Seasick

When crossing from Chile to the Falklands, I mentally developed this blog.  It was too rough to write it down- I was afraid of getting seasick!- so I just filed away ideas. As soon as we arrived, I started writing my guide to dealing with seasickness. It's worth mentioning that some of this might work in a car as well as on a boat.

Part One-Avoiding Seasickness Altogether

One first step when you prepare for a rough boat journey is to take medications before departure. On Sila, we always start taking pills twenty-four hours before an overnight passage, sometimes earlier. Mama and Daddy take a medicine called Sturgeon. Mama used to do ear patches but switched over because of the unpleasant side effects. Rabbit and I take Dramamine. My parents don't use dramamine because it can make you drowsy, and they want to be able to stay awake for night watches especially. Personally, I really like to take dramamine right before bedtime on the first two or three nights of every passage on Sila because it puts me to sleep in rough seas.

If you are trying to avoid getting seasick, there are a few things you should and shouldn't do. If you can, avoid using the head (the bathroom) when it's rough, go before leaving if possible. Don't read or work on something that requires you to look down a lot. Don't listen to someone else who hasn't gotten such great advice yet, by which I mean, someone who's puking. Try to avoid cooking or whatever puts you at risk of overheating. Avoid diesel fumes as they encourage throwing-up. Sit in the fresh air and glance up at the horizon as much as possible. Play trivia or something that just requires talking, not looking at cards and things. Don't do dishes (I hope Mama reads this).

My definition of seasickness is being on the verge of or actually puking. If you are queasy, I don't consider it being seasick, and you can be saved. Get up in the wind and look at the horizon. Don't stare at one place but let your gaze slide along the horizon randomly. It may just be true for me, but staring at one place on the horizon isn't quite as effective. Another great trick is to lie down. On passages where I can barely use the bathroom without getting truly seasick, I can still read while lying down. If you close your eyes, I challenge you to go from feeling queasy to getting worse, it just doesn't happen. Also, if you are feeling queasy, but you haven't thrown up in the last fifteen minutes, you should eat something. On multiple occasions, I have sat feeling what I thought was seasickness until someone convinced me to eat something. Little nibbles of things like crackers or other plain foods can make you feel better instantly. And if it was not hunger, and you were actually seasick, then it's a bummer, but worth the try, believe me.

Part 2-What to do When You are Seasick

Even if you take all my precautions, there will be times when you are throwing up. When this happens, there is very little you can do. If you are puking, the best thing to do is keep a positive attitude. Always think positive things like: 'At least I tossed up those nasty vegetables Mom made me eat!' or 'Cool, I didn't know stuff digested so fast. I ate those crackers ten minutes ago and they are barely recognizable now!' or 'It can only go up from here!' Another factor to concentrate on is that whenever you puke, you should start feeling better for a few minutes. Take advantage of it. Get in the wind and look at the horizon, and the moment you stop tossing-your-cookies, move away from that spot. Seeing your meals again can make you add more to the puke puddle. After throwing up, swish out your mouth and spit three or four times. After your mouth no longer has stomach acid in it, swallow a little water.

Once you're seasick, you obviously want to get unseasicked. The easy answer is suck-it-up-and-deal, as Daddy says. The more appealing ways are go to sleep, eat a small meal, or throw-up. At the beginning of a rough passage, night time is my haven. Whenever I so much as lie down, my world straightens out and seasickness is gone. Eating a small meal or a handful of crackers can help to settle your stomach. It may seem like the last thing you want to do is throw up, but actually it can be one of the best ways to make yourself feel better. I know that when I am seasick, once I throw up, I am on the road to recovery.

Part 3-Tales of Seasicknes

These are a few stories related to seasickness, both from my experience and from stories told by other cruisers.

On Galatea, the boat we sailed in the summers before Sila, I remember feeling seasick while watching whales flap their tales, blow, and occasionally half-heartedly jump. At almost the precise moment a whale sent its tail into the air, I sent my partially digested sandwich into the air. Since then, I have always known that that particular whale was connected to me.

Our first overnight passage on Sila was about to commence as we sat in a rolly anchorage eating dinner. I was celebrating the fact that I had never thrown up while sailing in France. With a sudden twinge, I raced up to the cockpit, and tossed up my first few bites of dinner. A minute later, I was eating dinner happily, although annoyed that I failed to avoid getting seasick in France. Daddy was kind enough to point out that it was good exercise for the upcoming passage and, sadly, he was right.

In Ushuaia, we met a boat, Anna Caroline, for the third time. We had multiple dinners with them. At one such dinner, Weitze told us a story about his seasickness. He was chief-engineer on a Dutch submarine during the Cold War. Submarines roll like crazy in any sort of sea. They are round so they offer very little resistance to the swell. If you are prone to seasickness, as Weitze was, this is not cool. As engineer, he worked primarily in the engine room. He would crawl past the twin diesel engines, they weren't nuclear then, and the diesel generators to a little spot. Obviously this spot was flooded with diesel fumes, a no-no as I mentioned before, but there was one other key attribute to this little spot, it was the center of gravity or the point of least movement. To Weitze, the smell of diesel engines is associated with no more seasickness. Even now on a cruising boat, where the engine is not exactly at the center of gravity, working in the engine compartment is great for him. As I was writing this, I realized that it might be a good idea to mention that sounds, smells, and even sights can trigger seasickness relief as well as seasickness.

I hope this is helpful and saves you from learning all these things the hard way, like I did. - Porter