How many of you get sea sick?

[SkiDeep2001]

Psilocybin anyone? Uh, honey? where did you get those mushrooms from that you served with the steak Rob

[Russ]

Dramamine or Mescaline (the generic) work great for prevention as does real ginger capsules.

"MESCALINE"? Ummm... I don't think so. Dramamine is generically dimenhydrinate.

As for me, I find that Scopolamine trans-dermal patches work very well and have had no real side effects for me or my sons.

But hey, if you like psychedelic drugs, go for that mescaline!

I guess I meant "meclizine" or "Bonine"

Good thing I'm not a pharmacist.

[Hamin' X]

Whatever works, Dude. Like, far-out man. As for the other comment, I've been sailing for over 40 years and never been sick. Must mean I'm due.

~Rich

[SashasDad]

I've only been sick at sea once, that was on a cruise ship. I think it had something to do with Little Smokies and rum and coke. Not a good combination! I experienced both stages of sea sickness. Stage 1: You're afraid you're going to die, and Stage 2: you're afraid you're going to live!

[waternwaves]

I must be to lucky or scared.

I remember getting sick once on a ride called maybe the Zipper.......age 9 or 10........ might of had something to do with the people in the cage above me hurling their lunch in my general direction. I remember getting carsick in a sealed up stationwagon on a hot summer day with 5 kids and two parents smoking heavy, luckily I got away from all that, But then I learned to sail the hard way.......and all those upsets, broaching, falling off, pitchpoling and other assorted manuevers into very cold water probably inhibited my frequent attempts at disorientation. by the time I graduated to hobies in the 70's. seems whenever it got really rough......... I was generally freezing cold........I remember even volunteering to sit in the trap because it was normally higher and dryer.......then learning to fly, I was so scared originally, that I couldnt eat before or after training.

Now.......I spend most of my time on the boat trying to keep poseidon from reclaiming his own.......that I never seem to have gotten close to chumming.

I definitely found that when the waves which are crashing over the bow, clear the stern......I dont really have much time to get too queasy.......as fear has already started. and I have always been one to have to fight the paralysis of fear in dangerous situations.

Seems that my time on the rail is yet to come.
however, we have next the next 3 weekends scheduled for sailing. So, knock on wood........(insert your favorite superstition here)

[Highlander]

Well hot chicken wings , patatoe salad , macaroni salad , a nice bowl of hot chilli & fries with gravy wash down with a nice cold beer !!! settle in & hold onto the wheel & settle for a wee hot toddy of scotch when she gets cold & wet , Guess I'm one of the lucky ones got a cast iron gut !

J

[David Mellon]

When l was about 6 my loving parents locked me below in an old 40' sloop during a storm. I was fine until green water came in through the mast boot, I think I lost my lunch due to fear of drowning not being bounced off the bulkheads. Since then I've logged hundreds of hours at sea without misshap.
When I was 14 I crewed a 92' square rigger with a round hull, she rolled like a bowling ball. We used to pack the hold with boy scouts, turn on the Alpha 2 cylinder diesel and shudder our way to Catalina for 7 hours. The exhaust would pace the ship, like a cartoon smog cloud hanging over us. The lee rail would be a solid line of scouts the entire trip while we hung from the rigging laughing ourselves silly. Ahhh the memories!

[Scott]

I have sailed on mescaline. I dont remember much about the sailing. But the winged Giraffs that spoke poetry helped guide me past the blue squid that were trying to get me to buy into consumerism. (I was young)

Or something like that.

On Edit; I dont recall if I got sick or not.

[Laika 26X]

1979, USS ULYSSES S. GRANT SSBN 631, exiting the Cooper River SC into Hurricane David for a 72 Day submerged FBM deployment.
Water coming over the sail (aka conning tower) and down the bridge access trunk.
The GRANT was rolling 45 deg side to side (90 overall) with an 18 hr trip to the dive point.
I was assigned to trash duty hauling garbage overboard outside the 25 mile limit, they were cooking shrimp in the Galley.
One old salt ate, yes ATE, a cigar in front of me. (Navy hazing...go figure)
I was sick for three days, I prayed to every deity known to man. I am still paying for the promises made to God that day.
I was 17.
I have not experienced the "Mal-de-Mer" since that episode.
I'm not saying that I'm not susceptable; I simply refuse to feel it, period

"Sub" Ed Tordahl

[johnnyonspot]

Psilocybin anyone? Uh, honey? where did you get those mushrooms from that you served with the steak Rob

I have never been sea sick, thankfully, even after thousands of miles aboard a Navy destroyer and sailing the past few years. In the Navy they used to recommend saltines for seasickness, or a dramamine patch, aka pussy patch, before getting underway.

