Sea sickness

I get really bad sea-sickness. Really bad. I also go fishing, on the sea, a lot. Therefore I have tried and tested many different ways of preventing sea sickness. I thought I would post up a 'guide' to avoiding seasickness while fishing (so I can just link to it rather than reposting it all the time in the multiple fishing forums I spend my life on).

These are in order of importance

1. Do not drink the night before. If I get this wrong, the rest is pointless. Even if you don't (think you) have any sort of hangover, your 'nausea threshold' will be reduced.

2. Get as much sleep as possible the night before. This can be helped by (3).

3. Take a travel sickness pill before you go to bed. Take another in the morning >2h before launch if poss. I use meclozine (meclizine in the US). Which comes variously as "sea legs, Bonine, Bonamine, Antivert, Postafen, and Dramamine (Less Drowsy Formulation).

It's definitely not non-drowsy for me. Funnily enough tho I don't actually feel drowsy until I'm off the water.

Others swear by scopolamine.

4. EAT. Have a decent breakfast and take lots of snacks out with you, ginger-based if possible. Whenever you feel queasy, start eating. This is counter-intuitive for many, but it really works for me. Ginger is the oldest anti-nausea drug there is and general blood-sugar levels/stomach distension are thought to be related to nausea.

5. Avoid looking down. Tie rigs on shore. When retying or unhooking fish, look up at the horizon as often as possible.

6. If you feel really sick, just let it out if you can do so safely. You'll feel better for 20 mins at least. I've caught some of my biggest fish while "chumming". Stay hydrated tho!

7. In a kayak, paddling is better than drifting which is better than being anchored. If you keep feeling ill, try trolling lures for a bit.

8. Take a break if you can (and eat something!). I usually feel better within seconds of stepping on dry land and after 20 mins or so I find I can go back out and not feel sick for a couple of hours.