Mal de Mer
- Thread starter Tengu
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Stay on deck in the fresh air as much as possible.
Keep your mind off being sick.
Remember that mal de mer is just French for I'm sick of my mother.
Keep your mind off being sick.
Remember that mal de mer is just French for I'm sick of my mother.
Go to a boots or super drug, or any good chemist and get sea sickness wrist bands. They are quite effective.. at least, they worked rather too well on my 4 Yr old in an outside cabin, throughthe bay of biscay and 9 hrs in a force 10 gale. I didn't have them, and didn't fare so well, even after taking sea sickness tablets. Take some sea sickness tablets too, to be on the safe side.
You probably won't need them, but its as well to have some just in case.
Also ginger is good for a queasy tum. Take some ginger nut biccys, and ginger tea (or a knob of fresh ginger you can slice and make it fresh. )
You probably won't need them, but its as well to have some just in case.
Also ginger is good for a queasy tum. Take some ginger nut biccys, and ginger tea (or a knob of fresh ginger you can slice and make it fresh. )
Regarding ginger, I've found crystallised ginger pieces are excellent for nausea and can be kept handily in a pocket. Can't speak of seasickness cures, except a multi-day floggin' of the oggin' is probably the best solution in itself, as you'll likely grow accustomed to the motion. Bon voyage.
One of the causes (maybe the cause) of travel sickness is your body experiencing motion that it's not expecting because the scene your seeing is static (i.e. the room you are in). Get out on deck, watch the horizon so the scene matches the motion, and breath in time with the swell. It works for me. You will build up a connection with the motion and your breathing that will help when you go back indoors.
To be honest, it doesn't need a huge disconnect between what you're seeing and the motion you're experiencing to cause motion sickness; we used to get it driving simulators because the graphics didn't quite synch with the motion of the driving cabs.
To be honest, it doesn't need a huge disconnect between what you're seeing and the motion you're experiencing to cause motion sickness; we used to get it driving simulators because the graphics didn't quite synch with the motion of the driving cabs.
I used to get dreadful travel sickness. The biggest help for me when I was feeling sick was to try and keep focused on the horizon and not looking at something close by. Reading would've set me off pretty much instantly.
Also from experience, don't drink 12 pints the night before getting on a boat.
Also from experience, don't drink 12 pints the night before getting on a boat.
i once got rather sick in a tank (where it was impossible to see what's going on outside) -- afterwards i ended in a 4WD whose driver was deep flying the obstacle course (=worse movement) and was fine as i could see what's going on. another time i got seasick in a boat on land (=driving boat and trailer a km down to the beach) due to some forgotten week old bait...
ssoo my advice is as much fresh air as possible and being able to see the (distant) horizon
ssoo my advice is as much fresh air as possible and being able to see the (distant) horizon
Lots of great advice. The only other thing I'd prepare for is the sensation of still feeling like you're on the sea once you're back on dry land.
It can be quite unnerving when you're on terra firma and it feels like the floor is rocking side to side.
It doesn't last too long though.
It can be quite unnerving when you're on terra firma and it feels like the floor is rocking side to side.
It doesn't last too long though.
LOL, my worst ever motion sickness was in a tank. I was gunner, so looking through stabilised sights (i.e. no visual motion at all) but sitting pretty much in the motion centre of the vehicle, so being moved violently in every axis - all that after an exercise booze up the night before
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You’ll either get sea sickness or you won’t. Sea legs you’ll just gain as you get used to the movement. Like @Foogs says, I always found it worse getting off ship or boat, especially if I’d had any hint of cold/flu where my ear canals were affected.
Bag or 2 of the Whittingtons ginger is a treat anyway so take some. And if you do get sick, head dead centre of the ship where the motion is least. Plus you can’t see out. You’ll be fine.
Bag or 2 of the Whittingtons ginger is a treat anyway so take some. And if you do get sick, head dead centre of the ship where the motion is least. Plus you can’t see out. You’ll be fine.
My advice is to avoid travel sickness or sea sickness tablets. IME they will guarantee you will get it. Perhaps reverse psychosomatic effect.
I got told about travel sickness to watch the road ahead of you. It is commonly known that those who get reallybad travel sickness to sit in the front of a car on a journey. That also applies to being at sea. Not so much sitting at the front but sitting where you can see visual clues about your actual motion. As others have said, if you are feeling unwell then head to the deck. You get the visual cues that might make it go away, but if not you have a good waste disposal method over the side of the boat. Otherwise known as feeding the fishies!!
There is a strong scientific theory over travel sickness and it has something to do with the way the inner ear measures your location / orientation but your visual cues do not match. This sends a message to your gut to clench and release contents. That is very much a lay person's explanation of a scientific reason he once read but ultimately only half remembered. I think there is also an issue with the speed of the information getting interpreted and understood by your brain. Others here might know more about that than I.