[KayakDan]

Never been seasick,and as far as I know nobody in my family gets seasick. I think it's genetic,as my family on my fathers' side were all Newfie fishermen. ( My great grandfather was killed by the boom on a family fishing schooner in Nfld). I love the ocean,always been attracted to it,even as a kid.
If I was going to get sick,a rough crossing on the"Ambrose Shea" from NS to NFLD many years ago would have done it. Big rolling seas,following a storm,and I'm one of 2 idiots standing up on the deck watching the water break over the bow of a 325 ft ferry. Went to breakfast the next morning-4 guys working in the galley and the place was empty. I asked the cook."where is everybody?Are you guys open yet?" He laughed and said "You're it. I hope you're hungry!"
Fortunately,the Admiral,who never sailed until she met me,and she comes from Ohio,also seems to be unaffected.
I feel for people who get seasick-it comes in 2 stages.
First-you're afraid your gonna die...
Second-Your afraid your not gonna die...

[KayakDan]

Well hot chicken wings , patatoe salad , macaroni salad , a nice bowl of hot chilli & fries with gravy wash down with a nice cold beer !!! settle in & hold onto the wheel & settle for a wee hot toddy of scotch when she gets cold & wet , Guess I'm one of the lucky ones got a cast iron gut !

J

Why does this not surprise me???

[c130king]

I got pretty bad sick last year sailing with Bastonjock on the East Coast of the UK. Greasy fish-n-chips combined with very rough seas (6-8 feet) and high winds (25-30 mph) did the trick. I think I ate about 1 - 1.5 pounds of food but I am pretty sure 3 - 5 pounds of yak/ralph came back up...great diet plan

I was pretty much in passenger mode. When I am driving I don't seem to get sick...too many other things on my mind.

Found the same to be true in flying. I got sick twice at pilot training. Once on my dollar ride (very first flight in T-37) and once in a T-38 after being down for 3 weeks with a cold...both times the IP was flying and I had my head down trying to read checklists.

Give the ill person the helm if possible and as previously stated keep their heads up and looking out.

Cheers,
Jim

[kmclemore]

Sea sickness (and all motion sickness) is caused by a very simple thing - the brain gets confused. Your inner ear, which provides balance to your body, is telling your brain that you are in motion. However, if you are not looking up and watching the horizon, your brain sees a discontinuity in the information it is receiving - the ear is telling it that you are in motion, whilst your eyes and other senses are not sensing motion at all. The brain then interprets this mix-up as a potential case of hallucinogenic poisoning (remember, our ancestors were hunter-gatherers and sometimes ate a bad mushroom or two!), and as such the brain then tries to rid the body of the poison by repeatedly purging the stomach until the problem resolves... and this can go on for days until the eye and ear are in sync.

That's why folks rarely, if ever, get sea sick while they are piloting the vehicle... their brain is not confused since ear and eye agree. However, those that go below, or those that are reading or doing navigation tasks, very soon get sea sick because they cannot regularly see the horizon and their eye and ear are in discontinuity.

The converse is true as well. If you've ever been to Disneyland and been in one of those 'virtual roller-coaster' shows where the surround-screen shows a scene of flying, a roller-coaster ride, or some other motion... even though you are simply standing or sitting during the show, many people quickly feel sick... the reason is that your eyes see the motion, but your ear does not - the discontinuity in the brain is once again being interpreted as a hallucinogenic experience as a result of food poisoning, and the body tries to rid itself of the poison.

[Doug W]

Once while on a double dive near an island in the western Pacific, we dove deep then rested and BBQ'd aboard a 40' Dive Boat. While we were down the waves had picked up with a short distance between crests. I was fine and enjoyed my BBQ...until a retched Japanese tourist shared her BBQ with everybody on deck in the most graphic, audible and 'odorific' way. Wasn't pretty. Like dominos, half on board ended up hanging over the side.

Generally, I don't get sea sick other than butterflies in the belly...ack...throat...