabilizer-equipped ship of at least 800-feet in length.
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:09 PM   #4
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IMO, it's all about frequency. Never been sea sick. Probably average 100 days per year on a boat, for the last 40 years. IMO, you body adapts if you do it enough. Have had customers who would get sick every trip. The more they went out, the less often they got sick, till it finally stopped.

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Old 10-12-2016, 07:11 PM   #5
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I found the best cure was just to get really sea sick once
Like I mean bad not just a one or two chucker
I mean puking till nothing else comes up but dry heaves and you have trouble breathing

After that never got sick again
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:30 PM   #6
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Boats which are fishing often anchor over a reef where fish might be. The swells heap up on the reef, the boat rises and falls a lot but is held by the anchor, lots of people get sick.
Tablets do work, why not try them. Ginger is said to work too, but not sure in what form. You usually quickly get used to the ship`s motion and the problem goes away, without (further) medication.
Vomiting is sometimes called "chunder" in Australia, a word coined by comedian Barry Humphries(aka Dame Edna); the origins are said to come from seasick people on upper decks of ships warning those below using the cry "Watch Under". I don`t believe it.There is a story of Barry Humphries on an airplane eating using a fork from a can of Heinz Russian salad which was concealed in an airsick bag. I do believe that, it`s in his biography. A number of other passengers then made real use of the sick bags, and he was banned from the airline.
Try the tablets. We used them not so long ago on the Victoria ferry. They worked,and those who refused them came to regret it.
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:33 PM   #7
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When we took that boat from Seattle to Stockton, CA, I got seasick for the first time in my life.


We stopped overnight at a harbor in Eureka and walked to Costco. They had some "Travel Sickness" pills that fixed the problem.
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:42 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sea Q View Post
I found the best cure was just to get really sea sick once
Like I mean bad not just a one or two chucker
I mean puking till nothing else comes up but dry heaves and you have trouble breathing

After that never got sick again

This, did a south trip from Long beach to Mc Murdo on a 283 ft Ice Breaker... I barfed for 3 days straight laying in a mid ships rack with a bucket around my neck... That was almost 50 years ago haven't been sea sick since...
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:43 PM   #9
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This is what I do before going on an expensive charter or trip. $1 worth of pills to save a several hundred dollar trip.

non drowsy dramamine
1 pill after dinner the night before
1 pill before bed
1 pill an hour before leaving in the morning.
Good for the whole day.
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Old 10-12-2016, 07:52 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ka_sea_ta View Post
This, did a south trip from Long beach to Mc Murdo on a 283 ft Ice Breaker... I barfed for 3 days straight laying in a mid ships rack with a bucket around my neck... That was almost 50 years ago haven't been sea sick since...
Was she a Wind class breaker? Or the Glacier?

My belief in seasickness is mostly genetic and exposure. I think some people are predestined to motion sickness and anything may aggravate it or mitigate it.

But as Ted pointed out, for the vast majority of people, exposure to motion generally acclimates one towards motion.

Things like diet, smells, sleep, staring at the horizon, etc...etc... may or may not work from one person to the next.
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Old 10-12-2016, 08:36 PM   #11
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I am one of the lucky one who is almost never affected by motion sickness. There has been one or two occasions where I've felt a little queasy on the boat after a big celebration the previous night, but that had very little to do with being on board a boat.

My wife also has no problems with sea sickness. It doesn't seem to be genetic though, as both of our children do get sea sick occasionally if they don't take dramamine.
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Old 10-12-2016, 08:38 PM   #12
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One advice about sea sickness is to look at the sea and take amgood breathe. Looks stupid said like that but often people are sea sicked because they stay onboard talking with each other and looking inside the boat. It is like being sick while you read a book in a car instead of looking outside. You get sick because there is a difference between the movement your body is feeling and the information your eyes are sending, basically not moving like your body think. When you start feeling sea sick, try to look at the sea as much as possible to see the movement that your body is feeling instead of doing something inside the boat so while not being able to see the movement.
Not sure I say it right but don't know how to explain it in a better way.
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Old 10-12-2016, 09:52 PM   #13
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I had this girlfriend that would get sick if I hit a jonboat wake. She gradually got better but still got terribly sick offshore.

I came up with a strategy: I told her we are going out the inlet, but as soon as you feel bad, just tell me and I will head right back in.

It took two trips and she was fine. I think it boiled down to control. She knew she could control the problem by getting me to head back in, which I did straight away.

This came from me never getting queasy when I was at the helm. I occasionally do get queasy on other peoples boat, mostly if I have a cold or flu symptoms. But at the helm I know I need to be sharp and never felt bad. Even if everyone else is "chunkin".

BTW, that girl was a nutcase and we long since parted ways....
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Old 10-12-2016, 10:35 PM   #14
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The best way to avoid seasickness is spending time at sea.

As others have said, you get over it.

Light aircraft motion sickness is worse. I started taking pilot lessons and was miserable. A thousand hours and ten years of float plane flying and I never even got queasy any more.
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Old 10-12-2016, 11:18 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by High Wire View Post
This is what I do before going on an expensive charter or trip. $1 worth of pills to save a several hundred dollar trip.

non drowsy dramamine
1 pill after dinner the night before
1 pill before bed
1 pill an hour before leaving in the morning.
Good for the whole day.
First trip, always dramamine. I think it's important that those new to it, have a seasick free trip to improve their mindset. Stabilizers definitely help and starting newcomers in good conditions.

Now, we haven't had any seasick guests, perhaps just lucky. We also are sticklers for diet the night before and morning of.
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Old 10-12-2016, 11:53 PM   #16
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In my experience with being underway, prevention is absolutely the key for people who know that they get sea sick. Dramamine or other anti-motion sickness pills are great, but they do not do a good job of stopping sickness once you are already sick. You need to start taking them the night before as others have suggested. Another option are scopolamine patches. I know that the doctors in the coast guard prescribe them to some of the guys on my cutter, and they seem to work pretty well. each patch lasts for a few days, and a lot of times once the patch wears off you have acclimatized to being underway and may not need to apply another patch. Maybe not as practical for day trips, but definitely good for spending extended time on board.

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Old 10-13-2016, 12:11 AM   #17
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One advice about sea sickness is to look at the sea and take amgood breathe. Looks stupid said like that but often people are sea sicked because they stay onboard talking with each other and looking inside the boat. It is like being sick while you read a book in a car instead of looking outside.
I second that.
Staying outside, fresh air rain or shine, midship area, staring at the horizon.
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Old 10-13-2016, 06:06 AM   #18
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Years ago, someone explained to me that there were basically two groups of people when it came to sea-sickness.
One group is "externally focused" and needed to be able to see/focus on the "horizon", as they needed a reference point.
The other group is "internally focused", and can't see the horizon because it reinforces the motion.

I was never bothered by it on our boat, as I was always at the helm, with something to do. My wife, when it got a bit snotty, would go below to our cabin and lay down and take a nap.

I'm sure that would have pushed me over the edge, just as she was sure that if she spent another minute being able to see her surroundings, she'd be over the edge.
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Old 10-13-2016, 08:23 AM   #19
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I use meclizine. Works great for me. But that's me.

The thing about seasickness is that it affects everyone differently. There is no one, universal cure that will work for everyone (other than sitting under a tree for two hours). What works great for one may be no use at all for another. So each person just has to figure out what will work for them.
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Old 10-13-2016, 08:46 AM   #20
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I have great sea legs, but the problem i have is when i'm on land. Elevators, driving up a hill, getting on a plane about kill my ears. I do not know how land people do it...
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