Vomit Boat to Paradise

24.03.2010 - 26.03.2010 35 °C
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Alarm bells should have sounded when the ferry tickets came with complimentary seasickness tablets.

It had been a long hot day of crowded local buses and taxis to get to the ferry terminal in La Ceiba and with the few spare minutes before boarding I had found the kiosk and eaten my first magnum in months. As I put the stick and wrapper in the rubbish I was already feeling a bit queasy and was wondering if ice-cream was the wisest decision!

The ferry was large, fast and modern with several decks, a kiosk and a large flat screen tv. I couldn’t decide whether to sit upstairs, which was outside in the sun and hot and muggy or downstairs which was air-conditioned, showing a movie and smelt like disinfectant. I sat downstairs, towards the front – second mistake.

I watched two yachts bob up and down and this way and that as they tried to get through the narrow opening into the calmer waters of the harbour and I started to feel a bit anxious. I have never actually been seasick but I know from several Storm Bay crossings that I do start to feel a bit green when the swell picks up. Then we were all given plastic bags and I thought about getting off and flying instead (and I hate flying)!

The first 10 minutes were fun! The boat lurched from side to side and flew off the top of each wave and hovered mid air before crashing into the next. It wasn’t long before I realised I couldn’t stomach watching the ‘Bring It On’ movie and found my eyes drawn to the horizon. I got hot and clammy, my head started to pound and every time we left a wave I could taste the magnum at the back of my throat – and it was nowhere near as good as it had been 30 minutes earlier! I clutched my plastic bag in one hand and stared at the horizon trying to will myself back from the verge of vomit.

At some point during the 90 minutes of absolute hell I became aware of the unmistakable sound of retching and slowly a sweet acrid smell started to permeate the cool disinfected air. A lot of people were not faring as well as me. Just when I thought I had lost the battle we moved into the calm shadow of Roatan. It wasn’t until the boat had docked that I discovered I could move and talk without throwing up!

It’s not true that you instantly feel better as soon as you step onto dry land. I needed a good night’s sleep before I could appreciate the clear aqua waters and white sands of the Caribbean.