I feel seasick! This didn’t come as too much of a surprise as I knew I was prone to it. It isn’t always bad but it’s always there. I had hoped that after 2 months of sailing that I would have completely adjusted. I haven’t.

I really should have prepared more!

I did some minor preparation before leaving:

• Travel sickness tablets – I bought these without much hope that they would work as I distinctly remember these making me feel sick as a child on long journeys. I just googled which ones were the best and bought those.
• Wrist Pressure point bands – I tried these when I first went sailing with Neil. They didn’t work much, only seemed to prolong any sea sickness.
• Positive thinking – maybe a bit naive?

The failure of these made me realise that I should have prepared more thoroughly. Since the travel sickness tablets didn’t work I tried a Greek pharmacy – unfortunately the ginger/vitamin travel sickness tablets I bought there just gave me heartburn. Next time I would definitely buy all the different types of seasickness tablets I could while still at home (as Neil advised – he keeps reminding me!)

Poor Finlay seems to be affected the same as me but luckily Conall doesn’t mind the motion too much.

Bad weather makes it so much worse

The weather obviously has a big impact on how the boat moves. The stronger the wind, the higher the waves – which build up even more over open spaces. And, the higher the waves the more the boat rocks. If the wind is heading into the side of the boat you get a lovely (really not lovely) sideways motion. This is the worst! Rolling from side to side is very uncomfortable – especially when trying to do anything in the cabin. I’m clumsy enough at the best of times but getting flung from side to side ensures many bruises. And doing anything in the cabin while the boat moving always makes the nausea worse.

Today we were heading straight into the wind, the only kind you can’t sail with. It gets very loud and windy as your speed adds to the apparent wind too. The boat moves up and down – not quite so stomach churning but not very pleasant. We have also been travelling around Greece during the Meltemi winds which are dry northern winds caused by a high pressure system from the Balkans and low pressure systems from Turkey interacting. These winds cause large gusts increasing the size of the waves, they also make the wind speeds harder to predict which makes sailing more difficult.

Coping with it as best I can

Some days are better than others, and we don’t travel every day. (Especially when stuck in a marina waiting for more repairs). It’s common that the wind is always against you sailing in the Med – we’ve certainly found this so far, but soon we are heading west and on into the trade winds which should be more stable.

So far I have one method which always helps keep the nausea at bay. Sleeping! Even a lovely short nap can clear a lot of the seasickness. Neil doesn’t find this too helpful, so I’d better get back to exploring options at the pharmacy.