I will be traveling with my father who experiences seasickness when boats go slow and have excessive rocking. He's fine with large boats and speed boats.
I haven't looked into including any boats for our upcoming trip in Sept as I've read the waters can be rough and sometimes sailings are cancelled.
Should I reconsider?
Edit to include: I'm wondering about boats to Aran or Selling Islands or others around the Cliffs of Moher or along the Wild Atlantic Way
from where to where?
Transatlantic? or do you mean the Irish Sea between England/Scotland/Isle of Man to Ireland?
Good question! I edited the post to be more specific : )
The only thing that works for me is the scopolamine patch and sometimes even that doesn’t work. Your father will have to decide how badly he wants to go to these places and possibly be sick.
For the boats you're talking about, they are more than likely going to be rocking quite a bit. Here's some ideas:
Rather than book ahead and go at reserved times. Take a boat only on a calm day. Check the weather report. There is an app called Windy.com that shows projected winds (green is calmer, yellow windy, red really windy). Buy a ticket when it looks like smooth sailing.
If you're on a boat, smooth or not. There are some things you can do to stave off seasickness. The theory I subscribe to is seasickness comes from your body subconsciously trying to fight the motion - causing your blood sugar to drop rapidly which makes you nauseous. One of the reasons I believe it's the correct theory is everyone who spends a lot of time in water, air or space gets "used to it" and stops feeling seasickness. I believe when you learn to relax, you don't have the blood sugar drop.
For those who aren't "used to it" here are my favored techniques. 1. Eyes on the horizon. Like driving while aiming well in front of you, you make small corrections on the steering wheel and anticipate the corrections you need. Your body will make small corrections and anticipate coming motions minimizing effort to counter the movement. 2. Fresh air. For me, smells are equally nauseating. Don't stay where you can smell exhaust from the boat, find a spot with plenty of fresh air blowing across your face. 3. Sit comfortably with support. If you can find a seat with armrests, it's ideal. Consciously sit still, relax, well back in the seat with your legs spread to steady you, arms on armrests to steady you. This helps keep you from subconsciously fighting the movement of the boat. The more you can relax, the less seasick you get. 4. Don't become dehydrated. Plenty of hydration helps your body in many ways. That said, a trip to the head is the opposite of everything mentioned so far, so don't overdo the diuretics. 5. Keep your blood sugar levels up. I don't like candy for this job. I'd prefer packing carrot/vegetable sticks. Whichever you choose, make sure you've eaten rather than sailing on an empty stomach, planning to eat later. Worst case scenario, throwing up is much easier with "ammo" than with an empty stomach (sorry to be gross).
Note: I'm not really into chemical fixes. If you are going to take a Dramamine or use a patch, wrist band, etc. Use it about a half hour before you board the boat rather than when you start feeling queasy. Waiting until then is too late.
Re the trip over to the Aran Islands from Galway, why not just fly? This outfit https://aerarannislands.ie/ runs daily flights for not much more than the ferry ride, is much quicker, adds a scenic flight into the mix, and removes any possibility of an unpleasant crossing by boat.
For your other proposed boat trips I agree that you can check the forecast a day or two prior to see if sea states will permit a relatively smooth trip.
Absolutely, definitely, for-sure fly rather than taking the ferry to Arann Islands. It's cheap, spectacular, super-fun, and you are in the air for less than 10 minutes (seriously, it's the shortest airline flight you will ever take). Plane is very small though (this is a feature, not a bug). So for those prone to motion sickness, take it as seriously as you would a boat -- but the difference here is that you would only be susceptible to discomfort for under 10 minutes, versus a much, much longer time on the ferry (what, an hour? I only know it's a slow boat).
If you are hoping to go to Skellig Michael (sounds like you might be), it's not realistic to say "only go on a nice, calm day with no wind." You go when they tell you that you can go. The conditions are usually (almost always) rough. If you wait for a calm day with no wind you'll be waiting forever. You will need to deal with the choppy conditions, or you won't be going, period.
Good news: there is one (and AFAIK, only one) highly effective way to beat motion sickness: the scopolamine patch.
