Monohull vs MY/Trawler and Seasickness

[Yetii]

Thanks for all the insightful replies!

Boatie, you're right of course. I need to get out on a monohull on Erie in some sporty conditions. I love the idea of a Gemini for coastal work.

Ann, I have used Dramamine, and this time I was eating Bonine like M&M's from 10 hrs before the trip. Certainly more experiments are in order!

Lizzy, your pic of a sportfisher is exactly the type of boat I was on. I swear it rolled from 45 degrees one way to the other when the skipper was beam to the waves.

Basssears, the diesel was baaaaad.

I have had power and sailboats and enjoyed them all.......on inland lakes. Not much rolling there.

The puking is a minor problem as long as you hydrate. It's the overwhelming desire to be dead that ruins the experience!

Thank you all for you insight! I'm not giving up.

[TraderJoe]

Oh yea! Big top heavy fishing boats are the worst to test your sea legs on!
I saw many a men standing at the heaving rail on them! Never been motion sick on mono or cat under sail or in port-dock or hook!
Try a good sail, stay up top and as day is ending,go below for a few minutes, as you'll be heading for port!
That should ease your mind and body!
Good luck

[boatman61]

In my youth car sickness over distances more than 15miles was a norm.. flying every couple of years from Karachi to the UK was 48hrs of hell.. in the early days it was WW2 Dakotas.. most of the trip all I saw was the inside off a brown paper sack.. then in '64 I moved permanently to the UK (exiled) aboard the SS Circassia.. 2 months at sea with nary an upchuck so when it came time to dump me in one off the Services I opted for the Navy.. naturally.
The next year after some basic training in HMS Ganges my class did 2 weeks sea training on HMS Wakefield.. a WW2 Frigate and I spent most of my off duty time sheltering on the quarterdeck as it was the only place I did not puke my guts out.. she rolled like a pig as we sailed the N Sea in November.. I just wanted to die.. but there was no escape for this 16yr old who'd signed on the line for 9yrs starting from the age of 18.. junior seaman don't count their 1st two years..
To make it worse I had gone for TAS Control.. the guy in the bowels of the boat who hunts the subs with sonar.. and my first commission was on the Pellew another relic from the war.. and 4 on 4off watches were with a bucket between my legs.. seasickness is not a recognised illness in the Royal Navy.. same with sunburn.. self inflicted.. and todays meds were still in the future.
So it came down to basic willpower.. but in time I got to control the heave and manage the nausea..
I still get that 1st 2 or 3 days queasy after a few months break from being aboard but it goes.. just down to the individuals pain threshold.

[hsi88]

I get sick just working on the boat at the dock. I take a ginger capsule and feel better within the hour. I follow-up with a natural Ginger Ale if I have some. Works for me and is all natural with no drowsiness or side effects.

[Yetii]

Thanks! I'll try it!

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[GordMay]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

... I had a rule with my Sortfishing boat, three ft was it, at three ft we stayed in the Marina, three ft and more, everyone got sick, and a bunch of sick people is no fun, a good way to ruin a weekend ...

Reminds me of a customer's wife's rule:
"One to two, and I'm with you.
Three to four, take a whore."

[valhalla360]

Is it when the fishing boat is going to the fishing grounds or when you slow down to trolling speeds? Trolling, you are going very slow and the boat rolls every which way. If you are cruising, you typically cruise faster than 2-3kts, so the ride smooths out.

Not sure how the Gemini came up but we have one for sale near you (Detroit). There is still motion but definitely different.

[sagablu]

Originally Posted by hsi88

I get sick just working on the boat at the dock. I take a ginger capsule and feel better within the hour. I follow-up with a natural Ginger Ale if I have some. Works for me and is all natural with no drowsiness or side effects.

Agreed. Candied ginger is also widely available, less expensive, and I happen to really like it. Ginger also helps once you are sick, more so than other remedies. There was an episode of Mythbusters that showed ginger more effective than over the counter options if you want to put faith in that experiment.

