20 tips to beat seasickness
There’s no cure for this debilitating condition, but there are plenty of ways to help get through it, explains Michelle Segrest
Overcome the dreaded mal de mer
You never forget your first time of being truly seaskick. As we left the wind shadow of Rønne on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, my belly began to boil as the 30-knot gusts and 3m waves rocked our 24ft yacht, Toja, from side to side, up and down, back and forth.
The queasiness was overwhelming – much worse than the flu, or food poisoning, or even a harsh hangover.
Even though the air was chilled at around -2°C, sweat poured down my face and my head felt like it would split in two from the pounding ache.
My eyesight began to blur, and I could feel the colour leave my skin.
I was sitting on the high side of the cockpit as Toja was heeling at about 25°.
“I’m about to lose it,” I heard myself say in a surprisingly calm monotone.
Then I quickly moved to the low side and emptied my insides with brutal force. I heard the D-ring clamp into place on my
life vest as the captain strapped me into the cockpit with a safety harness to keep me from falling into the frigid Baltic Sea.
Or, perhaps, it was to keep me from throwing myself overboard – which is exactly what I wanted to do.
I laid lifeless over the side of the boat for the next 10 hours until there was nothing left to exit my body but foul-tasting, burning, boiling acid.
I finally found the strength to let go of the rail and lie flat on my back on the cockpit floor. My head was right next to the locker containing the diesel tanks, and even though the engine wasn’t running, I could smell the fumes. This didn’t help my situation, but I couldn’t move. I felt paralysed. I could feel the dehydration set in as my calves and back began to spasm with knotty muscle cramps. I asked the skipper when the nightmare would end.
“When the boat stops,” he said in his usual stoic, matter-of-fact way.
Four hours later, we entered the channel to Karlskrona, Sweden. As promised, the rocking boat and my dilapidated body calmed as we entered the marina.
All of a sudden, I felt fine. Just like that. At the time, I had been sailing for four years, but this was my first experience with seasickness.
It wouldn’t be the last.
Sit under an apple tree
Since then, I have experienced epic battles with seasickness, including four days and nights of nonstop misery while sailing across the Bay of Biscay with 4-to-5m waves that never calmed. I have talked to dozens of sailors – experienced skippers and beginners – who regularly battle the debilitating effects of seasickness and have researched the phenomenon extensively.
It’s often been said that the only way to prevent seasickness is to sit under an apple tree, which implies that if you spend time at sea you’ll most likely get seasick at some point in your life.
Countless sailors have told me, “I’ve never been seasick… well, except for this one time when…”
I am now convinced that there are two kinds of sailors – those who get seasick, and those who lie about it.
Since the beginning of time, humans have battled seasickness. Ancient Greeks referred to it as the ‘plague of the sea,’ and famous sufferers through the ages include Christopher Columbus, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, and Charles Darwin. It helps to know that I’m not alone. “The misery I endured from sea-sickness is far, far beyond what I ever guessed at,” Charles Darwin once wrote to his father. “If it was not for sea-sickness, the whole world would be sailors.”
The Greek physician Hippocrates foreshadowed the current term, ‘motion sickness’, writing, ‘sailing on the sea proves that motion disorders the body.’
There is no cure for seasickness, but there are many ways to battle your way through it – pharmaceutically, psychologically, and naturally.
What is seasickness?
When I’m not experiencing seasickness, I’m fascinated by it.
According to experts, seasickness (also called mal de mer) is the reaction of your body’s inner ear balance system to the unfamiliar motion of the ship. The movement of the ship causes stress on the balancing portion of the brain. Your brain sees things on the ship such as walls and furniture and instinctively knows from past experience that they are supposed to be still.
But when you’re on a boat, everything is in motion. The air is moving. The sea beneath you is moving. And yes, everything on the ship is moving at least a little bit – even when you think it all safely secured. Signals to the brain get stressed and confused, and nausea sets in.
Seasickness often disappears within a few days, even without treatment. The
‘Famous sufferers through the ages include Christopher Columbus, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, and Charles Darwin’
brain eventually adjusts to this new environment, and the sufferer gets his or her ‘sea legs’. For me, it’s usually about three days of misery, and then I begin to feel fine for the rest of a long offshore passage. One sailor told me that his tolerance was 3m waves. In conditions less than that, he was fine.
Research shows that in addition to the balance of the inner ear, sinuses, blood flow, heart rhythm, hydration, and many psychological factors including nerves, excitement, and fear can contribute to seasickness.
The physical effects of seasickness are gut-wrenching, but the psychological element is valid too.
I have a friend who is a sailing instructor. She tells students that if they hold a potato in their left hand, they won’t get seasick. This mind-over-matter method works for most of them. If you’ve ever experienced seasickness, you’ll try anything.
Triggers for seasickness
For most sailors, these are the five primary triggers for seasickness.
Fear Experience helps with fear but remaining calm is essential, even in difficult conditions.
Food If you have an empty stomach, or if you eat the wrong kinds of food (like spicy, fatty, or acidic food), your tummy may not cooperate in a pleasant way when the nausea sets in.
Fatigue Be well rested before setting sail, especially if the weather is questionable or if it’s a long offshore passage with a small crew. Temperature Many people get more nauseous when it’s extremely cold or extremely hot. Try to dress in layers and appropriately for the weather and be prepared for temperature changes.
Hydration Stay well hydrated and avoid alcohol. Even if you continue to throw it back up, try to stay hydrated during bouts with seasickness. Even a few drops of water can help to quell the nausea.
Fighting seasickness without medication
There are many medicinal ways to battle seasickness, but none of them work for me. It’s important you consult a doctor to make sure pharmaceutical remedies are safe for you and interact well with any other medications you take regularly. Here are some ways to cope without medication.