My lovely bride gets seasick, what are you doing?

[mtc]

not a way to spend the day.

what have you found that works? She tried the band zapper - works a little, but still is not having too much fun out there. . .

maybe it's me making her sick. . .

sheet in!!

what are you doing@!

MOVE

i don't feel good...

Move, baby, please?

[richandlori]

My wife gets a little queezy now and then....heck I even got queezy for the first time when I was out with Bruce going to Anacapa Island and back when I went below to make us lunch. I had to get back in the cockpit quickly, so Bruce had to settle for a bread, cheeze, and three meat sandwhich with out the avacado, lettus, and roma tomato! The same thing also happend to me last weekend when I was down below....weird though because I rarely get sea sick??!!??

I plan on having the admiral (and me) take something prior to our next boat trip jsut to play it safe, so any good meds or commercial brands that have worked for others would be great info to pass on.

Rich

[Sloop John B]

Mike,

We've been over this before. First thing is to initially stay out of those swells. Pick a flat day to break her into this. Maybe a lot of flat days.

Anybody down below in the swells is going to barf. Keep her up topside. Give her the wheel. Give her a target or a course. You tend the sheets.

For me, I get nautious doing dipsy doos in airplanes. The guy tells me it's because I am scared. Well, hull. I'd do a childhood sommersault and be physically paralized for about 5 seconds. Decided to to something besides flying for a living.

I hear there are pills for this.

Had some Annapolis types droop down into their rolling soup in the wardroom after having chosen their life's occupation. A couple hours down in CIC in a rolling sea was too much for me. Up to the bridge, hold on to the rail and watch the horizon. Oh hey, nothing to this.

Funny, but maybe others have expereinced this. A few days in the swells and you come in and you're walking down the pier, and you're walking so funny that you just about flip yourself off into the drink.

[Moe]

The simple wrist bands with pressure button ususally work for Barb, but different folks have different results with different preventative measures. Few do any good once it starts. One thing's for sure... keep her out of the cabin in rough water. Letting her steer can help keep her focused on the horizon.

Seasickness

--
Moe

[Catigale]

Im usually the most susceptible to 'mal de mer' and confirm the following

double dose of Dramamine works wonders for me
stay up top, facing forward, looking at horizon
Give sick crew the helm - the feedback helps the person overcome the pitching in their head

and on a personal note, Ive found if I go the lifeline and 'gag up' it clears my head very effectively.

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

I routinely get seasick very easily. Wrist band didn't work. Dramamine made me sleepy. It's one of the disadvantages of sailing. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, IMHO.

[Rolf]

You get seasick when you don't have enuff to do, or when you are trying to do something too detailed up close, like working on the outboard in a good swell(same as reading in a moving car). I sometimes get seasick on my own boat the first day on after a while, then always feel like a million bucks 4 hours later, or the very next day boating, whichever comes first. The Mac is pretty stable compared to some 40 foot deep v hulls I go out on, where the rocking seems amplified.
Rolf

[mtc]

Fortunately, I've been blessed with no problem here. I do feel real bad when she's down, because there's little I can do. The more I ask her if she's ok, the worse she gets, which is why I don't ask her. Then she thinks I don't care; you guys know what I mean?

It's much easier to prevent than to stop, that's for sure. When she goes down below, that's all she wrote.

That dog won't hunt.

So, once she can keep the boat on course and not veer off leaving the crew at risk, Ill try keeping her occupied at the new 22" Schmitt Destroyer SS Wheel ( )

Yowza!!! Nice, real nice.

I could use Benedryll like I did the night Ivan came charging through. . .

[kmclemore]

Try anything with ginger in it - ginger ale, ginger snap cookies, etc. It's an old sailors remedy for sea-sickness and it really does work. See here for a study on the subject, as well as some other suggestions.

Also, if she uses glasses for distance, be *sure* she uses them whilst above decks. The motion, combined with the fuzzy distance vision, is a killer. My son wears his while travelling and it has virtually eliminated his motion-induced illnesses. Also, keep her looking forward as that may also help.

I also agree with Rolf, in that if you keep busy, particularly if you are controlling the motion and direction of the vehicle (driving or piloting), it will prevent much of the sickness.

[Tom Spohn]

We have had great results with the wrist band. We also keep ginger ale on board for those with a touch of Mal-de-mer that is not yet too serious. Reed's is great. The best luck we have had is the advice given above by Sloop John B. Give her the wheel and tell her to steer to a spot on the horizon and to keep her eye on it. Seasickness is caused by your eyes and your ears telling your brain different things. If you are below your eyes say you are not moving, but your ears tell you different. As stated above this is the quickest way to get sick for susceptible folks. If you can fix your eyes on the horizon it will help a lot.

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

In addition to the wrist band, and dramamine, I've also tried the ginger snaps and ginger ale, without success.
While working as a longshoreman at the Port of Milwaukee, years ago, I was getting motion-sickness while working in a railroad car that was not moving at all.
All I could see, besides the sky, was the ship, that we were loading, going up and down. Mentally, I thought something as big as that ship couldn't be moving, the RR car must be moving.
I would climb out of the RR car and look at the warehouse on the other side, to convince myself that I was not moving. Then I would go back down and go back to work.
Fifteen minutes later, I'd be feeling queezy again, and have to climb up again.

[Moe]

The bays can get pretty choppy, you might start her out on the lagoon. Keep in mind you're forming initial impressions that will last a long time... if it means sacrificing good sailing days for calmer water at first, I'd do it, even if it also means motoring.

Dramamine works too well for Barb... knocks her out cold.

--
Moe