Seasickness While Single-Handing

[Monteriano]

I have experienced nothing worse in my life than being seasick. As a young boy, my father would lower me overboard with a rope of course, and leave me in the water until I felt better. Usually 10 or 15 minutes. I always felt great afterwards and without problems during the rest of our trips. No drugs or pills ever helped me as much. Just a thought but would be hard to do if solo.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by zeehag

oops--i keep mine until it is dry and it still works--store it in an open air place--i keep mine in a net hangar in my main saloon-the hangar used to have onions in it !!!! and honey is sooo awesome in it--dried out ginger root is still good--kinda like dried out chiles!!!!-an dis availab;le almost everywhere--i even found it in usvi----

Yes, everyone swears by ginger for seasickness, and I keep a supply of "ginger stuff" on board: snaps, candies, tea, crystalized, etc.

But does anyone know WHY it works? Is there an expert in the house (pharmacist? nutritionist? M.D.?) who knows?

[capt_douglas]

The best solution is to not get seasick. A day or before I head offshore I'm taking the pills, eating light, and relaxing. Once at sea, I eat light for a day or so and slowly go off the pills.

If you're remotely susceptible then try leaving on a day when the weather is a calm as possible. The gentile movement can make the transition between land and sea faster.

Sometimes things happen and the seasickness goes away. I had major fuel system problems on one passage and spent a lot of time in the bilge replacing fuel filters. The seasickness took a back seat to safety.

I've also heaved to during one particularly severe bout several years ago. I lay in the cockpit and tried to keep hydrated, eat something without sharp edges, and take the pills. It was a couple of days before I was well enough to safely resume sailing. I actually felt a bit better with a double reef since the boat seemed to move a bit less.

If it's your first time offshore, then I'd consider seasickness a given. Those of us who singlehand regularily know what will happen to us so the chances of seasickness sneaking up on us is lessened.

Good point on the ginger pills. Thanks.

[blu]

Not into pills so can't comment on them. Been bloody crook once. Dead calm sea, no wind, only 20 mile offshore and I could not stop throwing up. Finally threw myself overboard and that helped. Yet to be sick in foul weather. Maybe I get too excited, who knows? Do know that head down doesn't help if queazy, nor does beer and rum, but at least I get a giggle out of it.

[ColdFusion]

Interesting thread and some great advice. Best thing that has worked for me is over-the-counter travel sickness pills. I've tried several brands over the years and they all seem to work.

I was once given root ginger, which had a mildly positive effect but now I can't face any food with ginger in it because of the association with feeling seasick.

[anjou]

Gotta stand on the bow and take deep breaths whilst looking at the horizon. Any thoughts of food or the slightest smell of bilge, nicotein or fish is the trigger to chunder.

[imagine2frolic]

Along with monteriano standing on thebow should work if you are taking on green water over the bow........i2f

[barnakiel]

I know many people who get seasick. I heard of some who are permanently seasick.

People I know who use things (pills, pads, bracelets, magnets, tantra, tai-chi, i-cing and feng-shui (ah- yes - and the ginger too) they say it is best to vomit, then eat light stuff only and drink tea before you get well (often - 1 or 2 days).

Drink a lot to avoid dehydration. Eat - you need strength.

Avoid coffee when seasick - it improves transportation of chemistry from the stomach through the blood to your body and brain - you may end up more poisoned than seasick.

b.

[cantxsailor]

Back in the dark ages of my misspent youth I worked the salmon trollers off the west coast of Canada. I found that it was certain foods that would make me feel a bit queasy. I have never ever been sea sick but I found that, although I could drink tea by the gallon, coffee was out. Cucumbers(skin on) and any kind of hard cheese were also a no go.

In those days I was a smoker and simply could not do it at sea but the first thing I did when I got to shore after off loading was have a smoke.

The skipper I worked with was a terrible puker for the first couple of days of every season, living on coffee and cigarettes until he got over it about 3 days out. Thank god for Kraft dinner.

He swore by tinned peaches. His theory was they are loaded with sugar which gives you a bit of an energy boost and if you had to puke them up they were soft and colourful and they didn't hurt coming out.

Hanging head down in the bilge, armpit deep in ice water, trying to unplug a bilge pump clogged with fish guts was as close as I have ever gotten to being sick at sea.

A hang over combined with food poisoning at the dock did almost kill me once however. Including having been shot, that was the most pain I have ever been in.

If thats what it's like to be sea sick I'll pass thanks...........m

[TikiCat]

Been there, done that. Stay in the cockpit steering if you can. Important that you puke into a bucket in the cockpit - do not hang over the side to puke. Dumping a bucket over the side is much safer than hanging your body over the lifelines while in a spasm of vomiting. No bucket handy? Puke right into the cockpit. Wash it down when you can get at the bucket. Just don't hang over the side. By the way, after puking, you'll usually feel better for a time. Sip room temp - not cold - water or ginger ale to stay hydrated. Have some favorite bland snacks in the cockpit to help keep up your energy. Try Wheat Thins or some such.

