How many days...

[Cakeslovesbakin]

Hi

This is yet another seasickness query.
I am very prone to seasickness. No medication, bands, glasses, acupuncture nor cranial osteopathy work. I am tempted to try and become acclimatised by staying out at sea.
Q. How long on average does this take?
Q. Once acclimatised does one go through acclimatisation upon ever passage, seasonally or never again.

I would really like to hear from anyone else who suffers and has managed to work through the debilitating symptoms.

Many thanks

[thuss]

It generally takes me 2-3 days at sea to acclimate on passage.

Most people I've sailed with that get seasick (myself and my wife included) have seen a dramatic reduction in symptoms from using stugeron. It's the only thing that helps for me without noticeable side effects.

The acclimation only lasts for the passage. Once I'm ashore or anchored for a couple days I have to re-acclimate all over again.


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[skipmac]

Everyone is different. For me 24 hours is plenty. After that I am completely immune.

For my wife the minute we leave the dock she is as acclimated as she is going to get. If it's a calm to moderate day she is fine but even after weeks on board if it gets rough she has to go lie down.

[a64pilot]

Wife suffers mildly, for her two or three days, interestingly for her it can be three days or so spending days on the boat and nights on land. That is when we used to dive a lot together.
You could tell when she was acclimated, it occurred at the same time when she was taking a shower that when she closed her eyes that she had to put a hand on the wall to keep from falling down.
I don't know why, but after a few days on a boat, you feel like your moving (swaying) even when on solid ground.

Just from doing a lot of diving, relief from seasickness can sometimes be had for some reason by getting in the water. Don't wait until real sick before you do this though, get in the water when your feeling queasy.
Whatever you do, don't go below, and having a task helps too, driving the boat seems to help, I think partially as your looking at the horizon.
She goes through it every time, but the more often she is exposed, the milder the symptoms and the quicker she gets through it

Oh and on the home remedy, I've found a beer and saltine crackers just when you begin to feel slightly queezy helps, not a 6 pack, but just one beer, even if it's in the morning.

[tomfl]

I started boating around 1954 when my Dad moved to Miami and bought our first boat. I recall getting sea sick once back then. We were going fishing, got up at 3:00AM and I ate breakfast at a greasy spoon, the combination of lack of sleep and questionable food was probably the cause.

A few years ago I flew down to Mexico for a dive trip, got on a bus to get to a dock and then took the fast boat to Isla Mujeres and a cab to the hotel, got up the next morning at 5:00AM for the dive the first day and got sea sick. For the rest of the week I had no problem, but I did make sure to get a good nights sleep for the rest of the week.

Bottom line is if you are tired from travel, lack of sleep, strange food, or just excitement of an ocean voyage you are more likely to get sea sick than if going out in blue water is part of your normal day.

[Hud3]

It really does depend on the person.

I had a crew member who was very, very seasick for the entire nine day passage from Virginia to Tortola. He was using physician-prescribed Phenergan swabs (transdermal system) to no avail. We had to make sure he didn't dehydrate. Another crew was seasick for the entire passage from Bermuda to Virginia. Others have been able to get past general queasiness after a couple of days.

[J Clark H356]

I am 67 and have never been motion or sea sick and believe it is due to the way your brain processes motion. I was an Air Force Pilot and one of the very few in my pilot training class that did not get sick. My focus is always on the horizon, not on the motion. The motion moves your fluids in your inner ear. If you look at the boat relative to the horizon, it doesn't jive with your ear motion and the difference upsets your equilibrium and makes you sick. Look at the horizon and ignore the boat movement and your brain will recognize the stability of the horizon and you will get better quickly. If you have to, put a magazine or something under your sight line that blocks the boat from your sight and allows you to only see the horizon and not the boat movement.

My wife uses Dramamine, the patch and a wrist band. She is very sensitive and perceives the motion exactly backwards from the way I do. If she uses the patch the day before, she is fine, but if not, takes 2 Dramamine and an hour to relax her enough to go to sleep. For those of you who are susceptible, my simple explanation may make you mad, but try it. My wife tries, but cannot seem to get her eyes off the boat motion. I think it could be a learned skill to do so.


