Seasick - 50 Years Ago

I was only seasick once during my four years of active duty in the Navy and that happened 50 years ago this week. I'm a little fuzzy on the exact day but we set out across the Atlantic Ocean the first week of August 1971. We were in the North Atlantic just south of Newfoundland when we ran into a large nasty storm that couldn't be avoided.

I had been to sea several times over the first six months of 1971 on the USS Portland and had experienced some heavy seas along the East Coast and down in the Caribbean Sea but this was different. We were on our way to a short deployment in the Mediterranean Sea near Malta and ran into that large storm. This was my first experience getting seasick and actually the only time for me but it was awful. The storm was making the ship rise almost 20 feet and it felt like riding a roller coaster. Up 20 feet and then down 20 feet over and over again for many hours. I was on duty in the engine room during most of the storm and I threw up into the bilges several times. Lots of fellow crewmembers were sick that day.

A couple of days later we had some wonderfully clear nights as we traveled below Iceland and I got to see the Northern Lights for the first time. I wrote about that experience here a few years ago.

After that I got my sealegs and was never seasick again even in similar heavy seas storms over the next couple of years while sailing around the world.

Getting your sealegs was important not just for avoiding seasickness but just be comfortable getting around on a moving ship. Sometimes the ship gently rocked and other times there were moderate rough seas but there was always something happening at sea. I used to love sleeping when the ship was rocking side by side. It was very comforting. When walking around the ship at sea one always needed to be aware of your surroundings including handholds, stairwells, ladders, hatches because you were always moving. Even tied up to a pier that were often gentle rocking motions.

I mostly did enjoy my time at sea.

There was  a time about 30 years ago when I considered taking a cruise somewhere in the Caribbean on a liner. I thought I might like being on a ship as a passenger and just relaxing. No being down in the engine room or sleeping in a crowded room with a bunch of guys in three tiered bunks. That idea didn't last very long when I really looked into being on a luxury cruise liner. Nope. Of course now we know they are potentially disease ridden floating caskets for heavy drinkers.