 |
It says "airsickness bag" even though it came
from a boat: the Barito hydrofoil that does the Kupang-Surabaya run in
Indonesia.
Thanks to Rita Nur Suhaeti. (2002) |
|
Oh dear, Canadian ferries have the same limited imagination as Canadian
airlines. Except that this one says "pour le mal de l'air"
instead of "pour le mal du mer".
Thanks to Ken Pugh. (2001) |
 |
Boring bag from the Baltic.
Thanks to... sorry, I've forgotten. |
 |
Very little to read on this bag. Make sure you bring a
book for those longer Channel crossings.
Thanks to Steve Jones. (2001) |
 |
The Mayflower Castle ferry runs from Waterloo down the Thames to the
Millennium Dome. I asked the barman for a bag because
"my wife is feeling ill." He searched under the bar, and
produced a big, black plastic bin-bag, large enough for her to climb
into. "We do have smaller
bags somewhere", he said as he gave it to me, "I'll have another look
for you". He eventually came up with this plain old plastic shopping
bag. It's still pretty big -- I had to scan it in three sections. My wife said I
shouldn't lie about her being ill, so I rocked her chair a bit until she
did start to feel queasy. Not quite enough to puke into the bag, though.
(2000) |
 |
You might have expected a more interesting bag from a
firm with this name. But no, seasick passengers on the Scandinavian ferries
have to make do with plain whites. If you're not seasick, you can decorate
your bag instead. On our trip from Hirtshals in Denmark to Kristiansand in
Norway, my son liked his design so much that when
the time came to throw up, he puked on the floor rather than into the bag.
Here's a sample that I managed to scrounge before the
other passengers got to it (it was a rough crossing). (2001) |
|
Airline-style instructions on how to dispose of litter,
cans and cups. Nothing about vomiting. Please do so over the side of the
boat.
Thanks to Matthias Koch.
(2003)
|
 |
A more creative approach to repetitive typography than the Sterling bag featured elsewhere in this
gallery. This one repeats the words "Sickness bag", "Spuckbeutel" and
"Sac vomitoire" ad nauseam, giving the visual impression of verbal diarrhoea.
The purple rubber stamp in the middle is from the "MS Delphin". Don't know where
this cruise ship operates, but it's nice to know that it provides an alternative to
spewing over the side.
See Generic Kard-o-Pak for a very similar bag.
Thanks to Jürgen Klein. (1999) |
|
Looks like the Scandinavian
Seaways bag below, but both the bag and the boat have been renamed.
Thanks to Mark Brace.
(2001) |
 |
In case you missed it, the broad stripe is on the reverse.
Thanks to Mark Brace. (2004) |
 |
Sometimes the instructions are well worth the price of
the bag. "Once been used, close by the dotted line and auto-stick on
the adhesive after having removed the protective paper. Open the bottom
fold to get a bag with a higher stability and better form."
Same as Iberworld, come to think of it.
But which dotted line? (there are three). And should you
be concerned about the stability and form of the bag before or after
you've puked in it?
|
 |
A "seasick bag" with an enigmatic design. The red diagram
could be a cross-section of a hydrofoil or the Chinese character for
hydrofoil.
Thanks to Ken Pugh. (2001) |
|
Features lots of wavy red lines to make you feel better.
Thanks to Matthias Koch.
(2003) |
|
Same wavy lines, but there's now the bagmaker's ACS on
the base. Comforting to know who made the bag you are about to heave into.
Thanks to Alan Howlett
(2003) |
 |
Now this is what a seasickness bag should be like: a
sturdy lurid green plastic with hard-to-open plastic seal at the top and a
tasteless, illegible purple overprinting in English and Chinese. The designer of this
bag must have been colour-blind, or looking for alternative employment.
Thanks to Christian
Annyas. (2002) |
 |
Vomit bag from the Far East.
Thanks to Wolfgang Franken. (2002) |
 |
And another one.
Thanks to Christian Annyas.
(2002) |
 |
Logoless bag from the Flying Dolphin hydrofoil "Cometa 3",
from Rhodes to Symi. Somewhat flimsy paper, but then again, it's only a short trip.
