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How to cope with seasickness? Here’s what works for Lynn Terwoerds

Lynn Terwoerds — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:40:09 +0000

Question

I was wondering if you have any thoughts/comments on how to deal with and cope with seasickness.I have tried the scopolamine patch, ginger, the wrist band w/ electrical pulses, and now stugeron.

We sail our boat on the Puget Sound, and when on our boat I never get sick. However, when I have been on a sailboat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (with extremely choppy seas 6-10 ft) and on a larger boat (the Hawaiian Chieftain) off the coast of Oregon for a day passage in 20 ft swells, I have gotten seasick. Sick to the point where I felt it best that I go lay down and try to sleep for awhile. Both times it took at least 12-15 hrs for me to feel anything like normal. I have also gotten sick while out on whale watching trips.

What things can I do/try to help myself through this? Are there coping mechanisms I can try? We have had this dream to one day take our boat and sail from the Puget Sound down to Mexico, but this issue could seriously get in the way of our dream.

All suggestions/ideas are welcome at this point b/c I don’t know what else to do.

Thank You!!!
Rhonda

Lynn Terwoerds answers:

I’m happy to comment on seasickness.

I learned that sailing in Puget Sound was very different from the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the ocean. It’s all saltwater but that is where the differences end for me.

I jokingly call the Straits of Juan de Fuca the “Straits of Want to Puke Ya”. For me it’s about the sea state – on the coast and in the straits there is a swell and a different motion than what I am used to in Puget Sound. I don’t even need big seas to suffer from seasickness.

Here are some of the things I do before I know I’m either going in the straits or out on the open ocean:

- Stugeron has the least side effects for me so I try and take a whole pill the night before we leave so that there is some of the medicine in my body. Just before we leave, I take a half of a pill (Stugeron is scored and therefore can be cut in half. Just FYI, any pill that is not scored is supposed to be taken whole and not cut in half). My dosage is going to be different from others because I am very sensitive to medicine and usually only take half the recommended dose. You may want to take more.

- I’ve learned that if I am tired and dehydrated I’m sure to be very seasick. You can’t rehydrate your body the day before or the day of your trip. To be hydrated you need to start a week in advance. Also, be aware that coffee and sodas work against hydration.

- Another pointer on hydration – when I’ve done ocean passages, I hydrated with water and also a sport drink called Ultima Replenisher. I wanted to get plenty of electrolytes into my body because I knew that I would not be eating or drinking much for the first few days of the ocean passage. In the first few days of an ocean passage, the only time I can drink or eat anything is when I am laying down.

- On the day before and the day of my trip I avoid coffee, eggs, anything fatty or acidic. For example, if we’re going out the Straits in the morning, I would only have a banana and some toast for breakfast. I would skip the eggs, coffee and orange juice.

- John and Amanda Neal have had a lot of luck with taking vitamin C before passages. I haven’t had a chance to try this out but it makes a lot of sense to me. I think they use something called EmergenC (www.emergenc.com). You’re getting the Vitamin C in a drink which gets both water and vitamins into your body and neither has side effects. Again, just like hydration I wouldn’t start this as we’re leaving – I would start several days in advance.

Here are a few more seasickness related tips:

- When I am on watch (yes, I stand watch even if I’m seasick) I take our old lifejackets and put them behind my back to prop me up just enough so I am not flat on my back. This allows me to be in the cockpit and recumbent (laying down for me takes the symptoms of seasickness away). Then every 10 minutes I stand up and take a 360 degree look around and return to my recumbent position. At least I can stand watch this way and be outside in the cockpit.

- Getting your clothes off to get to bed can be awful if you are seasick. One thing I have done on Tethys is to stand at the top of the companionway looking aft at the horizon and start unbuttoning and unzipping so that when I get to my bunk, I slip off my clothes like a fireman. When I get up, I step into my clothes like the firemen do.

- We’re always tethered to the boat on ocean passages but it is especially important if you are leaning over to be sick.

- You can live without food but you can’t live without water. Even if you feel miserable, it’s important to take small sips of water. I rehydrate when I am laying flat on my back in my bunk.

- I used the scopolamine patch only once – it made me hallucinate! Stugeron is approved in the UK but not in the US. There is debate about side effects, etc. NASA does a lot of research on motion sickness but there is a difference between how the body reacts to meds on planet earth than when you are in zero gravity.

