Sailing to the Bahamas? Keep Seasickness Out of Your Intinerary
The Bahamas is a great destination vacation—it has several hundred miles of sandy beaches, plenty to explore in and around the sea, and favorable weather all year round. Taking a charter yacht to the Bahamas can be a great way to enjoy the sea and the islands up close. However, if you've never taken a boating trip before, you might be prone to getting sea sick. If you're planning a charter trip, take a moment to learn more about sea sickness and how you can help to avoid it on your Bahamas vacation.
What causes sea sickness?
Seas sickness is an intense form of regular motion sickness, and it is caused by mixed signals from your senses. For example, when you are below deck, your ears, which are responsible for orienting your body and balance when you move, can sense the rocking motions of the waves—but your eyes may not see the movement. The competing signals can often cause a physiological response where you become nauseated and dizzy, and develop intense headaches.
What can be done to prevent it?
If you get sick riding in a car, you can anticipate that you might feel sick on a boat. Take some time to prepare for this eventuality by doing the following:
- Rest. Your body has a more difficult time regulating and interpreting sensory information when you are lacking sleep. Before you trip, take the time to stop packing and get as much shut-eye as you can to make sure your body is completely rested and energized for your vacation.
- Pack some pills. Allergy medications actually work very well to help prevent against seasickness, especially ones that are intended to help control vomiting, like dimenhydrinate. If you are especially worried about motion sickness on board, take one before you set sail, just as a precaution.
- Keep snacks with you. Keeping your stomach consistently full can help to stave off seasickness symptoms. Have some saltines or pretzels in your pocket to much on whenever you might feel queasy.
- Avoid the drinks. Anything that makes vomiting or nausea worse when you have the stomach flu often makes seasickness worse as well. Alcohol, especially, can aggravate your symptoms. Tell your captain or charter host about your possible motion sickness problem and ask if an alternative beverage, like sparkling cider, can be served during cocktail hours or with toasts.
- Sail at the right time of year. Fortunately, choosing a charter course to the Bahamas is not as bad as sailing through the Atlantic ocean. The Bahamas and areas of the Caribbean are generally quite smooth. However, rough seas are a possibility more in the summer, as hurricane season on the Atlantic coast and Gulf Of Mexico can lead to choppy seas. For smoothest sailing, choose to travel in winter or spring.
If you do get sick, how do you make it stop?
Even with preparation, there is still a chance that seasickness can hit you hard. You might be tempted to stay in the cabin until it passes, but this can actually extend the length of the illness. Instead, go to the deck and get some fresh ocean air. Fresh air helps to revive the senses, and seeing the open ocean helps your eyes, ears, nose, and feet all send the same sensory information to your brain: you're on the water, and the water is moving.
You can have a safe, enjoyable trip from start to finish if you know how to prevent a serious bout of seasickness from ruining your holiday. For more information on planning your boat trip to the Bahamas, contact a charter yacht Bahamas company.