Heeling!

[Poche]

Originally Posted by mglonnro

Cheers to all and thank you in advance for any advice you might have.

Cheers to you. I find healing of a boat exhilarating for awhile. On a long haul I loosen the sheets or shorten sail and do other things about the boat.

[sbmesafirstmate]

I get violently seasick and used several prescription solutions as I was convinced by drs that this strength would be required for my case. But those had side effects that I couldn't live with long term such as light headedness and vision issues. Eventually I found my miracle and it was a simple over the counter med: Meclizine. This is the main ingredient in some others like Bonine and Dramamine, but without the additives that make me sleepy - an issue for night watches. You can take it even after you start feeling queasy. I take one before we head out, pop another one if seas gets rough or rolly. I can take numerous pills during the day without any issues. It really was a miracle cure for me. Come in flavored chewable tablets that start up very quickly.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by johnmort

Scopolamine the patch that you place behind your ear works fantastic for the prevention of sea sickness.
Placed behind the ear 12 hours before sailing and worn for upto 3days, your body doesn’t know it has left dry land.

Scope is fine, unless you go blind!

Maybe that should be in the quote thread

Seriously, it causes some people very scary side effects. If you try it, do a dry run on the drug when you're at home. Wife tried it - put the patch on the day before we were going to head out, by evening she was violently ill and had to remove it. She was feeling well enough to leave the next day and tolerated a bumpy ride better than normal, so whatever remained in her system did seem to help.

[PlaneFun]

I suspect heel does exacerbate sea sickness. It contributes to the general feeling of disorientation when what should be flat is now leaning. Particularly when below. For me anyway.

I own a very wide, lightweight planing monohull. It heels much less than my previous cruiser/racer. You can make it heel as much but it doesn't improve speed. The cruiser/racer needed to be heeled to 25deg for maximum speed upwind. Wider boat more like 15-20.

The motion when planing is much more stable than when in displacement mode. No wallowing or rolling. Just a very quiet, stable almost stationary feeling.

I also think the faster motion of a light weight boat (mono anyway) is less sea sickness inducing. In the same way that a car with stiff suspension is less car sickness inducing than a car with soft suspension. I suspect because the motion the boat/brain experiences is closer to what the eyes tell it should be happening as a wave approaches. The lighter boat rises as soon as the wave hits whereas the heavier boat plunges into it and then gets launched out the other side. The light boat tend to ride up the the wave quicker and drop straight down the other side with less pitching. More closely following the sea surface.

The lighter/wider boat is less nausea inducing for me. Never tried a cat but think I should.

[Colonel Bob]

My wife used to get a little freaked when our Jeanneau 42DS heeled on an upwind beat. I installed a large bubble inclinometer on companionway jam and called it her "O **** Meter". I told her she could complain at 15 degrees or greater. Really cut the noise down!

[Shaneesprit]

Suggest you find your nearest CAT owner and ask him to take you all out for a sail and see what happens.
My CATs only a 25ft although it has plenty of space, you do notice it’s a small boat in waves, but you can place your drink on the cabin with the big sails out ( when the weather and see is being nice ) and then go and sit with your feet over the bow dipping your toes in the water with the waves, even better on the odd occasion the dolphins are playing.
Still not decided if I want a CAT or a Mono, I get jealous of the heeling, although I would just loose everything over the side lol

[Dave_R]

Not many people have discussed seasickness meds. I'm NOT a long-time cruiser, but AM a long time casual boater with a high susceptibility to seasickness. Here's a summary of my experiences:

-Scopalamine pataches--work great! A little side effect. Metallic taste in mouth. Snacks cure that...

-Dramamine--works, but I hate it because it knocks me out. Makes a zombie out of me.

-Zofran--My MD hooked me up with some--prescription only. Its an anti-nausea med for cancer. Works great, but only lasts 4 hours. If I forget to re-take--its all over.

Bonine--my favorite! Works great. Long lasting. Little to no side effects. Cheap as can be.

I've been out in some mighty bad conditions on Bonine and never been sick.

Hope this helps...

[crockell]

I can't talk from personal experience because I haven't been seasick, yet.
I have seen a lot of people get that way though and from my observations the cures are in this order;
- keep the horizon visible
- don't be nervous, cold or hungry


The above is easy to say I know.


For people, especially young kids, with no understanding of how the keel holds a monohull upright, I have had great success giving them the mainsheet for an hour.

- They will learn that heel is not something that 'just happens', and that they are in control
- You will go slow while they take control of the heel and feel safe, but don't get frustrated and soon they will get bored and want a little more speed.

- They will realise that a little heel is actually more stable than wallowing around.

- They are also out in view of the horizon, and they are 'doing it' not just a bored passenger.

- With two kids let one run the traveller if you have one, or they can take turns.


My 2c worth...