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[thomm225]

Looks like it's two days according to Richard Dana also. From Two Years Before the Mast:

Chapter II. First Impressions-“Sail Ho!”. Dana, Richard Henry, Jr. 1909-14. Two Years before the Mast. The Harvard Classics

Btw, if you are going to try and acclimate yourself be sure and get well clear of land.

I decide to catch the North Wind from a passing front to get home quicker near the end of my 5 day cruising vacation up the Chesapeake Bay.

First ,I barely made it out of the narrow 5 mile creek without being pushed out of the channel. I used my mainsail to help me get out. Once clear of the Red Number 2 and passed the Number 1 marker I thought I could go ahead and turn down but the water was still too shallow so I had to go into the maybe 20 knot wind for a while longer.

Finally I got clear enough to head south. The wind cranked up to between 24-28 knots for maybe 4 hours according to the data from a buoy I passed during the day. Wind was on the starboard stern quarter and the old boat was rolling back and forth, back and forth. Back and forth. Did I say that the boat was rolling? ...........Back and forth, Back and .............

I still had my main sail up but was getting that quessy feeling and didn't want to chance turning into the wind and going forward to take it down because if I gotten seasick I would still have to drive since the wind was pushing me in the direction of the low water which was about 2 miles to port and the boat was all over. I had to turn down on every breaking wave. I did this for about 6-7 hours eating 10 crackers and drinking three bottles of water.

Then I remembered I had some dramamine. Medications don't usually work but the bile crap was starting to come up by then so I reach below and found these chewable dramamine tablets. It said to take one for immediate relief and 2 for 24 hour protection.

I ended up taking the two and it was wonderful. I had a couple beers soon afterward as I was nearing my anchorage at Kiptopeke, VA. By then the wind had dropped down to maybe 12-15 but the waves were still quite large and it was hot.

I must point out one other thing. I heated up some pork and beans for dinner. I haven't had such a delicious meal in years. I was like this stuff is great!

[Zednotzee]

I think seasickness/motion sickness is like everything else. Most of us suffer some symptoms but eventually get over them. Maybe 10% never get sick, & another 10% never get over their symptoms. This is what I've gathered from speaking to a couple of Navy guys.

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[KMCMWilliams]

Sometimes just wearing one foam ear plug helps ease motion sickness for many.

[scuba0_1]

i use to get sick all the time. car rides boat rides roller coaster rides ect.... on long passages now i found a while ago to use Prevent Motion Sickness - Transderm Sc?p® - Clinically Proven Motion Sickness Patches. the patch lasts about 3 days and by then I'm acclimated. i haven't been sea sick since. knock on wood.

[Cakeslovesbakin]

Thank you. I will try this. Wish me luck. I am fed up with feeding the fish and feeling like death. )

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by J Clark H356

I am 67 and have never been motion or sea sick and believe it is due to the way your brain processes motion. I was an Air Force Pilot and one of the very few in my pilot training class that did not get sick. My focus is always on the horizon, not on the motion. The motion moves your fluids in your inner ear. If you look at the boat relative to the horizon, it doesn't jive with your ear motion and the difference upsets your equilibrium and makes you sick. Look at the horizon and ignore the boat movement and your brain will recognize the stability of the horizon and you will get better quickly. If you have to, put a magazine or something under your sight line that blocks the boat from your sight and allows you to only see the horizon and not the boat movement.

My wife uses Dramamine, the patch and a wrist band. She is very sensitive and perceives the motion exactly backwards from the way I do. If she uses the patch the day before, she is fine, but if not, takes 2 Dramamine and an hour to relax her enough to go to sleep. For those of you who are susceptible, my simple explanation may make you mad, but try it. My wife tries, but cannot seem to get her eyes off the boat motion. I think it could be a learned skill to do so.


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Try making her a set of Foggles, but in reverse?

[Cakeslovesbakin]

Thank you a64pilot. I will try what you suggest. All what you say sounds logical. Sadly I would not be able to continue this for days on end. I shall try the patches as suggested. Many thanks.


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[Paul L]

You didn't mention what meds you've tried before that didn't work. I'll second Stugeron as Thuss says above. For me it is God's gift.