Since we have a lot of first-time sailors as guests aboard Tortuga, we’re particularly sensitive to people getting seasick. Nothing can ruin a day faster or potentially turn someone off from sailing forever than spending the day vomiting over the side of the boat . To that end, we implement our own seasickness protocol.
Firstly, identify those who have been seasick before or who suspect that they might be prone to it. Many people have experienced motion sickness before and already know that they are at risk.
Our first line of defense is Sea-Bands, a simply wrist bracelet that uses acupressure as a means of staving off motion sickness. Per the Sea-Band website, “A plastic stud is attached to the inside of the wrist band which exerts pressure and stimulates the P6 (or Nei-Kuan) acupressure point. It has been proven that pressure on this point relieves nausea and vomiting”.
We carry both the adult and child Sea-Band sizes onboard and give them out freely to anyone that may want them. They are unobtrusive, washable, and reusable, so for the price we found them to be a great investment.
Next on the protocol is ginger. Ginger has long been used as an alternative medication to prevent motion sickness. Pretreatment with ginger (1,000 and 2,000 mg) will generally reduce nausea. We carry bags of candied ginger that people can chew on, We also have ginger beer, but normally reserve that for Dark ‘n Stormies
Now medication. Scopolamine patches, sold under the brand name Transderm, can be applied prophylacticly to people that simply know that they are going to get seasick. These work similar to antihistamines but often have fewer side effects. In the States you need a prescription, but any family physician would be happy to write for them.
Next on the medication list is Benadryl 50mg. This will generally work, but will induce drowsiness, and your stricken crew member or passenger will likely sleep the rest of the day. If they are having a really rough time of it, this is not necessarily a bad thing from their perspective.
Our final medication step is Zofran (ondansetron), an antiemetic that is often prescribed to cancer patients to prevent nausea.
Other measures that we encourage are obviously to watch the horizon. This means dissuading people from spending too much time below decks. We also encourage people, especially kids, to take the helm for a while as it forces them to keep an eye on the horizon.