Avoiding the "Binnacle List"

The other day I was checking up on the Volvo Ocean around the world sailboat race and read the top story on their website,
“Sickness and Slamming Take Their Toll.”   The fleet sailed into heavy weather inside the South China Sea and the
bumpy conditions were taking a toll on the stomachs of several crew members  aboard the Open 70 sailboats. 
Reading quotes like “Down below looks like a war zone. Several people  have been sick already, and the rest just keep swallowing” and “Today I had a  hint of seasickness for the first time ever” prompted me to examine that time  honored tradition of avoiding the Binnacle List (traditionally, the sick list  posted near the binnacle for the use of the officer of the deck containing the  names of men unable to report for duty).

Ninety percent of all people suffer from some type of motion sickness during their lifetimes.   Sea-sickness is truly an
international debility. You might  hear mal de mer or nauseeux  aboard a French frigate.   If  you were consigned to a Spanish Galleon on the high seas, the word mareado  might apply if you were “under the weather on the leeward rail”.  And my personal favorite, seekrank,  the German word for seasick, says it all.  However you say it, “gastrointestinal   distress”, “nauseogenisis”, “travel travail”, “feeling green” and its potential   follow-up act “feeding the fish”, “gastric emptying”,  “donating  your breakfast to Neptune” or   “losing your lunch”,  being  seasick is no fun.   But there  is hope.  Dozens of prescribed,  over-the-counter, and natural remedies are available in the US.  The trick is to find your panacea before you are in a pickle.   Therefore early research and self-testing are vital days or weeks before  one can confidently embrace the briny deep.   Some preventatives will work for
some people and not others and with varying degrees of effectiveness.  Medications should be explored in  advance either by ingestion or research and side-effects should be noted.  For example, last summer one of my  sailing students downed an antiemetic (drugs effective against vomiting and  nausea) the morning of her lesson without previously “testing” it.    By 9 a.m. she was experiencing a rare side-effect from the medication;  moderate to severe dizziness.   She was “seasick” even before
stepping on the dock and was relegated to her car to sleep off the effect while  her husband enjoyed a beautiful day sailing on the bay.  Motion  sickness (a.k.a. kinetosis) is a conflict between your senses.  The  vestibular system, located in the inner ear, contributes to balance and the  sense of spatial orientation.   Kinetosis occurs when the vestibular system doesn’t agree with what is  visually sensed, fouling-up the central nervous system (CNS) and nausea, fatigue  and dizziness ensues.   If the
symptoms aren’t relieved the body may think, in theory, it has been poisoned and  jettisons its contents.  It reminds me of an ol’ truism, “If your  systems are out of whack, your meals may come back.”   Below (see Quick Reference  Table) is a table of the most common state-side treatments for seasickness.  Note that most of the antiemetics in  the table contain an antihistamine which frequently causes drowsiness and dry  mouth.   Dry mouth is usually  mild and tolerable.  An extreme few  find it quite severe and require an alternative form of treatment.   For most, sucking on a hard candy will counteract that parched palate
feeling.  Again, the degree of  drowsiness should be measured before departure.  Feeling sleepy or useless under way is
frustrating for all parties aboard.  Over the years, the military has studied  the threat of throwing up among their young, healthy but seasick recruits.  In general, the research proved the  medications listed in the table were the most effective with the least
side-effects.   The  Coast Guard motto is Semper Paratus (Latin for "Always Ready" or "Always  Prepared") So it isn’t surprising that they concocted the“Coast Guard Cocktail”,  a mixture of promethazine, a   strong sedative that quells nausea, and ephedrine, a stimulant, taken to  counteract the sedation caused by the promethazine…whatever it takes to keep  your sea-legs for 20 hours in 20 foot seas on a 44 foot cutter. 

If you don’t want to go “military style” there is always the “natural” way.  Both ginger root  and acupressure are becoming popular substitutes to preventing or easing seasick  stomachs.  In the past I have  downed a ginger ale or two prior to sailing into heavy weather just to be on the  safe side.  Unfortunately, many  ginger ales on the market today do not contain "real" ginger.  Smooth
Sailing, a beverage advertised to“sooth and settle the stomach naturally”  contains ginger.  Most people take  ginger in capsules form, many reporting fewer symptoms of nausea and vertigo.   Research has shown that certain  compounds found in ginger may influence gastrointestinal function and noted  ginger to be more effective than placebo for treating nausea caused by
seasickness.  It doesn’t hurt to  keep some type of ginger product aboard just in case.   Ginger snaps and soda don’t go to waste on our boat weather it is sailing  or not.  Another “natural” cure for  nausea that has been gaining in popularity over the last decade is the  acupressure wrist-bands.  With the  help of an elastic or adjustable wrist band a plastic button applies slight
pressure on a point just on the inside of the wrist, called the Nei-Kuan  point.  Here the signals to the  brain that cause seasickness are blocked.   One band must be worn on each wrist to be effective and can be put on  before departure or during the trip.   The acupressure wrist bands have no side-effects and are appropriate for  adults and children.   In our  ASA/Charter office in Santa Cruz there is usually someone talking about how the  wrist-bands saved them or their crew from another “gastric-disaster.”   Like wrist-bands, homeopathic remedies  are big on the market and affect everyone differently.  Trial and error, trial and error.  Developing sea-legs, aka “vestibular rehabilitation,” may take some  time.  Don’t make things worse from the get-go.  There are many  factors that contribute or accelerate the onset of seasickness or seekrank,  if you will. Avoiding or  eliminating these factors before or during your voyage can greatly decrease or  prevent the storm in your stomach:   get plenty of rest, don’t eat greasy or acidic foods but don’t sail on an  empty stomach either, drink plenty of water before and during your voyage, avoid
alcoholic beverages, avoid diesel fumes, stay busy but avoid going below, avoid  looking through binoculars, and don’t read.  Following these tips, conducting a  little research and experimenting with natural or traditional medication before
  setting sail should help you stay off the “Binnacle List” for  good.

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