Symptoms of
seasicknessSome people never get seasick. Some always get seasick. Most fall in between. At least half the crew will be seasick on a typical offshore passage. Women get seasick faster and more often than men. Seasickness usually begins with a slight headache accompanied by pale skin, dry mouth, and frequent yawning. As it worsens, there will be sweating, nausea, and vomiting. It can last up to three days and then will not occur again for at least three weeks.
Preventing
seasicknessTo prevent seasickness, start taking medication well beforehand—12 to seasickness 18 hours early is not too soon for some people—and then continue to take it as people. The most common are meclizine tablets (Bonine, Dramamine II, Antivert) and scopolamine tablets (Scopace) or patches (Transderm Scop). Cyclizine (Marezine) is a similar antihistamine that affects the stomach rather than the nervous system. Read their precautions and experiment before setting out to evaluate any side effects, which can be severe.
Limit caffeine but do not give it up because the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal mimic early symptoms of seasickness. Avoid alcohol. Eat lightly but take nothing greasy or oily. Stay hydrated. Try not to go below, and if you must, avoid engine or head smells. Stay warm and dry. Wear a hat and gloves. Face into the wind and focus far ahead, preferably while standing, well braced, with both hands free. You are most susceptible to seasickness while sitting, so if you cannot stand up, lie down flat on your back instead.
seasicknessExplaining to a victim that Treating seasickness never killed anyone will be pointless, since death is precisely what they wish for. If they cannot arise from their berth, keep them flat on their back with eyes closed while providing warm blankets, a hat, fresh air, and plenty of liquids, but nothing with caffeine nor alcohol. Otherwise seasick crew should stay near the mast below deck, where motion is least or, preferably, above deck, but always within the cockpit and not hanging over the rail.
Keep the mind occupied by standing a watch, steering, or serving as lookout. Stay in the instead a bucket or else brown paper bags that can go overboard. Focus on the distant shore or horizon. Take anti-nausea drugs if available—a certain illicit, smoked herb is highly effective— but be mindful of their side effects. Ginger in hard candies, soft drinks, capsules, or tea might help. It is almost certainly too late for medication by the time symptoms appear. Some swear by special wrist bands and pointing out that this works through the placebo effect would be counter-productive.
best
cureServe fresh, hot, homemade chicken The soup: It works. Wash a whole fresh chicken, the smallest you can find, and then, with scissors, remove and discard as much skin and fat as possible. Cut it into a top half and a bottom half, then cut off the legs with thighs attached. Rub the inside with your thumbs to dislodge any bits of organs. The more of this stuff you can remove now, the less you will have to skim off later.
Put the chicken in your largest pot with water to cover it completely. Toss in some cut up celery, carrots, and onions only if you have them. Bring to a slow boil for five minutes and, during that time, use a big spoon to skim off any white or gray froth that rises up. Then cook covered, just below the boiling point, for at least two hours, preferably four or six. Add bouillon cubes, during the last half hour, until it is just barely salty enough; you can always add more salt later but you cannot take it back out.
Cool and strain into pint storage containers that you can freeze at home. Use these as ice packs Try making pasta with this, using just barely enough soup topped off with water and adding a little more water at the end only if needed, so that the pasta is ready without having to drain it. Some sea cooks also swear by split pea soup— preferably yellow rather than green for the obvious reason—to settle a queasy stomach. For crew who are vegetarian, substitute boxed vegetable stock from the supermarket.