Preventing the onset of seasickness, or coping with it once it rears its ugly head at you or others in your party, can be a matter of life and death.
“A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree.”
Spike Milligan
Any paddler who has suffered the green-gilled demon of seasickness, with the dizziness, nausea, excessive salivation (or worse!) has wished he were instead sitting under a stationary shadetree.
What is Seasickness?
Seasickness is characterized by dizziness, vertigo, nausea, and/or fatigue brought on by a perception of chaotic motion such as the pitching and rolling of waves. These are debilitating enough for sailors, or airplane or train passengers. But for open-water kayakers, who rely on their own ability to remain upright and under control, the problem can be downright dangerous or even life-threatening.
Preventing the onset of seasickness, or coping with it once it rears its ugly head at you or others in your party, can be a matter of life and death …
What Causes Seasickness?
Seasickness or motion sickness is caused by a part of the inner ear sending signals to the brain that do not match the sensations of motion generated by the eyes. For example, while seated comfortably reading a magazine aboard a ship or plane, your immediate surroundings appear to be a stable, motionless place, when in fact the vessel is pitching and rolling. Your eyes see one thing while your built-in motion/balance sensors detect something very different.
It’s this mixed signal which confuses the brain, causing nausea, dizziness, and worse. We’ve all experienced this, in cars, subways, elevators, planes, and of course large boats. But there is great individual susceptibility to seasickness, with one person positively reveling in the thrill of a lurching ferry boat or looping rollercoaster, while another may be sent to his knees merely by setting foot upon a floating dock.
Kayakers typically do not suffer these mixed signals, since we are so immersed in our environment, and so our eyes and ears usually agree. But if you mentally ‘expect’ a certain stability, or if you tend to think of your little vessel as something stable and steady, when in fact it is bobbing about on the waves, this mental disconnect can lead to motion sickness.
Preventing & Treating Seasickness
Avoid overeating and drinking too much water before paddling, as well as all alcohol.
Once on the water, resist the tendency to visually concentrate on your foredeck or the small area directly around your boat. Instead, expand your visual range to a large circle surrounding your kayak, then work on expanding that range even further, all the way to the horizon. And try letting go of the inherent mental expectation that your kayak be solid and steady.
Even when travelling on large boats, I can usually avoid the onset of seasickness by sitting near a window where I can watch the horizon, or stepping out on the decks for an even better view and some fresh air, and just to let the boat roll beneath me.
Natural remedies you might try: chewing gum, saltine crackers, ginger (candy, cookies, or tea), and ice water. Over-the-counter or prescription medical remedies that may help: Dramamine, Bonine, Scopolamine pills or skin patches, or Ephedrine, carried in your paddling first-aid kit. Friends have had good results with magnetic or acupressure anti-seasickness wrist bands, too.
Try some of these possible solutions, and acclimate yourself to increasing time spent in choppy waters. There is evidence among sea captains and NASA astronauts that you can indeed train yourself NOT to get motion sickness.
Seasickness First Response & Rescue
Contact Tow
Should someone in your kayaking party become overcome by dizziness and nausea while on the water, and unable to paddle or stay upright, immediately position another kayak alongside them to prevent a capsize! The incapacitated paddler can steady himself or drape his body over the deck of the assisting kayak, even while vomiting if necessary.
If the seasick paddler cannot recover soon and your group consists only of you and the victim, you may have to employ a Contact Tow: with the sick kayaker firmly clutching your forward decklines, paddle forward while pushing them and their boat backwards to the safety of shore.
Rafted Tow
If other paddlers can assist, you can utilize the easier and faster Rafted Tow: while a third paddler steadies the victim as described above, attach your waist-belt tow line to the bow toggle of the victim’s kayak, and then tow both of them to safety.
Once ashore, assist the seasickness sufferer to a comfortable place to rest, preferably sitting upright, and offer light starchy snacks and water, especially if they have vomited. Once they have regained their composure and are able to keep light food down, administer any appropriate medications mentioned above. Resume paddling if possible to do so without becoming sick again.
In general, to avoid seasickness trouble when kayaking, stay loose in the hips, roll with the swells, and paddle on!
Do you have any experiences or remedies for seasickness? Tell us in the Comments section below!
The first picture says it all! I appreciated this article because the writer was clearly writing from experience. Most articles on motion sickness are written by “experts” who have never had the problem, or only very mildly. I love the piece of advice that says “Just relax and think about something else.” Ho ho! I now use Sea Bands or similar (acupressure wrist bands) every time I travel, and I don’t get sick (air, bus, train, boat, car) when I have them on. I am not as susceptible when I’m paddling because, as the author pointed out, there is no disconnect between what I see and what I feel. Thanks for this article.
Thanks for a good article. I have one question; in the Rafted tow, does the tow line attach to the victim’s boat or to the assistant’s boat? The diagram and the text don’t seem to agree.
Margaret, thanks for spotting that!
I’ve corrected the illustration: as stated, the tow line should indeed be attached to the victim’s kayak, while the second rescuer rafts alongside to help steady the victim. This way, if for some reason a fourth rescuer is needed to relieve the third, the switch can be easily made with no need to detach-attach the tow line …
As a rule, it’s also a good idea for your smaller team members to serve as the assistants, to help ease the burden on the lead towing rescuer, who is essentially doing all the paddling for THREE!
Thanks again!
Hi, this is a fantastic article. While out tonight I got really motion sick we had to come back to harbour we were a group of three kayaks, I had my 10 year old son on board with me and the swell was rather unforgiving! I do find keeping my eyes on the horizon and like the article says not on the immediate area around the kayak helps. It took a few minutes to correct my mind but the feeling became not so severe and we got back although very tired we were safe. Thank you for the artical I will try out the recommendations above.
