"LoboTx" wrote: "I'm sure this topic has been addressed before, but I'm a
newbie to this group so bear with me....

I recently took my kids out on a charter from Port Aransas, TX. Although we
were on a decent sized boat (36 ft), the water was pretty rough and my
daughter got very, very seasick even after taking some OTC Dramamine Plus.
She toughed it out for awhile because we started catching fish (Kings), but
the other two started turning green eventually and I had no choice but
returning them to shore. Incidentally, these "kids" are all in their early
20's and I don't
think it was a mental thing.

My questions a
- Is there a better drug for this ailment? I've heard Scopolamine patches
work better. Any first hand experience out there ?

- How long does this illness generally persist? Once on shore my daughter
recovered quickly. I assume the lack of motion did the trick, but would she
have adjusted and felt better after a few more hours on the boat ?

- I had a choice of a new Bertram 35 footer, a 1986 Chris Craft Commander -
31 footer, and the boat I chose, which was an old restored Navy work-craft
(type unknown). I chose the latter based on the captain's reputation for
catching fish and the price was slightly less. I wonder if this choice made
a difference ?

I plan on going again in the near future and would like any/all information
in hopes of talking my kids into trying it one more time."

I been on several offshore trips and cruises. My first trip offshore was
with an employees club group. I was bound and determined that a little sick
seaness would not ruin my trip. I chummed over the side and fish at the
same time. Three others in the group went to sleep in the quarters below
deck.

On my next trip offshore, I was bound and determined, I was not going to get
sick. I had read in a local sports magazine on a method to prevent sea
sickness. It called for you to take Dramamine 24 hours before the trip and
one every 8 hours. This should put you taking a dose just before you get on
the boat. Take an extra Dramamine and also take a tagmet tablet. The
tagmet tablet will ease the stomach to help prevent the stomach from
turning. Take another tagmet when you feel your stomach starting to turn.
Pepcid AC can be used instead of tagamet.

The last time I went on the employee's club offshore trip, they bet on what
time I would get sick, They did not tell me about it until we got back to
the dock. Since no one won the bet, they handed me the money claiming I won
since I did not get sick. The winnings were almost enough to pay for the
trip plus the tagmet and dramamine.

Other things you want to do:
1: eat a non greasy breakfast.
2: Stay where you have fresh air blowing in your face.
3: Face forward and try to stay in teh middle of theboat.
4: Don't stare at anything, scan the horizon.
5: Find something to occupy their mind except for things like reading and
playing hand held computer games.
6: Drink plenty of water.

This site has some information on sea sickness. http://seasickness.co.uk/

I purchased a prescription patches for my kids on their first cruise. They
worked fine. The last cruise, we went on my 18 year old daughter got a real
bad case of seas sickness in the middle of the cruise. She went down to the
courtesy desk and the ship doctor gave her a pill. 15 minutes later it was
gone. The waiter at our table told her to go down there beacuse they keep
them available for the crew. Not sure what they gave her but it worked real
well.

Sarge