Had some fun today
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Speaking of seasickness...
When D4 and I visited Boston, we decided to take a "whale watching tour." The day of our excursion, the seas were quite choppy, and the company offered to give us a raincheck for another day. Since our time was limited, we decided to forge ahead.
The physiology of motion sickness is interesting. It's when your brain gets conflicting signals about motion. Your inner ear will send motion signals to the brainstem along with head position secondary to gravity. If you close your eyes, you know if you're lying down, turning, or moving. However, on a moving platform, such as a boat, train, or car, your eyes might start sending a different signal. So, if you're below decks, or reading in a car, your eyes will tell you that you're stationary, but your inner ear will tell you that you're moving. Conflict, and your brainstem doesn't like conflict.
As we departed the dock, the guide got onto the PA and told us that if you're feeling seasick, the WORST thing you can do is go below decks and sit in the toilet. Everything you see tells you that you're stationary, but your vestibular system says, "Oh, no...you've moving."
I remember reading a book while traveling in a car with my parents and feeling vaguely unwell. Putting the book down and watching the scenery go by ended that feeling.
Oh, we did fine and enjoyed the whale watching.
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@George-K said in Had some fun today:
Speaking of seasickness...
When D4 and I visited Boston, we decided to take a "whale watching tour." The day of our excursion, the seas were quite choppy, and the company offered to give us a raincheck for another day. Since our time was limited, we decided to forge ahead.
The physiology of motion sickness is interesting. It's when your brain gets conflicting signals about motion. Your inner ear will send motion signals to the brainstem along with head position secondary to gravity. If you close your eyes, you know if you're lying down, turning, or moving. However, on a moving platform, such as a boat, train, or car, your eyes might start sending a different signal. So, if you're below decks, or reading in a car, your eyes will tell you that you're stationary, but your inner ear will tell you that you're moving. Conflict, and your brainstem doesn't like conflict.
As we departed the dock, the guide got onto the PA and told us that if you're feeling seasick, the WORST thing you can do is go below decks and sit in the toilet. Everything you see tells you that you're stationary, but your vestibular system says, "Oh, no...you've moving."
I remember reading a book while traveling in a car with my parents and feeling vaguely unwell. Putting the book down and watching the scenery go by ended that feeling.
Oh, we did fine and enjoyed the whale watching.
If you're in a small boat (small for near offshore) jump overboard and swim a bit or just tread water. The sea sickness goes away pretty quick.
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@George-K said in Had some fun today:
Speaking of seasickness...
Me too.
A fishing trip from Islamorada in the Florida keys.
The boat people said it would be a rough ride, but it was our last day, so we went.
They said we would be out for 4 hours, no matter how sick anyone was.
I caught the first fish and spend 3.5 hours leaning over the rail.
The sad thing is I spent so much time explaining to student pilots how to avoid it. Eyes on the horizon, no booze, no spicy food, deep breathing, focus on the job at hand.
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I have never experienced or recollect experiencing any type of motion sickness. The one time I was on a large ocean going ship it was the ferry between Cherbourg, France and Weymouth, England. The passage is normally a six hour crossing, but the rough seas that day caused it to be a pitching, rolling and crashing eight hours. A lot of passangers literally turned green from sea sickness. I had a couple of pints of bitter and fell asleep from the motion. Woke up feeling no worse for wear about a half hour before arriving into port at Weymouth.