Seasickness

 
  Seasickness.  Hate it. Get it.  Was in the navy and got it every time the ship left port.  Very first time underway, the ship had entered the "VaCaps" or Virginia Capes  out of Norfolk VA. and 15-20' seas. for 2 weeks shake down cruse.  For a 585' long ship 20'er are sizeable but the ship can handle them with ease. 
  As the ship started to roll back & forth, I found myself actually stepping on some of the walls while heading to wherever it was I was going before the nausea monster found me and put a smack down to me hard.  Soon I was a lump of barfing flesh, collapsed in the locker area of the crew complex my bunk was in.  "Man from Glad" As I was affectionately called by All the "old salts" as I had a Glad trash bag looped around by belt to contain the projectiles I was heaving. (And lesson the amount of barf I would have to clean up, which I did! )
 After what seemed like hours I was told to get up and make my way to the mess deck where Saltine crackers and 7-UP were available.       
  Since I had just about dry heaved any and everything I had in me out, I was not sure I would be able to move.  With help from one of the non-seasick guys, I manage to stand, and the room wasn't spinning any longer.
   My head still hurt, but the nausea monster that was so heavy earlier seemed to have shrunk some now and my pain had lessoned some.
   The ship was still rockin & rolling and staggering down the hallway was still a difficult task as I was being tossed back & forth between the bulkheads as I moved back to the mess deck.
  My ship, the USS Virginia CGN-38 was  585 feet long 63 feet wide.  My CC (Crew Complex) was in the bow just in front of the forward missile mount magazine.  So it was an exciting ride in bad weather!
  At the mess deck I discovered was not alone.  I recall about 8 guys arrived on the ship same time as I did, and most of them were in the same shape as I was.
  The duty cook at the time had a case or two of the Saltine crackers out and each of us had our fill, washing them down with 7-UP on tap.
After the crackers hit bottom I was certain, they would be making a reappearance but they stayed down!  I was on the road to becoming a sailor at last!  It was probably an hour later when I was able to function normally, head ache gone, rib cage sore from barfing and dry heaves, but I was alive again.
 The ship was still rockin & rolling heavily, (Thank you Captain Bob for finding the roughest waters possible for my maiden voyage)   but walking down the passageway's this time was not that difficult now, (As it had been much earlier) I was told I found  my "Sea Legs"   
  After the dinner service, when I was able to have a real meal I felt 100% better.  Hydrated properly, fed, that nights sleep was the best I had ever had to that point!  The ship rocked me to sleep! (Exhaustion probably had a little say with the heavy sleep)
  After 3 years onboard, every time the ship left any port we were in or at, my nausea monster did return , but it was only a slight "Hey there, I'm here" sensation behind my eyes and it never really bothered me again. 
   After really long deployments at sea, when we got back home  I found that I would walk funny when on land!  I hadn't lost my Sea legs yet!  Some time (Hour or two it seemed) I would feel different while on land.  That was a strange sensation for a 19yr then.
  Today, it doesn't take long for the nausea monster to find me, if I'm on open ocean water Un medicated. (Lakes I'm safe)
  I come to realize back then, that if I did get sick, it wouldn't last long and I'd recover pretty fast after heaving.  I was immortal then.  Not so immortal now.  Don't much like Seasickness!
 

Man, that is a fantastic read. Thank you. That would fit nicely into any book of short stories about the ocean, sailing or anything related to the subject. Thanks again. I will be seasick soon but it means I'm doing what I love to do.

That's brutal!  My wife's grandfather told similar stories about returning from WWII and crossing the north Atlantic in shitty weather, guys just rolling and puking all over.  Needless to say, they were awful grateful to finally see the Statue of Liberty (for several reasons).

Nothing like having to do it to get over being sea sick! I was coming from Hong Kong to Hawaii on the USS Tarawa when we hit a pretty bad storm. Of course on the TV they were showing "the perfect storm" with George clooney. Right when the movie got to the big storm we hit a batch of big waves. The TV ripped out of its wall mount and shattered on the floor! Crazy  .

I always felt bad for the new guys who got sea sick. Thanks for sharing the story!

dont eat JITB before launch either ..I was a Navy Corpsman 

I took a long hiatus from fishing due to seasickness issues.  Been getting back into it lately and have been fighting it with Dramamine.  Haven't noticed ill effects from the medicine and haven't lost my lunch yet.  Not sure if my stomach has matured or its the meds working better than they used to.  Either way, I am sticking with this formula!

The  bad thing about being seasick is feeling like you are going to die but knowing you won't.

dont eat JITB

good advice in all circumstances.