I speak from many years of intense, intimate experience -- not my own need (iron stomach here, I actually enjoy that "roller coaster" feeling in the gut), but my dear spouse, who has literally gotten motion sickness in the 3-block drive from home to the nearest grocery store (she says it's the way I drive...). I have never met another person who is more prone to motion sickness than her. Five minutes in a boat (even large ones), small airplanes, cars, buses, trains (yes, trains!), even just sitting in a theater and watching a movie that has too much fast camera movements, wearing a VR headset -- never mind riding on a real roller coaster or even very tame fun-park rides -- she quickly goes green and the rest of the world soon gets some color added. She has struggled with this all her life.
To add to the challenge, I enjoy lots of activities that involve being in conditions that would quickly push her motion sickness buttons. We are scuba divers, and diving requires getting out on very small boats, often bobbing in one place for long periods, sometimes going in very small rowboats or tiny "Zodiac"-type inflatables. We tried every method under the sun to suppress and combat her tendency to "feed the fish." Every suggested "cure" quickly (usually immediately) failed, all seemed to have exactly zero effect. Nothing worked. At all.
Then she tried the Scope patch. THAT worked. Like magic. You do need a prescription to get it (at least in the USA), so check with your father's doc. It's like a miracle, but it does come with some (generally) minor side-effects: dry mouth, also can make you slightly drowsy; be careful not to touch the patch then touch your/someone's eye, if you do the medicine can cause blurry vision. It's serious stuff, so before relying on it "in the wild" do a test run at home under controlled conditions. Also -- IMPORTANT -- it takes hours to become effective, so you must not wait until it's too late to slap the patch on, you MUST take it hours before you will need it. My wife puts the patch on before going to bed the night before she's going on a boat. The patch works for about 2-3 days, giving great relief. It has literally changed her life.
If your dad wants to do the boat out to Skellig Micheal (which is wonderful and memorable, don't miss it if you can make it work), you will need some serious solution for someone who suffers from seasickness. "The patch" worked perfectly for my wife, and she had a wonderful time on Skellig Michael.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
I'm very prone to seasickness - I can get queasy on the dock. The only thing that works is the scopolamine patch. But beware, very vivid dreams when using it. By the way, I have a very experienced boater friend who took the Cliffs of Moher boat trip. It was a rough day on the water and even he felt the waves. People were being sick over the side. Even worse was the bus ride back to town for those who had trouble.
My wife and I both tested the Scopalamine patch before our first cruise, and found that it made us feel like we were walking on the bottom of a swimming pool. So we stuck with the two over-the-counter drugstore remedies used most often in the US. Prolonged use can have an effect on men's prostates, especially older men (like me.) But I don't take the pills 24 hours a day, and skip them if the ship's jump is short, or primarily while we are up and about, not down in our cabin.
I imagine a prescription is still required for this patch? Consult with your physician and ask questions. My elderly father used the patch without incidence, then he couldn’t obtain it because it was taken off the market (that’s what the pharmacist told me), then when it reappeared we got it again and he had a horrible reaction, including serious balance problems and hallucinations. This was some years ago, Dad was 94. I have zero medical training, but it was scary. The ship’s doctor advised us to remove it immediately and said particularly for the elderly it could be problematic. All his symptoms disappeared. This was our experience. Safe travels to all.
A prescription is required for the patch in the US so you will have to talk to your doctor about it anyway. I have been using the patch for years for small ocean going vessels in the Galapagos, the waters off Belize and Alaska. I could not do those trips otherwise as I get extremely motion sickness. Medications can cause problems for some elderly people due to their metabolism. Again it’s always best to talk to your doctor before taking any medication.
My wife has been using the patch for 20 years, when needed (typically on a vacation that involves spending time on boats). Yes, it requires a prescription (after all these years, she just calls her primary care doc and he asks what fabulous place she is off to now) so definitely consult the doc.
Hallucinations? Vivid dreams? Feeling like you're walking on the bottom of a swimming pool? (Sounds like the kind of thing I would have sought out, in my younger days...) Spouse reports nothing at all like that, only feeling slight dry-mouth (maybe not a bad thing, as I sometimes have to remind her to drink some water) and minor drowsiness as many people often feel when taking antihistamines. For her, the patch made (and still makes) all the difference -- like Mary from Reno above, without it she simply would not be able to do all the adventurous things she enjoys.
It's serious medicine, so of course discuss with your doctor (required anyway, because you need that prescription), and before slapping on a patch out in the wild, try it at home first under familiar, comfortable, and controlled conditions.
Thanks all for the info. I'll talk with him about it and see what he thinks. I'm glad to have some first hand experiences and options!