[tmtownsley]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Wife uses the electric watch shocker thing, and it works for her, better than Dramamine.
I don't care if it is the Placebo effect or not, only thing I don't like is you can't replace the batteries, you buy a new bracelet, haven't had to do that yet, as she gets used to the boat in a couple of days.
Of course there are copies that you can replace the batteries, but I've been told they are not as effective.
I keep ginger beer on the boat, it does seem to help


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I wanted to give another thumbs up for the "electric watch shocker thing". I've used it in the past with instant/great results!!
The device is named the "Relief Band" and can be found at Relief from Motion Sickness and Morning Sickness - Reliefband It is true that at one time you could not replace the batteries, but they have now gone back to the replaceable battery type. When they first went away from the replaceable battery, I was trying to buy a replacment watch for one I had lost. I asked them why they no longer manufactured a model with a replaceable battery. Their answer, to them anyway, made sense. Since they were primarily marketing the product towards the medical industry as a comfort device for chemotherapy patients and pregnant women prone to morning sickness, they went to a battery that only lasted for "30 days" of use so that they could get doctors to write a prescription for it, and insurance companies to pay for it. Not sure if this didn't work out in the long run for them, or they had a change of heart for those of us that use it for motion sickness and can't get a prescription written for that, but they have now switched back to a replaceable battery.
I am in no way affiliated with the company that manufactures or sells the product, I am only a very satisfied user. After originally buying the relief band for motion sickness while on a boat, I found it worked so well that I was able to watch a 3D movie with the kids for the first time without feeling sick, and I can also read in the car now.
Anyway, not meaning to write an infomercial for Relief Band, but wanted to say, for ME, it really works.
And as others have said, you get used to the feeling on a boat. I rarely feel seasick anymore and can't remember the last time I've needed outside relief.

[Schooner Chandlery]

Tums CAN help... In a pinch.,,

Both my husband and I have those proverbial iron stomachs when it comes to motion sickness. When he was a Navy jet flight instructor, he was the one who always did the spin training (some such phrase-where he put the airplane in an out of control multi axis spin and had the student recover the plane) because he didn't get sick but everybody else did while doing this. Anyway, we left port at night in the tail end of a big gale and while the winds were settling down to only in the 20-25 kt range the seas were big, confused and short period rough. Long story. It was the first ocean sailing we'd done in about 5 months. We certainly didn't have our sea legs back yet.

Important part was we were both almost immediately queasy. We had to do something on the bucking foredeck and hubby drew the short straw. We were motorsailing Broad reaching. Couldn't go to a run as it would take us into shore and we played with variations from reaching with waves hitting forward of the bean (kinder on the tummy ) to broad reaching (the correct direction of travel) it was all rough. The bow was experiencing coupled motion of pretty tight corkscrew slalom with diameter of over 20 ft. As I was in the cockpit I turned on the radio Foghorn system so I could hear him over the boat and wind noise in the listen back function of the foghorn. Loud puking. Poor guy. All over the foredeck he said-but the seas washed it away instantly. I'm so glad I didn't have to go forward instead of him since I was barely keeping from heaving in the cockpit.

He came back to the cockpit and in the boarding seas we both retreated to steer from inside the warm enclosed chart house where we popped Tums about 1 every 15 minutes and marveled that Tums really did help. Since he didn't want to sit outside and get seawater soaked while he barfed, we pulled out a 1lb coffee can to be the barf bag (just the size because it fits close to the face and you can clamp the lid on it before a spill can happen) Lol. Learned a bit there. Anyone CAN get seasick.


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[darylat8750]

I've spent the better part of 5 years living on a trawler. I've been uncomfortable several times but not hurled. Sport fishing boat in 5 foot swells I would heave my insides out. As has been said, different boats have different motions.

[pbmaise]

Caution

Some people never get over seasickness no matter what. I have a 40ft wide sailboat and even with canvas up and near calm seas I once had a British crew member that was seasick for a three week trip.

Lord Nelson always was seasick too.

Get out on a big boat and try it. Be sure first two days to wear strong sunglasses a hat, and take the pills. Some men just refuse to take seasickness pills.