For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
#1875855
Enforced pitching can be very exciting and sometimes quite terrifying. Simulating stuck aft hydroplanes and practicing incoming torpedo evasion really gets the pulse going - and it has absolutely no effect on stomached contents. “Angles and dangles” is an exercise where, say, the aft hydroplanes are set and held at 5 degrees bow down or up and speed set at just 5 knots to feel the effect - nice and gentle at the start by going astern to recover out of it. The “stuck” angles and speed are increased then, things become hectic when you get to over 20 deg. I was laying in my bunk in the latter stages (its safer there) as stuff that you thought was secure starts to fly about. The inclinometer only goes to about 10deg, so someone tied a bolt to a piece of string and stuck it to a for’d/aft bulkhead. At one stage we had a 57deg bow up angle and I was actually standing in the end of my bunk. A total ballsup really but it was keep at it until perfected.
Torpedo evasion practice sends the boat around at crazy angles too, but with no astern movements to correct. Sending out a decoy out can be fraught - trying to hold on whist operating the submerged signal ejector, which is a dodgy bit of gear anyway.
MikeB, MikeE, flybymike and 2 others liked this
#1875867
back when I worked in oil & gas, I did a trip on a dive vessel from Grimsby to Ghana. It was December 89-90? The ship was only 81mtrs (265ft). It never was the greatest at sea, and then they added a helideck! To meet stability requirements, sponsons were added to the hull. The box shaped bits at the water line.

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We sheltered near Cherborg waiting for the weather in Biscay, until the office said "get a move on!" So we did.

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flybymike, T6Harvard liked this
#1875870
I have been fortunate never to suffer any form of travel sickness, but my wife used to get seasick just looking at a picture of ships. Channel crossings with her were "interesting". :lol: Then after we retired and had more time we did some regular sailing with a friend who had his boat moored on the south coast and she started to get much better. Then her cousin bought a lovely catamaran which was moored in sunny climes and we had some great times on that too before she sold it again. My wife is now almost cured of seasickness, I suspect because she no longer believes she will be sick. (I doubt she would cope with Bill's experiences though :lol: ). Messing about on boats on holiday in Scotland as a boy are among my most treasured memories of childhood so perhaps doing something you enjoy rather than endure prevents nausea?

Interestingly she was also a very nervous flyer, ironic given the nature of her work before retirement, and hated landings in particular. Learning to fly herself cured that, although she drew the line at aerobatics when I suggested it. :wink:

PW
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1875876
Having worked for 3 summers on one of the fast ferries that travelled backwards and forwards on the Irish sea ("The Shortest, Fastest Crossing") I only felt ill from the sea once (and didn't chunder).
It was a rough crossing and someone hadn't stacked the beer store carefully enough and guess who was given the job of clearing up the mess...
Spending 90 minutes in heavy seas, closed into a fairly small room surrounded by the smell of cheap lager and broken glass isn't the best for anyone.
The manager then had me sit in the crew room for the return journey as apparently I stank of booze and she didn't want the passengers getting suspicious / complaining (and we didn't bring spare uniform with us).

In 3 years - I think there were only two sailings where I can remember needing to clean up passenger vomit. I suspect our crossing was too short for it to really kick in (1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on route).
Unfortunately I don't think there are any "Fast Ferries" left on the Irish sea, unless Irish Ferries restarts a service from Dublin. They all burnt too much diesel to be economic (and the one I was in cruised at 38 knots) and the real money is in freight, whose drivers use the crossing as an official rest break, so faster doesn't help.

I've not been on a "cruise" though, unless overnight ferries to Spain count as a kid on holiday.
#1875881
The heaviest seas I ever encountered in my 23 years was on my first foreign trip abroad on a frigate (HMS Whirlwind) -to the West Indies as a young lad. We stopped off at the Azores for furnace fuel oil and when we left there we were straight into it. Our mess was up for’d and 50% of the time we were levitating just before the bows plunged in, then, it was positive G on the way back up. I was a bit green behind the gills for a time. A hammock is a great asset in bad weather - we used them for many years back then. Bermuda (we were about 100 miles out on nav, but we found it eventually)was heaven. The Minches can be awful too - boats transit through on the surface.
#1877309
I was due to go on a cruise with my in-laws (double nightmare!) until it got cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic. With adjacent cabins, I suspect that b*gg**y would have been unavailable as a consolation. I suppose we may re-book. They have only ever been abroad with us, and they want to see the Fjords.

30 years ago, I was on a hovercraft yo France. We'd been told it might be cancelled, but eventually they decided they could get one more out before the weather deteriorated, so let us go but cancelled subsequent crossings. As the smell of vomit grew stronger, people were looking for the 'cabin crew'. Turns out they were in the loos vomiting. Passengers needing to get thre had given up and were vomiting in the aisles. I do not get seasick, but the smell of vomit invariably makes me vomit. I haven't been on a hovercraft since.
#1877482
Two of my Labradorian relatives are 'cultural guides' on the Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland cruises for this (expensive but very well reviewed, with lots of repeat customers) company:

https://www.adventurecanada.com/

They effectively cancelled their 2021 season, but are planning a full programme for next year, including possible circumnavigations