Friday, August 04, 2006
It's not easy being green
Seasickness can render any fishing trip miserable, but there are some solutions.
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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When Bob Lindsey's father-in-law invited him on an exotic fishing adventure to Ucluelet on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Lindsey could hardly believe his good fortune.
"He said he'd pay for it," said Lindsey, who lives in Glen Allen. "All I had to do was get out there."
When he got out to Ucluelet, Lindsey was blown away by the spectacular scenery, and could hardly wait for the first of three days of salmon fishing on the Pacific.
The anticipation turned out to be a lot better than the realization.
"We went about 8 miles out," Lindsey recalled. "And as soon as we got there I started feeling bad."
The party soon hooked a salmon.
"I was the first one who got to reel in a fish," Lindsey said. "As soon as I got it in, I threw up."
And the day was just getting going.
Lindsey's father-in-law and brother-in-law kept reeling in salmon.
Lindsey kept throwing up.
"I didn't want to ruin it for them," said Lindsey, a 48-year-old telecommunications technician for Dominion Power. "I was like, I'll just swim to shore."
Lindsey felt bad, but he shouldn't feel bad.
Seasickness is a common malady that can render even the toughest hombres into shivering, vomiting, miserable piles of blubber.
But while seasickness can be difficult to treat, a variety of preventative measures and medications are available. Results vary, of course, but many motion sickness sufferers can find some relief.
Lindsey found his in a medicated patch he applied behind his ear before his second day's trip.
"I did fine," he said.
Motion sickness is caused when the body senses conflict.
Basically, the inner ear senses movement, but the eyes see clues -- interior walls of a boat's cabin, a book, or even a fishing lure that you're trying to tie on your line -- that tell the brain that the body is stationary.
The result?
Fatigue, dizziness and nausea in varying degrees.
The best way to treat motion sickness is, of course, to avoid motion.
But who wants to stand on the dock while his buddies head off to catch tuna and marlin?
Medication is one answer.
Dramamine is probably the most widely recognized over-the-counter motion sickness preventer. The antihistamine has proven an effective treatment for many people.
Bonine, which uses the active ingredient meclizine hydrochloride, is another effective motion sickness medication that's available without a prescription.
A trip to the doctor might yield a prescription for something more powerful -- scopolamine, a depressant that affects the central nervous system.
Scopolamine is often administered through a patch that is affixed to the skin behind an ear roughly eight hours prior to when its effects are desired.
A single Transderm Scop patch, as the medication is commonly known, can last up to 72 hours.
But it might not.
Lindsey's patch worked great for a day, but the next day he was again battling nausea.
"I wish I would have put a new one on," he said.
Scopolamine is also available in pill form. Pills allow for more varied doses and quicker absorption of the medicine.
Many natural remedies are also available.
Ginger has long been touted as easing the effects of motion sickness. Some boaters eat a couple of ginger snaps and are fine.
Bands that apply pressure on the wrist also have devotees, though there's no real evidence that the bands actually have a physiological effect.
But the bands can have a psychological impact, and that can be important, too.
Studies have shown that maintaining a positive mental outlook can help a person stave off the effects of motion sickness.
Chris French of Bedford County pointed out that he always feels better when the fishing is good.
"It's amazing how it goes away when you're catching fish," said French, who said he's gotten seriously ill only once, in 10-foot seas offshore.
French, a 35-year-old manager for PM Transport, also has adopted another ritual that seems to help.
"Everyone I have ever known that has drank a beer before leaving the inlet has never gotten sick," French said. "It's pretty tough to start on a cold one at 5 a.m., but it seems to work."
A cold one to start a trip is one thing, but too many cold ones the night before is another. Most experts agree that heavy seas and a hangover are a bad combination.
Sometimes, nothing works.
"I've tried the patch, I've tried pills, I've tried drinking alcohol, I've tried not drinking alcohol, I've tried eating breakfast, I've tried not eating breakfast," said Bill Jones, a 40-year-old music teacher and recording studio operator from Roanoke.
Jones has given it a good shot, heading offshore seven times.
"I love it so much," he said. "But you know how it is when you are just lying there praying to die.
"I've never felt so bad in my life."
He's reluctantly settled on a solution.
"I've just had to write it off and stick to surf-fishing," he said. "Unless I can find a magic bullet, I'm done."
