"Calif Bill" wrote in message
m...
"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:00:41 -0500, wrote:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:16:22 -0700 (PDT), wf3h
wrote:
saw an article in the newest (print) version of 'scientific
american'...there's active research underway regarding an alternative
theory of why people get seasick
the conventional explanation has to do with a disparity between what
the inner ear senses and what the eye sees.
however, there is a growing body of evidence from psychologists
showing that the movement of the body is responsible for seasickness,
and that by standing with your feet about 1.5 feet apart you can
significantly reduce seasickness by increasing the body's stability.
The salty old guys I knew in the Coast Guard taught me to keep my head
still. Try to avoid having your head move around that much. If you are
above deck look at the horizon and use that to stabilize yourself. It
is a similar skill to walking with a full cup of coffee and not
spilling it.
When you are below deck it is a tougher skill to master but that cup
of coffee is still a stable "horizon" to get you in the zone.
Maybe that is why you always see sailors with those huge Navy coffee
cups.
Some guys never get the hang of it and they carry buckets.
I really feel for boaters who still get seasick.
Just seems to me from Navy experience that the vast majority of people
get past it. Personally, it never affected me.
But maybe because I got carsick a couple times when I was a kid.
Built up some immunity.
Except for the new guys hanging over the rails shortly after leaving
port, I never knew a sailor who suffered from seasickness.
Not to say most everybody didn't get a bit queasy when knocked around
for a few days in heavy seas.
--Vic
In my younger days, I only got seasick once. 15 years old. And that was
more the fact that is was a drystack diesel, 10' swells, and 9 of the 11
people aboard were smoking cigars. Only my older brother and myself did
not smoke. My brother always got car sick. Now that I am near 66, I do
get seasick. Especially if I have eaten a donut and drank coffee. And
have to watch out for diesel fumes. Yesterday, went out on a Grand Banks
for the spreading of the ashes of a very good friend. Lots of wind and
big waves inside San Francisco bay going to Treasure Island Cove. Wind
brought some of the exhaust in to the upper bridge area. Made several of
us queasy for a bit. Wind had laid down some on the return trip and I was
doing the piloting and all was OK.
I worked offshore Gulf of Mexico for about six years. Sometimes, it would
take me three days to adjust. After that, no problem. We'd eat, and you'd
have to wrap your arm around your plate and hold your glass with that hand.
Then eat with the other. Then we'd get to shore, and walking down a
straight dock, we looked like drunken sailors weaving all over. When
walking, I felt like the stationary pier was moving.
Steve