Seasickness

The conversation at breakfast this morning was about seasickness and whether I am worried about being seasick on the voyage. The optimist in me thinks that I won’t get too seasick, because I never really got it too badly in the past. Generally, I only felt woozy on the second or third day at sea. Hopefully, it will be the case this time. Yet, I also wonder if things have changed now that I’m a lot older and not quite as sturdy on my feet. Let’s hope not.

Having been on board with crew members suffering from seasickness for days at a time, I know what a miserable business it is. The memory of pale faces clutching railings still sticks with me. I once saw someone glaring out to sea, desperately searching for a horizon in the rolling waves, trying to stare his stomach into submission. It didn’t work.

Dave’s recipe for avoiding seasickness was to always have a little something in the stomach. His grand theory was that his stomach was somehow directly connected to his inner ear. This meant the inner ear could send out distress signals that triggered nausea and vomiting, but the stomach, in its wisdom, could fire back a reassuring message: all is well here, no need to panic, everything under control. Obviously, there is no scientific basis for this whatsoever. Yet, I’ve used it whenever the seas turned choppy, and even through two pregnancies, telling myself my stomach was giving my balance system a calm thumbs-up.

Of course, I’ll take along my medication, but it will be tucked away somewhere between boxes of bland crackers and plain cookies. The crackers are my first line of defence. The pills are my last stand. Somewhere in the middle is sheer stubbornness. We’ll see if it works.