Dealing with Seasickness

HANDS-ON SAILOR I LIVING ABOARD
Dealing with Seasickness
A veteran bluewater voyager
shares a 10-point strategy
for feeling better out there.
BY BETH A. LEONARD
tizing as quickly as possible. To find
out how experienced sailors deal with
seasickness, I surveyed 38 liveaboard
cruisers who regularly make bluewa
ter voyages.Three-quarters of them, or
28, suffered from seasickness to some
degree on almost everypassage. In ad
dition,I interviewed four charter skip
cluding those who didn't consider
themselves prone to seasickness, de
scribed a loss of mental acuity during
the first few days at sea. Comments
included "feeling muddle-headed,"
"feeling off," "not being with it," and
"having difficulty concentrating." The
symptoms reported by the 75 percent
According to a well-known say-
pers who operate in the North Atlantic
of those who regularly suffered from
ing, the only sure-fire cure for seasick
and the Southern Ocean and have had
seasickness included drowsiness (33
ness is to sit under a tree. If sailors took
experience with seasickness in dozens
that advice,tropical anchorages would
be nearly empty. Almost all offshore
sailors suffer to one degree or another
of charter guests.
Seasickness symptoms are idio
syncratic and, for most people, pro
gressive. The list of motion-sickness
symptoms in The Merck Manual of
percent), lassitude or lethargy (25 per
cent), nausea (79 percent), and vomit
ing (50 percent). I've met people who
from mal de mer for the first two or
three days of almost every passage,
and almost all sailors will acclimate af
Medical Information includes yawn
ter three days no matter what they do
ing, hyperventilation, salivation, pal
lor, profuse cold sweating, dizziness,
headache, general discomfort, fatigue,
cyclic nausea, and vomiting.
Almost everyone I surveyed, in
or don't do.
Seasickness is unpleasant at best and
debilitating at worst, so most cruisers
have developed strategies for acclima
didn't realize that the mild headache,
fatigue, and "off" feeling they had on a
boat were caused by seasickness, and
when they began taking preventive
measures, their sailing enjoyment in
creased dramatically.
While 14 percent of the offshore
sailors surveyed who suffered from
seasickness got sick and then were
COMPARISON OF SEASICKNESS MEDICATIONS
Product Name
Generic Name
Recommended Dosage
Time to Relief/Duration
Meclizine
Take 25 to 50 mg. 30 to 60 minutes before travel.
Repeat every 24 hours as needed. Dosage shouldn't
exceed 400 mg. in 24 hours.
2 hours/6 to 12 hours
ANTIHISTAMINES
Bonine
Also: Antivert, Postafen,
Dramamine II
Marezine
Also: Marzine
Cyclizine
Take 50 mg. 30 minutes before travel. Repeat every 4
to 6 hours as needed. Dosage shouldn't exceed 200
1 to 2 hours/4 to 6 hours
mg. in 24 hours.
Take 25 to 30 mg. 2 hours before travel. Take 12.5 to
Stugeron
Cinnarizine
15 mg. every 8 hours as needed during travel. Dosage
2 to 5 hours/6 to 8 hours
shouldn't exceed 100 mg. in 24 hours.
Dramamine
Also: Driminate, Vomisin
Phenergan
Dimenhydrinate
Promethazine
Take 50 to 100 mg. 30 to 60 minutes before travel.
Repeat every 4 to 6 hours as needed. Dosage
shouldn't exceed 400 mg. in 24 hours.
Take 25 mg. the night before travel or at least 1 to 2
hours before departure. Repeat every 24 hours as
1 to 2 hours/6 to 8 hours
1.5 to 2 hours/24 to 30 hours
needed.
SCOPOLAMINE
Transderm Scop (olamine)
(a.k.a. the patch)
Hyoscine
One patch applied behind the ear 4 hours before
travel releases approximately 1 mg. of scopolamine
over three days. Repeat as necessary. Do not tear
6 to 8 hours/72 hours
patch in half.
Scopace
(Oral Scopolamine)
82
Hyoscine
Take 0.4 to 0.8 mg every 8 hours. Dosage shouldn't
exceed 2.4 mg. in 24 hours.
