Re: [Paddlewise] Towing, seasick

> > My girlfriend is prone to sea-sickness, and has had good results with the
> > new, less-drowsiness formula Dramamine (which we couldn't find in Canada).
> > That was in rather light swell, though she gets sick pretty easily.  Has
> > anyone had a failure of this stuff in severe tests??
> 
> Not familiar with any improvements in Dramamine, Mike --- even
> kids' Benadryl knocks me out --- but has she tried those little
> pressure point straps for the wrists?  

I was surprised to hear all this talk about seasickness in a kayak.  I
have never seen it in 10 years of paddling with groups.  My supposition
was that a lot of seasickness happens on a larger boat where your head
is a good 12 feet above the surface of the water and the rocking of the
boat swings you in a greater arc and therefore might induce sea
sickness.

I have been sick on the water, most recently last year, but not from
seasickness as such.  I had not been feeling well anyway that morning
but I was scheduled to help out on a swim support donw the Manhattan
side of the Hudson and felt that I was needed as we didn't have a lot of
support kayaks.  I was okay on the swim support because my mind was
occupied with what I was doing.  But after arriving at the swim end and
paddling down a bit further to a kayaking hangout, I started feeling ill
again.  I had lunch but, dumb me, I had a hot dog!  NOw I was really
swaying and quite ill.  I did have the choice of just folding up my boat
and heading home by cab (always a nice safety move with a foldable; make
a one-way trip of it when things go bad) but I decided to paddle back
anyway.

The 5 mile trip back to the put-in was a nightmare.  Huge wakes were
hitting me from the heavy recreational and commercial traffic and
causing clapotis as the wakes reflected off the seawall and piers.  I
did warn my companions that I wasn't feeling well and to keep an eye out
on me, something they probably would not have ordinarily done, knowing I
can fend for myself.

I remembered the old thing about keeping my eye fixed on the horizon, in
this case the straight line of cliffs on the Jersey side and not at all
look at the wakes and waves.  Since I wasn't looking at them, I couldn't
do the little wiggles and Body English adjustments you unconsciously do
on the water (or on a bike or a car in uneven terrain).  The sensation
was the same as paddling at night when you can't see what the water is
doing around you, just hear it, although with the din of highway traffic
nearby, helicopters and the roar of boat engines, I couldn't hear much.

I was certainly glad to get off the water, crawling on the dock and
happy to see a big Russian friend on the pier above me who I could ask
to take my boat up.  He grabbed my K-Light under one arm.  I should have
asked him to carry me under the other; what a sight that would have
been! :-)

ralph diaz
-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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