Sea sickness

[dinosaur]

Good idea, Groundpounder. Sea legs are a great thing to have. But some folks need meds. Personally, I've never had motion sickness but I've seen some folks turn green and toss their cookies. It's not funny for them. I'll laugh about it afterwards, but when it's happening I'll help them the best I can.

[Flukeball61]

A tried an true method -- stay out of anything that moves. I know someone who gets sick if this bath water moves too much and some people will tell you that it is all mental and its all in your head. Well its not mental but it is in your head, it has to do with an imbalance in your middle ear that causes motion sickness, you can get over this with training or use the over the counter meds. or see a Doctor for the patches.

[ppine]

Dramamine is good, and some people like patches and armbands for this purpose. Fresh air and the ability to see the horizon help a lot. If you feel poorly the last thing to do is go below and lie down in a bunk. Go easy on alcohol and caffeine when at sea and the night before. Stay hydrated. Eat light easily digetable food. Start with shorter, easier trips to build your confindence so you can stay relaxed. Don't start with a 4 day tuna fishing trip.

Back in the 60s my Mom was at the wheel when we hit a submerged log, and had to be towed to a marina on Chesapeake Bay. We got a ride in an old Bay built diesel fishing boat across the mouth of the Bay around 20 miles or so across. The weather was rough, and waves hit us in the beam (side). After an hour or so everyone from the other family was seasick. No one in our family got sick because my Dad was in the Navy and taught us the above info. Hope this helps.

[Judy Ann]

Originally Posted by Bob

I'd like to take my grandson on a chartered deep sea fishing trip, but I'm concerned about sea sickness. Are there any tried and true ways to prevent it?

There has been a lot of good advice given here, however who is going to get seasick? Is this the first deep sea fishing adventure for you both? How old is your grandson?

I am hesitant to suggest medications to anyone that I have no previous knowledge of past medical history, especially a child. Would you take an aspirin just because you thought you might get a headache today?

I would strongly suggest some flats fishing or river fishing from a boat just to see if there is an issue with seasickness before heading out to the gulf stream and paying the big bucks and feeling horrible the entire time. I hope that everything works out because it is an awesome feeling to be catching those big boys!

[wvbreamfisherman]

Scop patch or drammamine generally help a lot. Ginger root (available in capsules ) has been shown to reduce motion sickness very effectively. I'm not very motion sickness prone, but the single best piece of advice I can give you is to keep your eyes on the horizon, or at least out of the boat. Once you get motion sick, it is very difficult to shake it off.

On the bright side- people only rarely die of motion sickeness...they just wish they could! ;-)

[ponderosa]

I have motion sickness in cars, boats (even on smallish lakes), amusement park rides, turbulent airplane rides, just about everywhere but the bath tub. Dramamine puts me to sleep for about two days. I've tried a special blend of essential oils called "Motion Ease," which was supposed to help motion sickness when rubbed behind the ear. It didn't work for me. Ginger tea helped my morning sickness when I was pregnant, but doesn't do a thing for my motion sickness. I haven't tried the patches. My best bet is usually to try to go to sleep at the beginning of a bumpy/curvy car ride. My husband nags me into going on his ski boat several times a summer. I'm OK if it isn't too fast or choppy, which hardly ever happens. Usually I'm just miserable. I hope your grandson isn't similarly afflicted.