0.5 to 1 hour/4 to 6 hours
Cruising World
September 2010
Many sailors view
preventive drugs as
just one element in
an overall strategy
to limit crew sus
ceptibility to sea
sickness during
the first critical
days offshore.
o^^Lm Dramamine
Efficacy
Low
Side Effects
Reported by 38 Offshore Sailors
Side Effects
Cited in Medical Literature
Drowsiness, dry mouth, headache, blurred vision,
Slight to moderate drowsiness
restlessness, constipation
Drowsiness, blurred or double vision, headache,
dry mouth
Medium
Dry mouth, slight drowsiness
Medium
Dry mouth, weird dreams, slight drowsiness
Medium
Moderate to extreme drowsiness
Drowsiness, dry mouth, restlessness, blurred vision,
irregular or fast heartbeat, difficulty urinating, increased
sensitivity to the sun, excitability in children
High
Impaired/drugged, moderate to extreme drowsiness
dizziness, confusion, increased sensitivity to the sun
High
Dry mouth, drowsiness, vision problems, impaired/
drugged, rash, balance problems, inability to concentrate,
inability to be woken, hallucinations
Dry mouth, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, dilation
of the eyes, disorientation, confusion, hallucinations,
Drowsiness, abdominal pain, headache, lassitude,
dry mouth, sweating
Drowsiness, headache, dry mouth, blurred vision,
High
None reported, but only one person in survey had
used this drug.
difficulty urinating, rash
Dryness of the mouth, drowsiness, blurred vision, dilation
of the eyes, disorientation, confusion, hallucinations,
difficulty urinating
Sources forthis information include the author's2009surveyof 38cruisersand The Merck Manual ofMedical Information.
Cruising World
September 2010
83
HANDS-ON SAILOR I LIVING ABOARD
fine again for several hours at a time, 86
percent suffered from increasingly severe
symptoms that, if left untreated, culmi
nated in repeated vomiting. By learning
to recognize your early warning signs for
seasickness and taking preventive action
immediately, it's possible to halt the pro
gression of symptoms and prevent the
onset of nausea and vomiting.
While a majority of the 28 sailors who
regularly suffered from seasickness took
medications for some part of each off
shore passage, they viewed preventive
drugs as just one element in an overall
strategy to limit the crew's susceptibility
to seasickness during those first critical
days. Most of the sailors surveyed includ
ed nearly all of these steps as part of their
seasickness-avoidance strategy.
her husband, Bone, aboard
Online Extra
recommended avoiding
anything to which your
their Saltram 36. "We al
Go to cruisingworld.
stomach
more than a decade with
sensitive—
nine boats, with a total of 54 crewmem2
AVOID ALCOHOL FOR
48 HOURS BEFORE
The 10-Part Plan
DEPARTURE:
I BEFORE SHOVING OFF:
I talked to Steve Wilkins, who skippered
one of the British Steel Challenge boats
I It takes a cast-iron stomach to work
and now runs charters to Antarctica. "I
in the galley or navigate at the chart ta
ble before the body has adapted to the
motion of the boat. I spoke with Beth
Bushnell, a physician who's cruised for
always havethe blow-out departure party
three nights before heading offshore," he
said."Leaving with a crew that isn't hung
over makes a huge difference!" Others
*1 DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
is
com/1009seasick
ways make sure that the
grease, hot spices, salt,
for a discussion of sea
first five days of food is
sugar,caffeine—for
at least
sickness medication.
precooked," she said. "It's
three days before depar
tasty, easy on the stomach,
ture. If something's ever
and not too time-consuming in the gal
given you indigestion, better this time to
ley. We're very careful to plan our route pass on it.
and set up our waypointsto make naviga
3
TAKE PREVENTIVE MEDI
tion as easy and stress-free as possible in
CATIONS 12 TO 24 HOURS
the first few days." Many other tasks can
BEFORE DEPARTURE:
be performed in the days before slipping
the dock lines,including setting up storm When he ran his Adventure Sailing pro
sails so they're ready to hoist, organizing gram, Andrew Burton took a fleet of
the sail locker, and setting up jacklines, Swans twice a year between Bermuda
and the Caribbean. "One year, I had
check stays,and staysail stays.
bers leaving Newport," he said. "We were
delayed for three days by weather. Each
evening, I told everyone that we'd be off
the next day and to take their seasick
ness medication because there would be
a lot of leftover slop. When we eventu
ally left, there was still plenty of breeze
and big waves, but only one person got
seasick, and he'd been the one who'd said
that he didn't need medication."
i i
I
MARION ™ BERMUDA
Experience the offshore adventure with
Race Discussion:
preparation assistance & expert advice:
http://racetobermuda.ning.com
Safety at Sea Seminar
y •-
Website:
One-on-One Mentoring Program
www.marionbermuda.com
Offshore Prep information meetings
Meet Us:
Newport Boat Show, Tent A-36
Celestial Navigation optional (course available)
Annapolis (in the Ocean
Open to Monohulls, 32-80 feet
Navigator Booth), Dock F-10
Newport Bermuda racers (2010 or 2012): Compete for Joint Race
"Bermuda Ocean Cruising Yacht" Trophy
Fun for family and friends with organized events in Bermuda
Follow Us On:
I
- RACE START DATE: JUNE 17, 2011
Marion Bermuda is a pure cruising race, not just a race with a cruising class L
Cruising Woitt.n
September 2010