Tips and tricks for Seasickness:How to not puke!

Date: 13. November 2023
Position: Roscoff, Harbour
Etmal: 0
Total: 463nm
Ship: Regina Maris

Yesterday evening, our Captain Michael told us some exiting news.
No endless hanging around in harbour anymore, Wednesday we will cast off. But as soon as the first excitement had faded away, you could find the first hints of worry in our conversations.

The last trip with our ship took a catastrophic turn:
Constant sickness, understaffed watches and a graveyard-like messroom was standard condition.
So, what can we do to prevent something like that happening again?
Personally, I trust in the experiences and tipps of others!
Here you can find some interviews with tipps and tricks, that can help you not to puke out your breakfast.

How was your Seasickness?

Our interview volunteers Margaux, Luisa and Stella were so kind to share their experiences with us today:

Aurelia: “Luisa, how did you feel during the trip from Calais to Roscoff?“

Luisa: “I unfortunately vomited into my bed once. I had like this special sick feeling. I spent 45,5 hours laying in my bed sleeping.“

Aurelia: “Margaux, did you also have the same feeling as Luisa? What did you recognize besides that?“

Margaux: “There‘s no comparable feeling to seasickness. You feel dizzy and always think you could lose your orientation. I was one of the worse cases and now I can understand what Johan meant when he said, ‘You will feel like you get run over by a tractor’ to everyone during the application interview.“

Aurelia: “Stella, you were also more or less not able to do anything, right? Do you want to explain that?“

Stella: “The worst thing for myself was, that I always felt sick but I was just not able to puke. It was horrible! Besides that I couldn’t rely on my sense of balance and I ran into stuff all the time. You could hear it, if I was walking somewhere! Bumm, Buff!“

Tips and Tricks, what helped you?

Because of the terrible situation Stella, Margaux and Luisa were able to collect some suggestions to regulate the symptoms. Maybe you can enjoy the next unstable days with them.

Aurelia: “If I’m already with you, dear Poltergeist, what helped you Stella?“

Stella: “Sleeping! When I had the opportunity to get into my bed and close my eyes, I did it immediately. Not only that you can’t get seasick during sleep but your body also gets used to the movements of the ship. In the few moments I wasn’t sleeping I just distracted myself. I repeated the ABC backwards multiple times. I’m actually pretty good at it by now.“

Aurelia: “Luisa, your tip is probably also sleeping. Your record with 45,5 hours of sleep is only broken by two people on board. What else carried you through this time?“

Luisa: “Actually, yes! Motivate yourself! In the worst moments I reminded myself that I am really at Ocean College right now and that the best time of my life is before me! You will instantly feel less like vomiting when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.“

Aurelia: “Well, now we have a good arsenal of tricks against most of the symptoms, Margaux do you have any more things for prophylaxis?

Margaux: “Definitely eating enough! Before we got outside of the harbour I ate a whole Tuck package and drank one liter of water in one hour. Tobias‘ cream cheese sandwiches were a real life saver.
It’s also very good to have a view of the horizon. Seeing that not your whole world is moving calms your head.“

Aurelia: “Thank you guys. I really enjoyed to hear your puking experiences and we are all grateful for your sharing and caring.“
See you next time at: Tips and tricks, How to not puke!

Extra:

V.I.P advice from Sanja, our record holder with 27 times of vomiting:

Sanja: “I’m thankful to be here as a V.I.P! All I can say is that you should stand instead of sitting or laying down, even if it feels bad the first minute. When you stand you can see and feel the movements of the waves. I hope this trick will help you!”

Credits to Elisabeth. Thank you for helping me translating this text to English!