Seasickness

The guns?

You were a man-at-arms, a soldier?

you have never been sea-sick - Wow!

If only I had know about histamine earlier... years earlier...

 

The truth about Seasickness may lay somewhere between have it, or not. In the USN many of the crew were sick the first storm. After a couple of weeks, some had no more problems. Only 1 was flown back to USA. STAY away from ANY exhaust gas odors.

 

For one season I was hired as a bosun on a AC boat, a big one and the crew consisted of 15 lads including two girls. The owner/skipper liked to make long runs to England and Norway, often in reasonable bad weather.
Coming from Noraway one day, we hit a gale and the whole crew was stricken by seasickness and the girls and I had to do the work.
I believe from that time on I preferred to sail alone..... I could not cope with thos retching and vomiting animals.....

 

I think D'Artois is on to one of the 'cures' - keep busy. Keep your mind off the motion around you.

Like brother D'A I regularly worked up in 'hairy' seas (the Arctic Circle) with a crew of hairier Highland men. At the outset of each trip we would have a 'wee sensation'...a glass of single malt to settle the tummy. And from then on until landing it would be work, work, work. Even small jobs like polishing the brasswork, splicing, and net repairs. No time to get sick. Oddly - the 'worst' twinges came when we were back on shore...the lack of motion sent the head spinning for an hour or two.
Only had one man who suffered the odd twinge... the cook. And we knew when he was 'off colour' by the odd bit of carrot in the porage...

 

Aye Bergalia mon, ye've hit it on the heid. Keep busy! if ye dinna hae time to be sick ya winna - more or less! A wee libation afore ye sail helps too! Always thought porrage was suposed to have carrot in it, ain't it?

 

Only the vegetarian variety...

 

thanks for the explanation (awld) mate, be buggered if 'ee hadna explained that

 

Vitamin C not a cure

Went for a 10 hour adventure on a 25 meter, 100 ton, wooden ketch Saturday. We left Grau du Roi, France destination Marseille at 8:00. The wind was at force 4 and the the swells were 1-2 meters. We were heading straight into the waves and the motion of the boat was agreeable.

At 9:30 we cleared the last channel marker and headed for Marseille with the wind, swells, and curent coming directly from behind. Took my first pill of 500mg vitamin C. 2 minutes later I burbed and all was well.

Then we ran into the Mistral. Force 7, swells 2-4 m., with the waves that were rebounding off the shore. This gave a second swell that occasionaly we took on broadside. Everybody was not feeling well. I took several vitamine C, burbed and all was well.

Infact all was well until 2 hours after eating. I was wedged into a corner by the ventilators of the engine room, when the boat started rolling. We waves washed over the deck. I fumbled for the vitamine C, pop one in my mouth. Made it just intime to the lee side to be sick.

So, for me Vitamine C is not a cure all.

 

didnt know that sudden mistral comes as far west as marseille,
it comes from the mountains above cannes nice monaco right?
stormy weather i know but whish i was there.
so far for vitamins, carsickness pills help.

 

Nero - i am confused by what you report:

Sounds like it worked. You were not sick for hours or days.

It is best to let the Vit C tablet disolve under your tongue (easier said than done!)

I guess that was when the histamin was going into your blood-stream from your digestive tract. You have to watch your diet for histmin containing foods. It is the histamin that causes the nausea.

It sounds like you may need to take a half or one anti-histamin tablet 2 hours before your journey and then repeat approx every 4 to 6 hours. I have to do this for approx 3 days - then I am fine. Some people dont like to take anti-histamin tablets (heart conditions) therefore need to have vit c tablets handy. Or use both if you like, especially if you want to enjoy drinking red wine, eat chocolate, cheese etc on your cruise.

 

Hola, Hola, Grau Du Roi, under normal conditions it is next to my home port in France, can suffer from extreme mistrals.
Only force 7 and swells of 2/4 mtr, that's not a jolly ride.

Nero, there is nothing you can do - maybe best is to follow Bergalia's method and take a good dram (=whisky).

Very often, I have stayed in Aigues Mortes, 4 miles upstream the channel from Grau du Roi.

That corner of the med is infamous for it's forceful blows, specifically Cabo Creús
can be a very nasty supplier of the mountain winds. (Tramontana=Mistral)

When the winds come from the Alpes Maritimes, it will blow quickly a good Bft 9 - then you wish you wasn't borne.......I have hit it twice....

 

Sat by the Engine room vents doing nothing - come on man what do you expect, of course you were bloody sick!

Now if you'd been out working on deck you'd have no time for the luxury of sickness! got of yer bum and do something, if the brains busy the rest of the body is OK!

ain't no such thing as stress it's Lacking in Moral Fiber!

 

This trip was to test my ability to resist sea sickness. So, with all my courage, I drank several glasses of red wine and ate roast duck the night before. Breakfast, (lost some of my courage) was a cup of tea and two pieces of bread.

By 14:00, I thought the vitamin C pill would cure all. It was then when I was looking for a corner to sit in, that I tested the fumes of the engine room. smile

On this particular ship, there are no life lines or good places on deck to rest. Just being on deck qualifies as work. Hanging on when she rolls. Sitting down on the deck, one slides to the railing and back. literaly.

My wife (from marseille) claims the Mistral goes just to the moutain of Esterel ... a bit after Toulon. Marseille gets it real hard. It can blow hard enough to lift terre cuite (terra cotta) tiles off the roofs.

At Nice it is the "vent est" that can be bad. No "mistral" there.

http://www.ledonduvent.com/

this is the ship we were on.

Had the vitamin C under my toung as best I could. Large pills here about the size of an euro or quarter.

 

And that does include the odors of a Frenchman in the gally making "coque flotant" (Chicken floating in semi-melted butter). After a lovely sail (force 8) from Cherbourg down to one of the Channel Islands (upwind) all was well. Up until the oven was lighted...

A small visit to the windward side down in the harbour and some deep breathes later I was ready for dinner and slept like a baby.