What is sea sickness?
Essentially sea sickness is a form of motion sickness. There is no difference between being air sick, car sick and sea sick, it is all technically motion sickness.
Many different forms of transport can cause motion discomfort, with symptoms ranging from dizziness, fatigue and nausea to vomiting. These symptoms are collectively known as motion sickness. Each one of them can have a dispiriting effect on professional sea personal, especially when they have guests on board or they have a long journey ahead.
For most people being nauseated is just a matter of putting up with a little discomfort and can be quite annoying, yet for others it can have crippling effects.
What Causes Sea Sickness?
The actual cause of sea sickness is quite complex, and as I am not a medical expert, I will give you the short reason; Sea sickness is caused by repetitive motion that disturbs the inner ear and is related to the sense of balance.
Signs and Symptoms.
The tell-tale signs of motion sickness are paleness and /or flushing of the face, cold sweating, vomiting or dry retching. These effects commonly occur in the following order:
- Stomach awareness
- Discomfort
- Paleness
- Cold sweating
- Yawning
- Drowsiness
- Feeling of bodily warmth
- Increased salivation
- Nausea
- Vomiting
“Yachtie” remedies.
- Don’t get on a boat
- Sit under a tree
- Look at the dolphins
- Lie down
- Have a bacon sandwich
- Eat a lot
- Don’t eat at all, then you won’t have anything to throw up
- Sit outside in the fresh air
- The best place to be on a yacht is to sit on the aft deck in the fresh air according to an Amels project manager (and ex super yacht engineer).
Sea sickness is normally not a big deal; however prolonged lapses of vomiting, retching and dizziness can lead to dehydration and exhaustion which can result in a dangerous drop in blood pressure. So it is very important to take quick and effective measure against this.
There are three types of remedies, this are over the counter medication, natural remedies, and behavioural measures that can be taken to help ease this discomfort of this annoying condition.
Over the counter medications:
- Dramamine
- Bonine
- Nei Kuan
Wrist Bands:
- Relief wrist band
Behavioural measures:
- Reduce anxiety.
- Take preventive measures.
Personal recommendations:
I was lucky in the sense that I didn’t get really sick; instead I had to put up with a terrible headache and found the simplest tasks took all my efforts resulting in me feeling sluggish. On the occasions when I did succumb to the rolling and pounding of the ocean I found sitting out in the fresh air help a lot. Also, I found sucking on hard candy really helped.
