Our Boat's Medical Kit

Preparing for cruising takes quite a bit of planning ahead. In this post, I will talk about our medical kit and what we are packing into it.

We took the kids to a final checkup last week (dental and also their pediatrician). While there, their pediatrician went through an extensive list of medicines we might need, discussed our plans in the event we need to contact him, and so forth (I'll post a list below later on in the post). After a hug good-bye and bon-voyage wishes from the office, we were checking one more thing off the big list! We still need to acquire Sunny's medication from the vet, which will also go into this bag (she takes a pill for allergies and fleas).
Jared and I are seeing our own doctors for our own list of medicines next week.

We also ordered a huge medical kit with additional supplies and enough room to store all of this "just in case" medicines. This comes with a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, CPR equipment, and a large variety of bandages, and other supplies. It will be a tight fit, but I think everything will pack inside there nicely. It is perfect for the boat, bright neon-orange, water-proof, and clearly labeled. We will store this along with our bright neon-yellow ditch bag.

A frequent question we are asked is how we knew what to ask for. Basically, after reading other sailing blogs and talking with our medical professionals, we arrived at a general list of "just in case" medications and supplies to have on board.  We also have search and rescue experience (Jared was a part of the SAR team when we lived up in the mountains), have taken multiple CPR, first aid, and emergency responder courses (most recently last summer), and will have the ability to contact our medical providers if the need arises.

The medical kit we ordered came with the following supplies:

*stethoscope
*blood pressure cuff with gauge (aneroid sphygmomanometer)
*CPR pocket mask and a face shield
*foil bunting
*diagnostic penlight
*forceps
*gloves (disposable)
*bandage scissors
*emergency airway kit (set of 6)
*rescue blanket
*instant cold packs and heat packs
*burn dressings
*ll sorts of different sized bandages, gauze, tape, and surgical dressings
*sting pads
*ammonia inhalants
*alcohol prep pads
*PVP prep pads

In addition, we also added:

SAM Splint (multi-use splint)

*neosporin (antibiotic ointment)
*motrin (for kids and one for adults)
*tylenol
*aspirin
*nasal spray
*tums
*pepto bismol
*additional bandages (band-aids, waterproof, variety of sizes)
*vitamins
*sunscreen
*aloe vera gel (for sunburns)
*aquaphor ointment (for dry skin / irritated skin / good for chapped lips as well)
*saline drops for the eyes
*white distilled vinegar (for stings)
*apple cider vinegar (this helps takes the sting out of a sunburn)
*all of the prescriptions from our doctors: variety of antibiotics, skin creams (to combat a multitude of infections), eye drops (to combat a variety of eye infections), ear drops (ear infections), inhalers (for asthma), stomach meds (traveler's diarrhea, worms, etc)), cough syrup, and I am sure I am forgetting something (will update when I go back through the kit). Of course, we will not administer these without first consulting our doctors.

I am sure we will continue to add to this list as we go along. If you have a suggestion of something we should have, please comment below! Countdown to setting sail is about a month away!

MUST HAVE Boat Essentials!

Here's my growing list of MUST HAVE sailing gear for living aboard as a family.

1. Turkish Towels are amazing! They are super lightweight, wick moisture away quickly, and dry even faster! They are large enough to wrap around as a light blanket if needed and fold up very small = super storage saver (and on a boat, that means a lot)! The fact that we can use these several times before washing is fantastic and saves this mama loads of laundry in the long run! I even took it a step further and tested these babies on our BVI trip last year. I never needed to use any of the towels the charter company provided. I cant' recommend these towels enough as I just LOVE them! In action in the BVI pic:

2. Biodegradable sunscreen is just a no-brainer. Protect your skin while protecting the environment at the same time. Here is one we used in the BVI:Biodegradable, Reef Safe Sunscreen  

There are quite a few others out there on Amazon.

3. Besides sunscreen, some other items to provide protection from the sun: 

Hats (preferably with a strap incase the wind picks up) These are what the kids have.  

Polarized sunglasses with a floating strap (no more lost sunglasses). I recommend the straps that float. These are the ones we have, but there are lots of other options out there. 

Long-sleeved rash guards are also a good idea. They help keep your skin protected while out in the water, as well as from stings from jellies.

4. Dry bags (waterproof storage): These help keep everything dry whether you are traveling from shore to the boat or just sightseeing in the dingy.