I got told about travel sickness to watch the road ahead of you. It is commonly known that those who get reallybad travel sickness to sit in the front of a car on a journey. That also applies to being at sea. Not so much sitting at the front but sitting where you can see visual clues about your actual motion. As others have said, if you are feeling unwell then head to the deck. You get the visual cues that might make it go away, but if not you have a good waste disposal method over the side of the boat. Otherwise known as feeding the fishies!!
There is a strong scientific theory over travel sickness and it has something to do with the way the inner ear measures your location / orientation but your visual cues do not match. This sends a message to your gut to clench and release contents. That is very much a lay person's explanation of a scientific reason he once read but ultimately only half remembered. I think there is also an issue with the speed of the information getting interpreted and understood by your brain. Others here might know more about that than I.
Definitely keep to 8 or less. 12 pints would make you feel rough even on eurostar
I have done stacks of sailing when I was younger, including multi week voyages, you will pretty much reach a non-sickness state fairly quickly if you do the things suggested - fresh air, outside deck, distractions, wrist bands etc.
When you get off the boat you will have the same problem, used to take me a few days to get my land legs back and not feel like I going to start falling over all the time
The three stages of Seasickness:
1. "I feel sick."
2. "I think I'm going to die."
3. "I'm worried that I'm not going to die."
1. "I feel sick."
2. "I think I'm going to die."
3. "I'm worried that I'm not going to die."
That helps, the other trick is to eat dessert before main dish, that leaves a better taste after you have fed the fish.
My Dad used to tell us before we went out on the boat (he built boats, every year we had a new boat) that the best thing to eat was strawberry jam; it tasted the same coming up as it did going down 
Nothing I can add to the advice you've already received, Tengu, just aim for calm, be gentle on yourself, keep an eye on the horizon and breath slow.
Nothing I can add to the advice you've already received, Tengu, just aim for calm, be gentle on yourself, keep an eye on the horizon and breath slow.
Book a cabin as low down as you can. The yaw of a ship is greater in outside cabins, so get one that is mid ship, lower deck, and inside rather than an outside cabin with a porthole.
The worst moments of my life, as a non swimmer with toddler in tow was in that outside cabin watching the waves submerge my porthole! Add sea sickness, and a toddler impervious to any dangers or worries made it the worst few hours of my life. I dare not sleep, and was thrown out of my upper bunk several times, ended up sleeping in a nasty draught on the floor,
Havnt been on a ship since! Though I would still go if a trip arose. Hasn't put me off realy, I think it was the responsibility for a little life, aswell as my own that gave me the heebies.
I could have enjoyed the trip but for that.
I'd add some mouthwash and wet wipes just in case you need to clean up, but I reckon you'll be fine. I used to love rough channel crossings on deck up the front as far as I could get, watching every wave, and being covered in sea spray, while everyone else was being poorly!. It's quite exhilarating.
The worst moments of my life, as a non swimmer with toddler in tow was in that outside cabin watching the waves submerge my porthole! Add sea sickness, and a toddler impervious to any dangers or worries made it the worst few hours of my life. I dare not sleep, and was thrown out of my upper bunk several times, ended up sleeping in a nasty draught on the floor,
Havnt been on a ship since! Though I would still go if a trip arose. Hasn't put me off realy, I think it was the responsibility for a little life, aswell as my own that gave me the heebies.
I could have enjoyed the trip but for that.
I'd add some mouthwash and wet wipes just in case you need to clean up, but I reckon you'll be fine. I used to love rough channel crossings on deck up the front as far as I could get, watching every wave, and being covered in sea spray, while everyone else was being poorly!. It's quite exhilarating.
glad to read i'm not the only one suffering from seasickness on land (in a tank)LOL, my worst ever motion sickness was in a tank. I was gunner, so looking through stabilised sights (i.e. no visual motion at all) but sitting pretty much in the motion centre of the vehicle, so being moved violently in every axis - all that after an exercise booze up the night before
i was sitting in the turret (gunners place) as well -- i'm a strict non-drinker, so no booze involved, but managed to indicate to our corporal just in time that i either get out NOW or the tank's interior would require a thorough cleaning 
on several occasions afterwards i've been on clean ships during rough seas without issue
If you get seasick on the boat, so will a lot of others. I remember being on a ferry back from St Malo one evening. I didn't get the seasick. But, everyone was puking, which was what made me feel queasy too. Our then threeyear-old was surprisingly spectacular ... and of course also needed to be cleaned up and all the upchuck scooped out of the pram. Lovely end to a lovely holiday.