Lynn

About Lynn Terwoerds

I’ve done two passages both from Hawaii to Seattle, and I enjoy cruising in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. One day I plan to turn off my computer, throw my cell phone in the ocean, loosen the dock lines and go off cruising for five or more years.

Until then, I fondly recall that the open ocean is so beautiful it made my heart ache, and seasickness is a distant memory swept away by the wine dark sea.

More info (external links)

Seasickness – Avoidance and Treatment (Advice from Amanda and John Neal of Mahina Expeditions)

How do you cope with seasickness? Let us know.
Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

If you have a question about going cruising that you want answered, email it to: kathy@forcruisers.com – or join the next Women and Cruising webinar!

Shampoo and soap for bathing in salt water? More tips

WAC team — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:01:46 +0000

Question:

I am new to the cruising lifestyle and would appreciate your advice. I will be going to the Bahamas with my boyfriend soon and we plan to shower in saltwater in the cockpit then rinse in fresh water.

What soap works best for body washing in salt water?

What shampoo do you recommend for color treated blonde hair?

Pam Wall and Kathy Parsons responded here.
Here are 3 more responses to this question from readers of Women and Cruising and many comments, including a discussion on shaving legs aboard.

Dierdre Wogaman

Dierdre Wogaman in the Bahamas

I use regular shampoo and conditioner on my hair.

To get extra conditioning, I place a shower cap on after the conditioner is worked in. By having the conditioner stay on longer with out dilution, I feel that it must be better for my hair. Rinsing my hair, after my body, comes last.

By using a sun shower, we use less water than using the pressure water from the boat.

When I color my hair, I do everything in the boat and then climb down into the salt water to rinse. Therefore, I can use plenty of water to rinse. The last rinse is done back on the boat so I can do it with fresh water. I have a black colored towel in case I have not gotten all the color out of my hair; that way it will not stain the towel.

I have found that the liquid soap is easier to use on the boat, than bar soap, as it leaves less of a mess. No worries about the soap bar sliding overboard either.

Sue Lamar

I have found that Joy dish washing soap and a bar soap by the name of Kirk’s Castle (coconut soap) is very useful in salt water.

Only ones I’ve found to soap up in the salt water.

Sylvie Branton

Wherever you are, ask the local fishermen or their wives!

They always know what is the best local soap (and dish washing liquid) for salt water.

2 more reasons for having Johnson’s Baby Shampoo aboard (see Pam Wall’s response):

you can use it to wash your diving mask’s glass (does not make your eyes sting)
it is gentle on your hair and so is ideal when you must wash your hair frequently (either with fresh or salt water), as we do aboard.

Shampoo and soap for bathing in salt water? Tips

WAC team — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:56:03 +0000

Question:

I am new to the cruising lifestyle and would appreciate your advice. I will be going to the Bahamas with my boyfriend soon and we plan to shower in saltwater in the cockpit then rinse in fresh water.

What soap works best for body washing in salt water?

What shampoo do you recommend for color treated blonde hair?

Pam Wall

Response from Pam Wall:

I have spent a lot of time out cruising where fresh water was at a premium, and especially in the Bahamas! You lucky girl to be going there!

I always washed body and hair in Johnson’s Baby Shampoo. It is the best thing to use for sensitive skin as it will not give you any bad reactions if a little is left on.

I would wash and shampoo on a lovely beach, or from the boat in the water, and then thoroughly rinse in sea water, especially your hair.

IT IS DEFINITELY BETTER IN THE BAHAMAS for anything!

Then after I was back aboard I would take an old milk carton and fill it only half way (to conserve fresh water!) and pour over my head and the dripping fresh water would go over the rest of my body.

This is all I ever did and it worked really well! As a matter of fact, when home and bathing in fresh water only, I found my skin got very dry, unlike when in the Bahamas using mostly sea water and a tiny fresh water rinse.

IT IS DEFINITELY BETTER IN THE BAHAMAS for anything!

There is a new wonderful sea water soap and shampoo on the market called Savon de Mer. It is supposed to be terrific, but I have not had the opportunity to use it.

Kathy Parsons enjoying that clear Bahamas water

Kathy Parsons throws in her two cents:

I usually wash my hair aboard in fresh water, but when I do shampoo in salt water, I just use my regular shampoo for color-treated hair.

I have to use more shampoo than in fresh water, but it’s simpler, and I assume it washes out my color less.

More info

Visit the Savon de Mer website: www.savondemer.com

What do you use for bathing and shampooing in salt water? Leave a comment below or email us: kathy@forcruisers.com