Mal de Mar

..the throwing up thing is all controlled by the inner ear, you've got three little bones in your inner ear, and they are called Shadrach, Meshach and Abed Nego.  They control hearing and vomiting, it must be one of God's little jokes.
"Inner Ear, you shall have hearing and vomiting as well."
Inner Ear: "No, no, no, not us, surely stomach--stomach and vomiting."
"No, you. I think it'll be fun..."

--Eddie Izzard, Glorious

People are often surprised when they find out that I suffer from massive motion sickness. The main question I get asked is: Then how can you sail?

Well, having severe motion sickness and being able to do something you love does not have to be mutually exclusive. It, like most things when you are on a boat, takes some preparation and planning.

First off—if you have a tendency to get seasick, you will know it. In my case, I get motion sick with EVERYTHING, always have. Even movies can send me over the edge and more than once I had to leave a theatre so I wouldn’t puke in my spouse’s popcorn.

Understand that you have a motion sickness issue and plan accordingly. Make sure you have the proper medications/patches/wrist bands ready to go.

Prepare your crewmates, make sure they know that at any moment you may be heaved over the side feeding the fish. Also, if you are the type of person who can get vertigo when motion sickness, make sure your crew mates know to immediately take over the wheel if you ask them to. I tend to get vertigo when we round up in HemiD, part of the reason is the high freeboard she has. Patriot doesn’t seem to be such a problem.

If you are on long haul trips, make sure you know what works for you and how it will affect your ability to take watch. I use a mixture of the lowest dose of medicine and my acupressure wrist bands. Too much medication and I’ll be groggy and/or asleep. It may not keep nausea completely at bay, but it does control it enough that I can perform my crew member functions.

In the case you do get violently ill, your crewmates will have to understand that the ability to function is not there at that time. Try to get yourself comfortable and stabilized and do not focus on how bad you are feeling. I heard from a fellow boater that when they go out to blue water, they have a plan that for the first 12 hours or so, she is completely out of commission and then she regains her equilibrium and is fine. They just plan for that.

Here’s some tips that I have acquired to help alleviate the joys of sea sickness.

Take your meds early. Also, pay attention what you take and how much, you might be surprised that you don’t need as much as you think, or you can taper off after a few days on the water. Watch your reaction to your meds, remember you want to be able to enjoy yourself, but not be so groggy you cannot perform your duties as required.

Be open minded to alternative means of seasickness prevention. Some people swear by this oil you can put behind your ears, I’ve never tried it. The acupressure wristbands seem to be helping me immensely because with them I only have to take one pill a day.

Get behind the wheel as soon as you can. We figured out one of the quickest ways to get me sick was for Tim to be getting us out of the marina while I played deck monkey stowing fenders/lines, etc. Now, Tim gets us out of the slip, and I motor us out of the marina while he stows stuff. I can start getting that motion of the ocean going.

Do not get into the seasickness trance, I don’t know how many times I get fixated on the bow of the boat bobbing up and down through the waves. Get your eyes up on the horizon, don’t watch the damn bow of the boat. Look for landmarks if you are close by or buoys if you are not and focus on a distant focal point. It really helps keep you balanced.

The night before you are doing a long sail, you might want to take into consideration any alcohol consumption. The last thing you want is hangover, dehydration and seasickness. Make sure you keep hydrated, we keep G2 packets on board for instant Gatorade.

When the inevitable curdling starts in your gut, try not to panic about it. I usually have my spouse watch the helm, grab some ginger ale, a few plain club crackers and I take a Pepcid. Seriously, Pepcid really helps that feeling.

Eat small bits of food during the day, don’t tax your system if you are feeling ill. I graze on trail mix, sometimes some meat/cheese rollups.

Get your rest, being tired makes you less able to deal with discomfort.

For those who get the honor of travelling with us seasick folks, here’s some advice.
Don’t treat us like we are invalids—your heart may be in the right place, but it’s the last thing we need.

PLEASE don’t ask every 20 minutes, how are you feeling, are you okay? The whole point of not getting seasick is not thinking about it.

If we do get very sick, watch out for us, make sure we don’t go overboard while heaving our guts out. Help us get our food/meds/water whatever so we don’t have to move around the boat too much.

Remember—there may be a time when you get seasick.

Also, if you are anchor, or on a mooring, and feel ill, get in the water if you are able to. That actually can get the feeling abated in a hurry. Or maybe it’s the cold water, who knows.

And also don't be surprised if things that SHOULD help alleviate the symptoms will make you worse.  Many people swear by ginger gum and GinGin candies, the taste is too strong for me will make my symptoms worse. Remember to figure out what works for you.

If you have been on the boat for several days, don’t be surprised if you find yourself getting seasick in your own bed at home. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to take Dramamine for the s/s Serta.

Most of all, remember that motion sickness and being able to go cruising are not mutually exclusive.  It just takes a different sort of preparation.