Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Sickness

Hi, Dave I also have a girlfriend who is very prone to seasickness.  She has
had good luck with Scope patch, but test it first on dry land!  She weighs in
at about 120 pounds and the first time she tried one on land it really hit her
hard - she was waking up on the couch like 15 hours later, and not remembering
what happened.  Even half a patch was enough to really make her dopy.
Obviously dose per pound of body weight is of concern and individual tolerances
may vary a great deal.  She does well with a 1/4 of patch, but Thank God she
did not just stick on a full patch while on the water to give it a try!

I have been fortuanate to have only one badl bought of sea sickness, so I can
comment more on what contributes to my getting sick rather than the cure.  On
an earlier post about incapacitated paddlers I talked about an 85 mile Lake
Michigan crossing where two of our group got very ill.  We were in 3-5 foot
seas for most of the first 40 miles and much of that was paddling at night.  We
would raft up once per hour for a short break and we all noted that fiddling
with gear on your deck (looking at a close fixed object) will quickly make you
queasy.  I did not get seasick that time, but I was lucky.  Looking at your
deck compass is really bad news so take turns if you are out of sight of land
and check the compass with quick glances.  Night paddling had a similar effect
to looking at a close fixed object.  Not a big deal if you are out for a short
moonlight paddle, but if you spend 5-10 hours in rough conditions in the dark
expect the worst!

The only time I got bad enough to feed the fishes was on a 67 mile crossing of
Lake Superior from Stannard Rock Lighthouse to Caribou Island.  Don Dimond and
I were paddling in the dark and thick fog with a tiny but steep chop that made
my headlamp light beam dance and my compass very hard to read in my Romany 18
(it is too far forward to read well in the dark in fog).  I think a compass
light will help, but it is not a good night compass - too far forward. Normally
at night Don and I would take turns on compass and pick a star that fit our
heading, and only turn on our lights every 15 minutes or so to recheck our
fixed point of reference in the night sky.

On the starless night in the fog I felt really queasy by about 2300 and even
after putting Don on compass and using the wrist bands and Dramamine it got
worse all night long.  I did not do the high brace hurl until 0600, but
although I felt better I was having a terrible time staying awake after that.
I don't know if it was the Dramamine or just being put through the wringerall
night with seasickness, but it can really sap your energy.  I did not need to
be towed, but by 0800 I could only paddle about 20 minutes before needing to
lay across Dons boat to take a cat-nap.  I am very glad I was not alone or I
would have probably flipped and woken up upside down.  I am not sure I can
sleep sitting up in my Romany!

Everyone will probably get sick at least once in their life regardless of
resistant they are to motion sickness - it will get you one day.  If it does
hopefully you won't be alone and you can laugh about it later.  My buddies on
the Lake Michigan alternated between horrible wretching and laughter about
their situation - they were delighted to hear that I finally got to share their
fate ( Rich, Gary, I am sorry I teased you guys !).  I told Nigel Dennis about
my experience with the Romany compass at night in fog.  It sounds like even
Nigel is not immune to seasickness- His words of Wisdom?...." You know Bill,
what I hate about getting sick at sea?  Its the little bits that get caught in
your nostrils!"

Dave Kruger wrote:

> rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
> I had some queasiness once at night when in crossed swells -- probably
> absence of a good horizon, but it was minor.
>
> My EX (who is quite prone to motion sickness) had trouble with it last
> summer in the Charlottes -- when there was not much of a swell running.
> She put on a Scope patch the next day and was fine the remainder of the 10
> days.
>
> My son, who has worked as a deck hand on charter boats quite a lot, always
> wore a scope patch while on deck.  He did not experience any problems in
> the Charlottes last summer, and has never had sea sickness while yakking.
>
> Otherwise, I know of no one who has experienced sea sickness while yakking,
> but most of my yakking is in protected waters with not much swell.
>
> --
> Dave Kruger
> Astoria, OR
>
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