I do a fair bit of offshore sailing and I am usually queasy for the first few days. I then 'get over the hump' and become pretty bulletproof after that.

Sure there are some who never recover as long as they are at sea but most do fine once they acclimatise.

Next time you go out, make it for at least 2 days (preferably 4) so you can see if you are one of the majority of folk who get better after being green at the first.

Cheers,

Peter Le Lievre

Best of luck in ;your journey and I hope you get all the elements together for a record breaking Atlantic crossing!

Tony

Talk to your docter about phenergan. It is also available in suppository form if you are experiencing the worst case senerio.

Frank Ladd
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Roughstuffrowing/

You have a REALLY great suggestion regarding the trampoline. I used to be a competative gymnast when I was younger and did a lot of tramp work.

My son Cody is a competative diver.

(WARNING: Dad bragging content ahead: Cody is top 10 in Canada and recently qualified for Canadian Olympic trials in Vancouver next month. He has been recruited by Duke University where he is enrolled in the Engineering faculty starting next Fall. He was also offered partial scholorships to Notre Dame and Northwestern)

Anyhow, I was playing around on Cody's trampoline a while ago and I was really surprised at how dizzy I got after only a few easy moves. My body still remembers how to do a full twisting back flip, but I almost get sick after doing it. I think a bit of daily practice on our trampoline could really help me.

Dramamine – chemical based control for seasickness.

Accupressure wristbands – accupressure based control for seasickness.

Trampoline Training – used by gymnasts to desensitize the inner ear balance function to constant up/down, rolling and twisting motions that you are experiencing on the ocean. You have to practice as many forward, backward and sideward flips you can accomplish over at least a one hour time so the cilia in your inner ear get used to the sloshing around of the inner ear fluid. Only then will your balance get used to the conflicting sensory overload that is seasickness.

As to comments by you and others that you need to reduce rolling, pitching and yawing:

While the reduction of these motions would be more comfort inducing, they would probably entail larger (more drag), heavier and more numerous underwater control surfaces, which would penalize your limited power output. The underwater portion of your pedal drive unit already consists of a foiled wing, which acts exactly as a daggerboard, so there is no need to add another daggerboard. Just make your existing foiled wing go slightly deeper. A deeper rudder would reduce yawing when running into or down waves. A double rudder to increase rudder area would provide redundancy, but not significantly increased rudder control when pitching into and over waves.

Your boat's tendency to roll, pitch and yaw is natural given the mogul-like conditions you are facing in the open ocean. Trying to resist those motions will always result in sapping your forward motion. That is why on calm days you would do well to pedal harder and take it easier on the rough days. Of course a following sea and wind will help enormously, so make weather mapping a high priority like the transatlantic sailors do.

The only way you are going to eliminate directional "wobble" is to have flat calm seas. Given that the ocean's surface is affected by wind conditions up to hundreds of miles away, you can't obsess too much about how straight your course is since some cork screwing motion through the ocean is largely unavoidable.

All in all your effort and thought in this project are admirable and inspiring! I will be watching from the sidelines and wishing you success in this adventure.

Wow, those were some seriously big waves! Shouldn't your drive leg or ballast mount fin act like a dagger board?

I hear that after you puke your guts out for a couple days you get used to it. So you have that to look forward to. Better stock up on the dramamine.

I don't think the equatorial Atlanic seas should be that rough so you should be ok.

Keep up the good work,

Google doesn't like my password anymore.

-Warren.

Chapter One: Well Done!

a design for bumpy water:

On flat seas, same as Within.
But on bumpy seas, everything changes:

From recumbent supine to prone position (twist torso 1/2 turn so laying flat on belly), becomes like laying on a surfboard while paddling with feet (like superman flying).

The bow is now the stern, so you'd need a window in front and back. And an adjustable console for gauges etc.

It's like a recumbent bike that swivels forward to become a mountain bike.

Have you ever seen a seasick duck/dolphin/seal/pelican? no. why? because their face is leading their body posture, not a reclining seated posture.

I would have designed Within to enable both forward/recumbent and reverse/prone travel.

But I'm not an expert, could be wrong.