Southern California is blessed, most of the time, with sunny warm weather. Lately, I feel like the weather has a vendetta against outdoor loving weekend warriors. Sunny and warm on the weekdays when people are stuck indoor at work, cold and wet on the weekend throwing a wet blanket on plans. I once try to strike a deal with Mother Nature and asked for rainy weekdays and dry sunny weekends. In exchange, I would plant a tree. That deal was not accepted. Since we had many weekends with rough water conditions at sea, seasickness more frequent. I think it is time we talk about something very sensitive, we are going to talk about the etiquettes of vomiting. Not everyone has the ability to hold and release their vomit on demand.
Most boat captains will suggest and highly recommend vomiting into the trash can in the middle of the dive boat. No matter where you are in the boat, like the galley or the bunk area, the first area outside you come to will usually be a large trash can. It is easily accessible and after you are done, the wash is most likely by the entrance of the galley for you to wash up. You should not throw up over the side of the boat unless it is stopped or anchored. First, you can fall over. People may not notice you falling over. Survival in rough sea conditions is very low and limited. Next, your vomit may not necessarily land in the ocean. It can spray on the boat, on other divers, their gear, and lastly yourself. When that happens, no one is happy. So remember, the appropriate place to vomit is in the center of the boat.
Now how about vomiting when you are diving?! Remember to hold your regulator in your mouth tightly. Your next reflex after puking will be to suck in air and cough. If your regulator is not in your mouth… you get a nice mouthful of seawater. Your vomit will flow out and a few good push of the purge button will clean your regulator up. If you still feel uncomfortable, it is time to end the dive safely.
How about preventing seasickness so we will not be having this conversation? There are a number of things out there that claim they can help with seasickness. For short trips, I normally use Bonine or Dramamine and they work fairly well. I recently tried the patch and it was amazing. There are other products out there but I have not heard much good reviews. Here are a few links to the companies that manufacture motion sickness products. Please consult your doctor first.
http://www.transdermscop.com/
Also, this article below gives very good suggestions on preventing motion sickness.
Written by: Wayne Lu, Apr 12 , 2012
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