Great, sounds like you were able to suppress the effects of mild seasickness before they became too uncomfortable, or incapacitated you.
Glad these tips helped, and happy paddling!
Thank you for this. Went out to try ocean kayaking yesterday. I have had no problems kayaking in my sit-on-top while on the intracoastal or a river. But I couldn’t even make it 100 yards down the beach! Found the horizon, did my best to keep breathing, only a light swell of 1-2 ft did me in. I headed back to shore while my husband supervised. Then he continued out to the reef.
I was so upset as I truly wanted to enjoy the day. I am going to invest in the sea bands and watch what I eat prior to heading out next time. I mean, we live in south Florida and I so want to make the most of our beautiful surroundings by kayaking!
Jeni,
Hope these tips help!
Also, try acclimating yourself to ocean swells very gradually, by first paddling in glassy-calm water (if you can find it!), then progressively more rolly stuff.
One mental technique I found helpful in my early years of kayaking was to imagine myself as a seagull on the water. They just paddle along, seemingly without a worry, up and over waves several times higher than their own heads, creatures of the ocean!
This particular terrestrial mammal found he could learn a lot from a bird …
If you haven’t already seen it, you may enjoy this day trip near Pensacola Beach, FL.
https://superiorpaddling.com/pensacola-bay/
Good luck!
Excellent tips for safety here, I’ll definitely share with my kayak fishing group. Thank you!
I’ve been kayaking the bay and harbor for about 2 months now and never got sick or even experienced seasickness symptoms when the wind picked up and made the conditions pretty choppy. Large ships and small fast vessels speed through all the time and create wakes. Still, no problem at all. So, today’s paddle out to the ocean should have been no different. But of course it was! I ended up experiencing symptoms while out on the glassy waters with rolling swells.
What the hell happened here?! Why all of a sudden? The ocean surface water was glass.
Other than the rolling but not chaotic roll of the swells, the conditions were great! My symptoms not so much…turned around after about an hour out there and headed neck to stable land. Jumped in the cool ocean water and the symptoms immediately vanished. What was different here from all other times?
Ginger, sorry to hear about your recent bout of seasickness!
Like car- or air-sickness, upset stomach, or even the common headache, these minor ailments can strike at any time, and often without a clue as their cause. For sea-sickness, any number of factors can combine to bring it on: recent fatigue or stress, hydration level, something you ate, the intensity and direction of sunlight, etc..
We cannot always prevent the symptoms of seasickness while paddling, but the important thing is how to deal with it when it rears its head. Sounds like you did the right thing by keeping your wits and heading back to shore, to paddle another day!
I’m currently staying in Vanuatu. I’m not a kayker.I went out for a paddle on Tuesday morning for about 45 minutes in very calm water (basically a bay with normal ripples and no waves) and did a 30 minute paddle that afternoon with the “ripples” being a little larger but in no way waves or even the same as boat wakes. It is now Friday and I still feel like I’m bobbing up and down. I don’t feel nauseous and I’m still eating. I can walk fine and even be in a car. It’s when I’m sitting that I feel like I’m still moving. Any help you can offer?
Steve,
Sorry to hear of your dizziness, especially considering you’re on holiday in such a beautiful place!
I’m no physician, but if your dizziness has lasted for a few days, it’s possible you’re experiencing a bout of vestibular neuritis, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or some other more persistent medical condition.
We normally maintain balance using a part of the inner ear that uses sensitive hairs to sense movement of minuscule stones called otoconia, which move around as your body changes position. Occasionally those stones or other debris can become dislodged, causing dizziness, nausea, and loss of balance.
Generally speaking, these conditions can be caused by low blood sugar, low blood pressure to the brain, migraine headaches, head injury, and the aging process, among others.
These can be triggered by actual seasickness, a minor cold, or even air travel.
I would suggest making sure you are adequately hydrated, rested, and perhaps try over-the-counter treatments like antihistamines, Meclazine, or Dramamine.
Here’s more info on Balance, Dizziness and Vertigo:
http://www.michiganear.com/ear-services-dizziness-balance-vertigo.html
Hope this helps!
Jeff
Great article. If someone is reading this, they’ve most likely been sick, and are looking for the “cure,” so I’ll post this here.
I’m a life-long ocean enthusiast, but I can get sea sick. When it happens, it’s bad. If I don’t get off the water immediately, there’ll be puking. I’ve been so sick, it took days to fully recover.
That said, something I found that works is ginger. I think even Myth Busters did something with motion sickness, and ginger worked for them, too. Some people will take tablets or capsules, but being in Japan, I’ll get it in my food. When doing a sketchy crossing where it’s lumpy enough, I’ll put some Japanese ginger candy in my mouth for the entire paddle, and have yet to get sick like this.
I’ve also found that when I was sick, something that can stop it in it’s tracks once off the water is ibuprofen. Don’t know why or how, but I don’t believe it to just be anecdotal. Maybe something to do with the muscle relaxer/anti-inflammatory properties and how the eyes, ears, and other sensory inputs all come together. I just know that once I get sick, I would puke for sure, but if I get 200-400mg down quick enough, it will take the edge off enough that I can avoid turning green.
Anyway, cheers, and thanks for the great articles.
Matt
Hi Jeffrey,
I would love to link to this article in the Inland Sea Kayakers resources page, citing it as a Superior Paddling article. Is that ok with you? If so, would you like a different attribution? I’m currently building the site, so the URL is not live yet to share with you. It’ll be going up within a month, though.
Best, Alida
PS. I’ve needed towing on Superior thanks to seasickness. Thankfully I was with skilled paddlers who handled my rescue situation beautifully. Dramamine has become my best friend.