It worked with mine.

[Poche]

The slow rolling and slattering of sails seems to sicken most.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by crockell

- don't be nervous, cold or hungry

And don't get overheated / dehydrated either

[Lihuedooley77]

I am not going to read all of the responses.....

Suggestion, properly double or tripple reef the main before you even leave the docks. Roll in the roller snarler to a 100% jib, slide the sheet blocks forward for proper jib sail trim.

Slide the traveler down and Fall of the wind a bit to a close reach.

Have any of you and you family, taken a certified course on sailing taught by licensed captains. Are they even motivated to sail.

Frankly, it does not sound like the fun light is illuminated, and there might even be some fear creeping in there.

However...

With a family that really does not want to be there , gets sea sick, and has no love for sailing, the alternative is to :

Sell the boat, stay off the water, and get a nice large comfy . RV that does not heel or float. Keep the family together doing something that they all enjoy.

That might work for traveling adventures, There is a whole grand world of road trip adventures that are nature oriented if that is something you all could enjoy as a family.

There is always a plan, B, or C or D.
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As to sea sickness, lots of reasons for that horrible situation...

* Actual stress and anxiety, and being afraid with the vessel, fighting weather helm, heeled over, out of control, heading up, luffing up, backwinding, very uncomfortable, no really good way to support and balance themselves underway. Afraid the vessel will capsize .

* Medication.....some work, some do not. Scopolmine , pills or patches seemed to work pretty well, but not always. The patches were good for about 3 days.

* Staying up top side, and give them a job to do with trimming sails, watching for traffic, looking at the horizon or coastline, helm time. DO NOT GO BELOW DECKS.

* Adults, lay of the booze, even the night before. The morning of your sail, have a healthy breakfast, lay off coffee, soda pop, fruit juices, acidic foods, or an Overabundance of liquids.

For some people, a cup of coffee, and a pastry is about 100 % sure of spending some time checking the prop or feeding the fish.

Some people use ginger or wrist straps.

The fact is, somethings work for some people, and not others, Sometimes, nothing works for anybody.

You asked, now it is Your decision....we cannot make that decision for you.

[CATJAVA]

My experience: I am somewhat prone to motion sickness; winding roads, flying & being at sea. I’m 75 & it hasn’t changed too much from my childhood. I can get seasick on monos because basically I’m not comfortable. That’s why I chose to buy a cat after 4 years crewing on monos. Twice across the Pacific on JAVA and never been seasick. Like to be able to cook FLAT; no gimbaled stove. Like to leave everything OUT without having to worry about things falling or sliding when at sea. This makes inexperienced crew feel better because it’s more like what they know ON LAND!

Like some others have replied, you’ve got to feel comfortable & SAFE to enjoy being at sea. My definition of FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. That can be due to a lot of factors such as: Do u trust your skipper & trust your boat? Have you been told what’s going on and what to expect?

I don’t know how long your cruises are, but are they long enough for people to get their “sea legs?” When I begin a passage with landlubbers (not a criticism) aboard, I’ll usually take a couple of days in easy local conditions, maybe anchoring at night, to give them a chance to acclimate to the sea before going out to sea.

Last piece of advice. U need to sail on a multihull before u buy one. Some people don’t feel comfortable with the quick motion of a cat as compared to the slower roll of a mono. And if you’ve got more than 5* of heel you’ve got too much sail up!

Hope I helped u in some way. Evan on JAVA

[Carl-T705]

Maybe it's too late but I think you should have gotten a small sailboat and had family outings on lakes in the Summer where your family could master the workings of a sailboat and aquire a feel for boating, sailing . Maybe the feeling of a larger boat heeling gives the feeling of their entire world about to turn over. Then like skydiving, it just ain't for everybody . It would seem a modern day sailboat can sail flat even if you have to rig the the boat with storm sails to make the family comfortable .

[mglonnro]

Originally Posted by Carl-T705

Maybe it's too late but I think you should have gotten a small sailboat and had family outings on lakes in the Summer where your family could master the workings of a sailboat and aquire a feel for boating, sailing . Maybe the feeling of a larger boat heeling gives the feeling of their entire world about to turn over. Then like skydiving, it just ain't for everybody . It would seem a modern day sailboat can sail flat even if you have to rig the the boat with storm sails to make the family comfortable .

Yes, it is too late, and I thought we got the small sailboat

Anyway, the anti-histamine pills definitely seem to do some some good for the one kid who still has problems with seasickness, so that's encouraging!

We've been out here for over a month now, and they all seem quite happy with their boating vacation. They even (quite collectively) chose to depart from the straight line back home to make a (few days) detour and see some more places.

[chrisr]

are you visiting Åland in your travels ?

spent a wonderful few days there a couple of years ago. maritime museum is fabulous !

cheers,