[LtBrett]

This is a real concern for me as my wife isn't much of a sailor and I am very prone to seasickness. Scopalomine works for me after about 2 hours. On short hops, I just suck it up. I always carry scopalomine on longer voyages. Last fall, I got caught singlehanding without my scopalomine and had a four hour bash into some rather steep chop. I carried a cup and dry heaved into it every five minutes or so. That was no fun at all. I haven't decided how to handle long passages. I have some tolerance to motion, but I know three things:
-Without a patch, I will be sick after 2 hours of steep six footers or higher;
-I tried to "get used to it" and ended up in the hospital after puking for a week straight;
-Scopalomine dries me out, making my vision start to blur and making me tired after using if for any longer than four days straight. I've tried every remedy out there, save for Stugeron.
By the way, I've found I can reduce the side effects of Scopalomine by cutting it in half. I apply it to the inside of my arm or torso just below the arm pit, then replace it every 48 hours.

So far, I've managed by either limiting the length of the legs I take and/or using scopalomine only when the weather is forecast to get rough. But singlehanding while seasick is one of my primary concerns and I plan every trip with it in mind.

Brett

[hellosailor]

"But does anyone know WHY it works? Is there an expert in the house (pharmacist? nutritionist? M.D.?) who knows? "
Yes, expert on seasickness here. The definitive clinical trials on most motion sickness were done long ago by NASA, the friendly folks who have so many basic problems with rocket science that they figure a disabled astronaut is simply not an allowable risk.

So NASA has tried everything, with plenty of doctors and labs and rocket scientists taking copious notes.

Ginger is a mild irritant, what is called a "rubefacient" because it dilates the capillaries and makes the skin "ruby" aka red. When you dilate the capillaries you increase capillary blood flow which in turn increases oxygenation to every part of the body.

Good oxygenation prevents seasickness. That's all part and parcel of why we are also told DO NOT DRINK for 24 ours before going out to sea, DO NOT SMOKE (the carbon monoxide lowers a smoker's blood oxygen level about ten percent), DO NOT INHALE DIESEL EXHAUST (monoxide, again, and petrochemicals).

Go if you are dosing yourself on ginger in any form--do it until you've got a rosy glow, that means it is at the maximum effective level. No glow? You're underdosed.

Ginger was used for thousands of years as a Chinese herbal remedy for this same problem. And before health food stores got into selling pricey capsules, we used to just buy bottle of ginger form the spice rack, and pack it into empty vitamin capsules, which can be purchased really cheap from a real pharmacy. (Or removed from "time delay" vitamins or other meds.)

By the way, NASA also found that even their phenergan "cocktail" only helps 1/3 of the folks who take it, no seasickness med is more effective than 1:3.

Brett? "By the way, I've found I can reduce the side effects of Scopalomine by cutting it in half. " Wrong way to use patches, any patches. If you cut them the medicine now can leak uncontrollably from the cut line and the dosage may be terribly uneven. The "medically correct" way to reduce the dosage is by blocking off half of the patch, i.e. cut a strip of the plastic liner material and place that strip under half of the patch, or under the middle of the patch.

Now, you have not broken the distribution mechanism, you have simply restricted the transfer to half of the normal volume. (Dosage.)

Same thing for fentanyl (painkiller), nicotine, anything using a "patch".

Or you can order an rx for "Scopace", 100 to the bottle, the same scopalamine but in small white pills. Adjust your dosage by taking more of less pills as/when needed. Way cheaper than the patches, and easily dissolved under the tongue, so you can't puke them up.

[s/v Beth]

So in your way of thinking, would an Oxygen mask be the best way to prevent seasickness? At sealevel we could boost the pa02 way into the supraphysiologic area.

[hellosailor]

I don't think your Valiant40 has enough carrying capacity to carry the oxygen tanks to feed those masks. And, even in pure oxygen atmospheres, NASA has had problems with motion sickness.

HELP reduce the impact? Probably. PREVENT seasickness? No one said that. Best way to prevent seasickness is to go mountain climbing. Or play golf.

[LtBrett]

[QUOTE=hellosailor;326455"By the way, I've found I can reduce the side effects of Scopalomine by cutting it in half. " Wrong way to use patches, any patches. If you cut them the medicine now can leak uncontrollably from the cut line and the dosage may be terribly uneven. [/QUOTE]

Yes, you are correct. However, this does work with scopalomine. Perhaps the initial dosage rate is increased or perhaps there is no ill effect at all due to the way the patch is made. I did check with a doctor and those were his conclusions. My highly informal "clinical trial" of perhaps a dozen or so people over three years showed no decrease in effectiveness of the scopalomine from 1/2 a patch, although it did start to wear off after about 48 hours. There was a noticeable reduction in side effects. Most people found no difference in placing the patch behind the ear or under the arm, the latter being the preferred placement so nobody would know they were wearing a patch.

Not following dosing directions on the label is risky and few doctors would advise trying it because of their liability. I can pass on my limited experience. Worth what you paid for it.

Brett