Seasickness while sailing can convert the relaxing boat trip into a miserable experience. You don’t want to ruin your boat trip. Your dream cruise would become a nightmare if the motion of the ship is causing you seasickness. It is the result of a complex physiological reaction to motion. When the information is sent to the brain, from the eyes, sensory nerves, and inner ear, there is a mismatch and you end up having seasickness.
Seasickness includes vomiting, nausea, and dizziness. They can easily spoil your luxury cruise vacation. For smooth sailing, there are plenty of ways to avoid nausea or seasickness. Before going sailing, make sure that you are choosing the right boat, picking up the medications, and following expert tips to avoid seasickness on the boat.
How to Avoid Seasickness on A Boat?
Choose the Right Boat
Before going on sailing or cruise, make sure that you are choosing the right boat for yourself. The boat is having a lot of impact on your seasickness. The general rule is that the larger the boat, the less it will rock. Hence, fewer people will have seasickness. You can choose Catamarans because they are having two hulls. Also, they rock side by and cause less seasickness than a monohull.
The motorized catamarans, also known as power cats are preferable because of more space and less rocking. Also, they are fuel-efficient. Besides saving fuel expenses, you will be saving yourself from seasickness. Other than this, motor yachts are best to avoid nausea while cruising. Some motor yachts such as superyachts are having stabilizers.
Seasickness Medications
To avoid seasickness and nausea, you can take several medications with you while going on a cruise. Make sure that you have a doctor’s prescription, otherwise, you would not be able to buy these medications even on the ports. The standard seasickness medication is Scopolamine. It is usually administrated with behind the ear patches. You need a prescription for it. There can be some side effects of this medication such as dry mouth and drowsiness.
Other medications that you can carry with yourself while going on a cruise are:
- Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine)
- Cyclizine (Marezine)
- Meclizine (Meni-D Antrizine, Bonine, Antivert)
- Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
- Promethazine (Promethegan, Phenadoz, Phenergan)
Other than medications, you can choose a natural way to avoid nausea and seasickness. Ginger would be the best alternative to seasickness medications. You can eat ginger biscuits as much as possible while cruising. It will work the same way as medications.
Get Fresh Air
If you are feeling seasick, you can go out on a balcony or an open deck. When you are in an open area, look towards the horizon. By doing so, your eyes would be able to see the motion. It will send the signals to the brain that your inner ear and your eyes are in alignment. It will help you to avoid nausea and seasickness.
Getting fresh air means that the wind blowing in your face helps to focus on something other than the motion of the boat or ship or yacht. When your focus diverts, you will be able to avoid seasickness while cruising.
Eat Something Light
The best food while sailing is light and bland food. You can have plain bread, saltine crackers, or pretzels. An empty stomach is not an option to avoid seasickness or nausea, although an empty stomach can boost it. So, you can have something light but don’t eat too much. As mentioned earlier, ginger is the natural ingredient to avoid seasickness, so you can have a ginger ale.
Peppermint is also having a calming effect on the stomach for those who are experiencing seasickness. For some people, it would be the best combo to eat crackers with water or soda for a seasickness remedy.
Avoid Stimuli
Any stimulus triggers nausea that will aggravate the symptoms of seasickness. Eating spicy food, greasy food, and acidic food can cause nausea while cruising. These can be citrus fruits, large meals, and juices. If your nausea is triggered, then it is recommended that you don’t consume alcohol. The reason is that alcohol is like a diuretic that speeds up dehydration. Hence, your body will not be able to resist seasickness.
Steering away from toxic odors is another way to avoid stimuli. Sometimes you are not having seasickness, but watching people vomiting can make you one of them.
Choose the Route Carefully
If you are going on the cruise for the first or the 100th time, you are well aware of yourself, whether you have seasickness or not. Make sure that you are choosing the right route to avoid seasickness. You should be sailing on larger ships and cruise through the calmer water bodies. For example, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are the calmest portions of the Atlantic Ocean.
When you have chosen the right route for sailing, look for motor yachts or ships that are having stabilization systems to reduce or even avoid seasickness.
Wear Sea Bands or An Acupressure Wristband
Acupuncture or sea bands come from ancient practices. They are elastic bracelets with a plastic stud. The plastic stud inside the band places pressure on an acupressure point. This point is believed to release vomiting and nausea. You can find them at online stores or your near pharmacy. They are inexpensive and you can wear them while going on a cruise.
Stay Out of Direct Sun
You don’t want to get dehydrated that is why you avoid consuming alcohol. On the other side, you don’t want to be going out in the direct sun. The direct sunlight will overheat your body, you will be dehydrated, and then there comes nausea to ruin your trip.
If you are getting closer to the equator, the sun will be getting stronger and it will dehydrate you. Hence, you need to keep liquids with you and try not to go out in the direct sun. Otherwise, you will be having seasickness.
Use Transderm-Scop Patch
Transderm-Scop Patch is a skin patch that is used to prevent vomiting and nausea. It is used for the recovery of a patient from surgery or anesthesia. But if you are going on a cruise or sailing, you can use this skin patch. It balances the natural substances such as norepinephrine and acetylcholine that occur in seasickness.
Using a Transderm-Scop Patch blocks the signals from different body parts and sensory nerves to the brain that cause seasickness. To apply the patch, peel it off from the clear back and apply it to the clean, hairless, and dry skin behind your ear. For 30 seconds, press it firmly to make sure that it sticks to your skin.
Sleep Well
Before going on any trip, make sure that you have slept well last night before leaving for a cruise. Sleep deprivation can also be a factor of seasickness. If you are having a high seas forecast, then you must be getting a night of proper sleep and rest. Otherwise, you will be having seasickness, vomiting, nausea, drowsiness, headache, severe pain, etc.
Get in The Water
If you are sailing on a big ship that is having all the amenities of a five-star hotel then you can go swimming. You can reduce or avoid nausea while submersing yourself in the swimming pool available on the ship. There are fair chances that you would not be having motion sickness.
Drink Coke
Coke is having phosphoric acid and sugars that are also the content of anti-nausea drugs such as Emetrol. Instead of having alcoholic drinks, drink coke that will help you to avoid nausea and seasickness.
Cruising on Yacht – Be Aware of Seasickness
Seasickness lasts for more or less than 48 hours. When you are going for a cruise, take precautionary measures to ensure that you would not be the victim of seasickness. There are plenty of ways to avoid nausea that is a sign that you are having seasickness due to the motion of a ship or boat on the sea waves. Taking medications, preferred yachts and routes are the main remedies for seasickness!