Surviving a Pelagic Trip
and actually enjoying it!

---

I am one of those unfortunate souls who gets seasick far too easily to enjoy pelagic birding. In the words of one veteran pelagic trip leader, I get sick "before the boat leaves the harbor". Most of the recollections of pelagic birding trips are brief, naked-eye views of birds in between trips to the back of the boat. Needless to say, studying birds in detail was simply not possible.

This all changed on the 14^th of August, 1999. Not only did I not get sick, but I never even felt nauseous during a trip which was described by Debi Shearwater as "pretty bumpy" and several other people were sick on the boat. During the bumpiest part of the trip when the boat was teetering from gunwale to gunwale while we were waiting for the storm petrel "flock" (one bird), I was calmly munching on my snacks and waiting for the bird to show up. After the trip, we headed to a little store and I wolfed down a sandwich and a beverage. What happened?

I can only attribute my success and unmitigated enjoyment due to the regimen that I will describe below. While much of this is standard preparation for pelagic birding, the standard preparation is clearly insufficient for people subject to moderate or severe motion sickness.

The night before:

• Eat a bland meal and avoid alcohol, though one beer probably wouldn’t hurt
• Apply your Scopolamine patch, a.k.a. "The Patch" behind one ear

Breakfast:

• One plain bagel, optionally toasted
• One small glass of non-acidic fruit juice, e.g., pineapple juice, or better one small glass of milk. Do not ingest any more liquid than this and avoid coffee (and probably tea)

At the dock:

• Go to the bathroom before you get on the boat whether you feel like it or not
• Take one Marezine tablet ½ hour before the boat leaves dock. IMHO, Dramamine and Bonine are useless
• Take one Zantac tablet at the same time
• Make sure you don’t ingest any more water than a mouthful when taking your pills

During the trip:

• Stay out of the cabin!
• See above
• Snack continuously. I like those little baby carrots and pretzels, but this is very subjective
• Drink only as much plain water as you need, and never more than one mouthful at a time
• Repeat the Marezine dose every four hours or even more often if it’s really rough
• Pop a Rolaids or equivalent at the first sign of any gas in your stomach
• I keep all of the above in a belt bag which is always with me. A daypack is too big and the belt bag I can open and get things out of in a matter of seconds.

Why does this work (conjecture and caveats)?

• The Scopolamine gives you a baseline of stability while the Marezine does the bulk of the motion sickness control. I actually could feel the Marezine wearing off, but it was only enough to remind me to take two more pills. I can’t say whether a doctor would recommend combining these two drugs, but I had no problems from it and know of others that have done so as well. If you are a small-framed male or female or have other concerns, talk to a health professional on this matter.
• I’m claustrophobic as well, so going into the cabin is a disaster. Also, by not keeping much fluid in your stomach, I think it mitigates gas formation, though I don’t claim to understand why. If you need something in the cabin, ask someone who doesn’t get seasick to get it for you. Having a belt bag with everything in it encourages snacking and timely reapplication of the chemicals, which is key.
• Ingesting mouthfuls of water or other liquid in a short interval seems to invite gas formation, though I don’t know why. While minimizing your fluid intake invites dehydration, it eliminates the need to use the restroom on the boat (instant seasickness!).
• Snacking is important to keep your stomach from getting completely empty and mitigates gas formation.
• Obviously the Zantac controls gas formation
• The Rolaids is fast acting and controls any bursts of gas that the Zantac doesn’t handle.
• I think the mental factor is overrated. I was convinced that I would get sick on this trip (I had had food poisoning earlier in the week) but clearly the regimen prevented seasickness from occurring.

For a clinical comparison of Marezine and Dramamine, go here.

If you have any questions, let me know.

NOTE: As with any prescription and non-prescription medication, you should check with a health professional before using the medication in conjunction with any other medications you might be taking.

Home

---

You can contact me via email.