Concealed in the side fold are the Greek words LOUKERH CARTOSUSEUASIES: the name of the bagmaker?
Thanks to Sheila and Geoffrey Mundy. (1998) |
 |
Another logoless Flying Dolphin bag, this time from the "Flying
Nassia", operating from Symi to Kos. A somewhat longer trip than the Rhodes-to-Symi
voyage of the Cometa 3 (above): presumably the reason for this bag's sturdier construction
and greater depth (it's cut off at the bottom because it didn't all fit on my scanner).
Made by the same firm as the Cometa bag.
Thanks to Sheila and Geoffrey
Mundy. (1998) |
|
What does a Boston ferry have to do with a lobster?
Thanks to |
 |
This boat serves the island with the Great Buddha Statue. It must make
the trip in the roughest of seas: the barfbags are a
massive 25 cm wide and 32.5 cm deep. So big I had to scan it in two
sections. Sturdy plastic, with one of those
easy-seal strips like on freezer bags. Ideal for a group hurling session
if you get stuck on board during a typhoon.
Thanks to Winny Sanjaya (1999) |
 |
Not from a boat, but from one of those hovercraft that
used to zip across the Channel between England and France. Rather bumpily
-- hence the need for these bags.
Thanks to Steve
Silberberg. (2002) |
 |
Same as the bag above, but with a straight cut rather than one of those
toothed edges that must take hours to do by hand.
Thanks to Kevin Middleton. (2004)
|
 |
Will someone please tell Irish Ferries that the German word
"Selbstbedienung" means "self-service", not "for your
convenience"?
Thanks to Charlotte Irwin. (1999) |
 |
Don't know where this ferry firm operates, but the water
must be rough: the bag is 60.5 cm long.
Thanks to Christian Annyas. (2002) |
 |
Logo features a dolphin leaping over a globe.
Thanks to Steve Jones.
(2002) |
 |
"...which goes between Punta Arenas and Porvenir (Tierra del Fuego)
in Chile", says Bruce Kelly's
note accompanying this bag. As if I didn't know!
Keep 'em coming, Bruce! (2001) |
 |
More imaginative design than most other boatbags. I just
wish this firm operated in the areas I take ferries so I can collect their
bags personally rather than having to rely on the bagmaker to send them to
me.
Bag kindly supplied by Kilian
Verpackung. (2001) |
 |
Slightly darker blue.
Thanks to Christian and Gerhard Lang. (2004) |
 |
No, not the Spanish Navy, but a ferry company in the
Canaries.
Thanks to Sam Green. (2003)
|
 |
Hop on a Calais ferry at Dover, and this is all you get. Not much
consolation for the demise of duty-free booze.
Thanks to Mark Brace.
(2000) |
 |
Plastic bag from a ferry company in China. Features a phone number in
case your bag bursts and you need another one.
Thanks to Dietmar Ebert
and his tour group. (1999) |
 |
One of the nicer boatbag designs I've seen. Restrained
but pleasant.
Thanks to Leszek Szalapak. (2003) |
 |
Otherwise plain bag festooned with franking marks proclaiming that this
bag was "Posted on board Queen Elizabeth 2". Presumably stolen on board, too.
No, I haven't been on the luxury Cunard liner: I got this bag from Jürgen Klein in exchange for a
Yeti. (1999) |
 |
From its size (a roomy 29.2 x 15.2 cm) and design, I
guess this is a boatbag intended for longer trips. "In case of
travel-sickness", it says in Norwegian and English, "after use
please close the bag and place it on the floor." Unfortunately you'll
risk dirtying your shoes: the bag has a pointy base, so won't stand
upright.
Thanks to Graham Curran.
(2002) |
 |
Another unpronounceable bag from the Nordkapp in Norway.
Thanks to Josef Gebele. (2002) |
 |
The bag that Nelson Mandela could have used when he was released from
jail. They might at least have put some printing on it...
Thanks to Mark Brace. (2004) |
 |
Cross-Channel, apparently.
