“I would have paid double to see you chuck it over the side all over again.” – Stephen (after we were safely back in the harbor)
Stephen had an excellent idea to take me deep-sea fishing while I was visiting Yamba. I love fun adventures like this so I was all for it! I’ve been on many boats before; whale watching boats, sailboats, ski boats, a lobster boat, heck I’ve even been on a yacht in the Great Barrier Reef for ten days and did a little deep sea fishing there as well. Nothing has ever happened to me like what happened on this fishing excursion. I want to immediately forget the entire day but it will probably be mentioned in my obituary if Stephen has any say in the matter.
This was one carnival ride you ain’t getting off until it comes to a complete and full stop at the dock in the harbor after an eight-hour ride…no matter how many times you puke over the side of the boat. No mercy for the sick.
WARNING: If you don’t want to hear about seasickness and vomiting, you might want to skip this post.
Stephen had set up everything in advance with Reel Time Fishing Charters. I’m telling you, he has been a wonderful host.
The day started out fine and dandy. I was excited and awake 40 minutes before my alarm was set to go off at 4:45 am. We had to be at the dock at 5:30 am and I was excited to get there. We were a little early but a few people were a little late so we left the dock and set out for the big ole ocean at about 6:20 am. There were ten guests and two staff on the boat. We were having a great time on the way out to sea. Laughing and joking. Taking photos and videos. The ride was beautiful. The sun was just starting to rise as the trollers were coming into the harbor with their seafood hauls from the night before. We saw what was either a shark or dolphin fin just a little distance from the boat. Everyone “ooooo’ed and ahhhhh’ed.” It was a little misty when we started our voyage but with a little bit of rain came four beautiful rainbows.
I’m telling you, the beginning of this excursion was lovely.
Cole our Captain (and Stephen’s friend) took us pretty far out into the ocean – we rode for at least an hour. Once he dropped anchor and started to cut up some fish for bait, I looked at my watch because I was starting to feel a little bit uneasy in my stomach – it read 7:37 am. The boat had been stopped for a good ten minutes. I stared straight at the horizon as they tell you to do when you start feeling nauseous and I told myself I was fine. I wasn’t fine. At 7:42 am, I handed my hat and sunglasses to Stephen, tied my hair back like a lady, and proceed to make myself vomit the little bit of water I drank before we left, over the side of the boat. Stephen could not help but laugh..and take photos. He said, “if you don’t have a photo, it didn’t happen.” (Eye roll)
I said, “listen, you always feel better after you throw up so I figured I’d manage the situation so I can enjoy the rest of the trip. I don’t want to feel awful for another six hours.”
My idea did not work. I felt awful for another six hours.
Stephen kept saying “take deep breaths.” But every time I did I just felt worse. The lingering smell of fish guts was constantly in the air from the bait Cole chopped up earlier in the morning. 🤢
I told myself to focus. Concentrate.
I really wanted to catch a fish. That’s the point of a fishing trip, right? I was bound and determined to try to enjoy myself even though I secretly wanted to throw myself into the ocean and become fish food. Or shark bait. Or a snack for whatever sea creature was swimming below who could put me out of my misery.
I asked Stephen to hand me a coca-cola. I had heard that the syrup coats the stomach and helps with nausea. It worked for about 20 minutes. I was able to drop a line in the water and pull it back up before I had to take my hat and sunglasses off again and throw up the coke. Ugh.
I put my feet up on the edge of the boat and tried my best to get into some sort of sitting-up fetal position. I felt a little better. For a few minutes.
When I lived in NYC I studied Chinese Medicine at The New York Open Center with my friend Drew. I remember him saying ginger is a natural plant to help with nausea. They use ginger tea to help pregnant women deal with this issue. Given that I was in Australia I was hoping they’d have a Bundaberg Ginger Beer on board. I asked. No, sorry, only cokes and water in the cooler. Dang, it!
I started thinking about all the acupressure points I had learned about in another class but for the life of me, I could not remember where the point for this particular situation was so I just started pressing points on my hands and ears. I thought it helped for a moment, but no such luck. I vomited again.
I looked at my watch again. 9:38 am.
This was not good. Cole had previously said we would head back to the dock around 1:30-2 pm. I had at least FOUR more hours of feeling like this.
I thought, “Okay, I’ll try to sit up, focus on the horizon, and keep myself occupied with trying to catch a fish.” I dropped another line in the water. Very quickly, I caught one! It was a baby but I didn’t care. I caught a fish on a fishing trip so I considered this a successful adventure. My trip was now complete. I didn’t care if it was the size of fish they normally catch off the dock. It was mine.
Cole measured the fish and threw it in the cooler. It was big enough to be a keeper. Woo hoo! Well, my day is complete. Can we go home now?
I puked five more times over the edge of the boat. I hadn’t eaten anything except for the Chinese dinner the night before and that had pretty much been digested. So this was just my guts. Dry heaving is the absolute worse. I don’t think I’ve ever been this violently ill in all my life. Highlight: I think I did gain a new ab muscle or two during the entire ordeal. Always looking for that silver lining.
The rest of the trip was pure misery. I tried every position possible to feel better. Cole gave me a tablet at some point but I just threw that up too. Stephen said he has never seen anyone turn that shade of white/gray before.
Sadly, there was one other person on the boat who was just as sick as I was. Her name was Maya and she was about 8-10 years old. Stephen told me later that we would vomit in unison. Me off one side and her off the other. Dear Lord. I was so out of it, I had no idea what else was happening on that vessel.
On a high note, I found out at the end of the ride, that the group caught a ton of fish. Cole asked everyone to stay and get their photo with the fish but I made a beeline for solid ground so I could recalibrate with the earth. Stephen found me later lying under a tree in the shade. I went to bed at 7 pm and didn’t wake up until 5:30 am the next morning. That is one experience I will never forget…although I wish I could.
My apologies that this story was more about seasickness and not so much about deep-sea fishing. I’ll make sure to take a nausea pill before boarding the next boat. Whoa.
Goodnight and much love from Australia. 🇦🇺