What is Sea Sickness, Why Does it Happen, and How to Prevent It?
Sea sickness is a form of motion sickness and occurs after spending some time on a craft on water. This type of sickness is brought about by the rocking motion of the craft and is characterized by nausea and in extreme cases, vertigo. Some people are vulnerable to the condition after only a minor stimulus while some are immune, and others immune through exposure.
Causes or Triggers for Sea Sickness
Sea sickness is not a virus and is not infectious. There are some factors that can bring on sea sickness relatively quickly. These include going below deck for extended periods of time, looking through binoculars for long periods, and staring at objects your brain will interpret as stable (reading, needlework, and the like).
Preventing Sea Sickness
There are some methods to help deal with sea sickness without the use of medications. Here are some tips to help prevent sea sickness:
Staying busy and keeping your mind occupied like fishing.
Staying on deck in the fresh air.
Take deep breaths and drink plenty of water.
Don’t cruise on an empty stomach.
Try and sleep off the sickness.
Cruise in relatively calm waters.
Cruise in vessels equipped with stabilizers to help eliminate the rocking motion that causes sea sickness.
All of these tips will help distract your brain from the rocking motion. Keeping occupied is important as it helps trick the brain into believing that you are uncomfortable from the constant rocking motion of the vessel. The fresh air also helps eliminate the sickness rather than staying indoors or in your cabin the whole time. While it may also be best not to cruise on an empty stomach, it should be remembered that fatty and spicy foods are not the best type of food to stock on before going on a cruise as this can trigger sea sickness.
A rigging needle is simply a needle used for rigging bait to help aid on offshore fishing such as: Trolling, Kite fishing, or live-bait fishing. One end has a hole where the thread is placed while the other end is sharp to be able to penetrate the bait/lure body.
How to Rig the Bait
Of course, there are many different ways to rig your bait, lure, etc. In general, you have to understand that something that you are about to rig to the line. What is it made of? Does it have a head and a body? What is the shape and type of its head? These are just some of the things you have to deal with.
Learn when to use a leader and what leader to use. Select the bait or lure. Cut several pieces of bow string (or other sturdy string), prepare strings as many (or more than) as your lures/baits. Get some pieces of Dacron or similar material. Glue all these stuff together and use a rigging needle to stitch them securely, making sure to arrange them in such a way that you will maximize your chances of landing as many fish as you can.
There are needles readily available, though you can also make your own.
Making Your Own Rigging Needle
What you need is a piece of wire coat hanger, file, hammer, and a drill with a 1/8” drill bit. It is quite simple to improvise a rigging needle. First, untwist the coat hanger and cut off a 12” piece (make it shorter or longer, depending on your bait; 12” is good for rigging eels). Use a file to sharpen one end. Use the hammer to flatten the opposite end. Drill a hole in the flattened portion and that’s it – you’ve just finished making your own needle.
Mainly used in deep sea trolling, outriggers are a pair of long poles fitted on both sides of a boat that holds fishing lines away from the boat. It is usually made of fiberglass and aluminum, and is tilted at an angle between 70 to 80 degrees.
When being used, outriggers are lowered to an angle nearly the same level as the water’s surface. At the edge of each outrigger is a pulley with a cord, attached to which is a quick release clip that holds the fishing line. Once a fish strikes, the line is released so that it can be landed with the use of the traditional rod and reel.
Generally, outriggers improve the chances of a fish striking because not only does it allow the angler to cover more ocean space, it also permits the use of multiple lines. Because outriggers allow the use of multiple rods and reels, anglers can troll as many fishing lines as it may allow, thus, simulating a school of bait fish. It also allows the leader out of the water, thus, preventing bubbles that may scare the fish away.
Outriggers also hold the fishing lines at a distance from both sides of the boat, spreading the lines far enough to prevent the risk of tangling. With more lines in the water, the angler can set them at different distances and depths that can create a variety of natural patterns to increase the chances of a strike.
The shallow, rocky reefs are also home to many fish species, however, trolling in these grounds are dangerous. With the use of outriggers, the fishing boat can stay in the safe deeper water while the lures are positioned to graze the shallow waters.
Catch and Release! Save the day for other Marlin fisherman to come! There is more to fishing that anglers should be and must be aware of. For those who do not yet know, recreational fishing has made a great impact on the fish population and their habitat. This impact has caused a decline of several fish species and is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately. One of the best ways to answer this problem is through the observation of conservation techniques when fishing.
Conservation Techniques:
Handle your boat properly while on the water. Fishing and boating always go together. No fishing can occur without the aid of a boat. However, when fishing in shallow waters, a boat can cause huge damage to a fish habitat. It can chop up underwater vegetation and stir up sediments that can affect aquatic vegetation.
Fishing gear, especially lost or abandoned ones can harm fish and other underwater creatures. Lost sinkers made of lead can be toxic when mistaken for food and swallowed. Discarded fishing lines can cause strangulation or starvation when accidentally swallowed for food or tangled up with an underwater creature’s body part.
Resist dumping garbage and other belongings in the water. Dirty water is poisonous and can risk underwater wildlife. Remember, whatever fish eat, you end up eating too.
Always think about the possible invasion of non-native plants or species in your local fishing spot. Before heading home, make sure to rinse off your gear and shoes. Do not use live bait if it is prohibited and do not dump extra and unused bait into the water if it is prohibited. This can cause competition between native and non-native species. In some cases, non-natives have outnumbered native species because of these habits.
When catching and releasing, make it an effort to handle your catch gently and carefully. Many fish that have been caught and released end up dying because of improper handling.
Florida boasts of having over 8,000 miles of coastline as well as 4,500 miles of inland waterways. With this much water for cruising, it is no wonder that boating is such a popular sport in the state. Many boaters often find themselves cruising over Florida waters and its waterways for the sheer beauty of it. Many types of boats have graced the waters of Florida ranging from mega-yachts to wooden skiffs. In Florida, owning a boat is as normal as owning a car.
Florida Waterways
The wonders of boating in Florida are further enhanced with its waterways, passages where boats can pass through for maximum boating experience. There are many waterways maintained by the Florida Inland Navigation District, the two most common and popular are the Intracoastal Waterway or ICW and the Okeechobee Waterway.
The ICW is also known as “the ditch” and is a natural but dredged channel. This channel extends 500 miles down the east coast of Florida to the tip of the Keys. This is a very popular boating route because it runs through rivers, creeks as well-dredged canals, giving boaters an extremely great variety in boating experience.
The Okeechobee Waterway, on the other hand, is composed of 135 miles of boating route. Extremely popular during the summer, this waterway runs along the St. Lucie Canal from Stuart, across the lake, then on to Sanibel Island via the Caloosahatchee River.
Just as cars park in a parking lot, boats do so as well but in ports. Boats aren’t just anchored anywhere. There are many great places to anchor in Tampa including across Ponce Inlet in front of sandbar of the Island; the anchorage in Boca Chica Harbor; and the bayside by Sand’s Cut. Brevard County also has a great place to anchor such as sand Island across Tampa Inlet.
Boating Rules and Regulations
It is recommended that before purchasing a boat or even before boating in Florida, especially for those new in the area, to get acquainted with the state’s boating rules and regulations for a safe and legal boating experience.
A rigging needle is simply a needle used for rigging bait to help aid on offshore fishing such as: 
Mainly used in 