Thanks to Wolfgang Franken. (2002) |
|
From a "pirate ship" plying the waters off the
Algarve, in Portugal. Sadly identical to the generic Delphin bag above,
without the redeeming rubber stamp as proof of provenance.
Thanks to Hamish Goldie-Scot.
(2002) |
 |
What a helpful bag: "Anyone can become seasick," it tells us,
"even the toughest sailor. Fatique, [sic] hunger or any form
of stress can be contributing factors. You may obtain, free of charge,
seasick tablets from the information office."
Tablets or no, not many passengers are going to get sick on the ship
pictured on the bag: it is becalmed on a mirror-smooth sea.
Thanks to Stuart Hickson.
(2000) |
 |
This company offers plain whites on its Danish
Bøjden-Fynshav line. (2001) |
 |
I think I'm going to give up crossing the Channel by alternative routes
in search of a decent barfbag (or indeed, any barfbag). Unlike the Eurostar train, the SickCat (sorry, SeaCat)
catamaran from Oostende to Dover does at least provide a sickness receptacle. But alas, so
depressingly plain! Now that duty-free has gone, perhaps they might consider spicing up
their barfbags to attract custom? (1999) |
 |
At last! A seacat bag with printing.
Thanks to Wolfgang Franken. (2002) |
 |
A deep, deep bag: ideal for those longer Channel crossings.
Thanks to Ted Griffiths. (2000) |
 |
The name is now in purple, not black.
Collected this one myself on a cross-channel ferry (2004) |
 |
Long, thin and deep, just like the Channel.
Thanks to Kevin Middleton. (2004) |
|
Shameless commercialism on this bag. "Simply take
Avomine for the prevention of land, sea and air travel sickness. Simply
take Avomine at bedtime for round the clock control."
Better remember to pick some up before you leave, though
-- it's pharmacy-only medicine.
Oh, I think this bag came from New Zealand.
Thanks to Alan Howlett. (2003) |
|
This Mandala
airbag lookalike comes from the Serayu, a ferry plying the Kupang-Denpasar
route in Indonesia.
Thanks to Rita Nur Suhaeti. (2002) |
 |
At least that's what Wolfgang
Franken says it is.
|
 |
Anyone care to translate "För illamående
pahoinvointiin" for me? (I think it's a mixture of Swedish and
Finnish for those rough Baltic crossings.)
Thanks to Mark Brace.
(2001) |
 |
Even bigger than the bag above. Took me three scans to
capture all its glory. It has an enigmatic "7.01" printed at the
top (sadly not visible in the picture).
Thanks to Mark Brace.
(2003) |
 |
This is the bag you get if you take the jetfoil from
Ibiza to Formentera.
Thanks to Matthias Koch.
(2003) |
 |
Jürgen Klein, the source
of this bag, says it's from a ferry company in the Canaries. So why's it called
"Trasmediterranea" then? Last time I looked, the Canaries were in the
Atlantic.(1999) |
 |
The firm has added its name in case you don't recognize the logo.
Thanks to Christian and Gerhard Lang. (2004) |
 |
I was led to believe this was an airbag, but I've just
realized it comes from a Hong Kong ferry operator. Sorry for misleading
visitors all this time.
The firm's website
has the slogan "Charting new horizons". Not exactly what one
expects from a ferry operator, is it?
Thanks to Bill Clark. (2001) |
 |
Now in black-and-white.
Thanks to Wolfgang Franken. (2002) |
 |
Now with a pointy base, so it won't stand up. Either hold the bag, or
toss it overboard into Hong Kong Harbour. Better still, spew directly into
the harbour, and send the unused bag to me.
|
 |
Otherwise known as Denizyolları.
The anchors on this bag have become tangled -- the cause of the ferry
being late?
Thanks to Pinar Dinçer. (2002) |
 |
This firm specializes on the Malta-Sicily run.
Thanks to Christian and Gerhard Lang. (2004) |
 |
I assume this is a bus firm, though I haven't looked it
up yet.
Thanks to Wolfgang Franken. (2002) |
|
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