Dry Pack duffle bag

Dry Bag Backpack

Universal Waterproof Case

5. Boat toys:

SUPs: We got three stand-up paddle boards on sale at Costco last year and they are an awesome way to get around! Watch for their end of summer sales. We got ours for about $100 each, marked down from $400! We are bringing these with us, as well as a couple of surf boards (also purchased on sale at Costco).

Swing: We have a swing that can hang from the boom or one of the shrouds. Ours is similar to this one.

Hammock: We like to hang ours from the boom!

Beach Mat: This one is awesome! The sand just falls through to the bottom. We also have the tote that is made from the same material. No more bringing sand back on board!

That is the top of our list for now. We will add more as we go!

The 'WHY are we doing this' post

Jared introduced me to sailing back before we were married. We would take his little 16' Hobie Cat out onto lakes and sail it to a remote camping spot. We loved the feeling of being out on the water and the freedom to go where we wanted.

Fast forward to marriage, careers, and three kids later. We sold the Hobie Cat and moved up to sailing a 32' monohull, joined a racing crew, and brought the kids along. While we continued on with our typical suburban life, we never gave up on our dream of setting sail someday. Jared and I worked like crazy, while also raising our kids. The years were flying by!

We discovered that life was getting away from us. All we seemed to do was work, drive the kids to their activities, work again after the kids were in bed, and then do it all over again the next day. We found that the words "too tired" ventured into our vocabulary much too often for our liking. Our kids were growing up so quickly before our eyes, so we decided that NOW was the time to go.

We would finally have quality time with our kids and each other, while exploring this amazing world together. What  better way of seeing things from different perspectives and embracing what the world has to offer, than together as a family. This is the best gift we could ever give to ourselves and to our children. And get this, we aren't the only ones who see things this way!

Here are some other families that decided to ditch surburbia and head out on their own adventure 

Dessert First 

Around N Circles

Totem

Maple

Terrapin

and quite a few more over in the "blogs we read" sidebar!

Will you always be out at sea?

Of course not. We will spend most of our time on the hook (at anchor), tied up to a mooring, or in some instances, berthed at a marina. We require the internet for work, so we won't really be far from land, except on long passages. We plan on crossing the Atlantic in November 2017 and then the Pacific sometime in 2018. While out at sea, we will still have ways to communicate and access the internet (its just a bit more expensive).

What about pirates?

Yes, we know about pirates and this activity is monitored internationally. Thanks to the many cruisers out on the big blue, there is a lot of information out there. We are not going to any of those risky areas and will always do our research before setting off for a new port.
We have the necessary equipment on board to keep us safe and in communication with the world at all times.

What about storms?

Sailors know how to read the weather. Not only do we have this equipment on board, we are experienced and know how to stay safe. We won't go anywhere until we have a good weather window. Safety equipment such as a life raft, ditch bags, EPIRB, etc. are all on board, as well as a few other items we threw in for extra measure. We are extremely safety conscious. Just ask our kids!

How long?

The plan right now is about two years, however, if we really love it, we will find a way to keep doing it.

Don't the kids need to go to school?

Yep and they will! Stef is a teacher, so we lucked out in that regard. We've got it all planned out.
Stef's taught combination classrooms before, so this isn't any different; it's actually better because she can just focus on teaching our own kids. Check out the education plan here.

What if you get sick or injured?

We certainly hope this doesn't happen, but are prepared in the event something does. We began talking with our medical professionals about a year in advance of leaving. We took classes on medical training, obtained prescriptions for all sorts of medicines to bring on board, conducted hours of research, and talked with other cruising families.We have quite the extensive medical kit for both the family and the dog. The kids pediatrician and dentist are excited to be our "boat doctors" should we need to call or email them for anything.

Any more questions? Send us an email. 

Taking Precautions

Jared and I have read a lot of books on sailing, blogs about sailing, and hit up our yacht club members and our race crew on The Soggy Dollar (our Erickson 9ll). There are so many stories out there of incidents occurring while on passage, far away from land and immediate medical help. While we will have the ability to make contact with our doctors back on land, we feel we need to do a bit more preparation in this area. OK, a lot more!

There are so many variables out at sea, that we feel we need to do all we can to be prepared for the worst. This morning, we finally began the search for EMT level medical training. This includes refreshing the basics to moderate procedures such as stitching up a wound or administering fluids via an IV. Our medical kit is going to be huge.

Volunteering for a local Search and Rescue provided some experience, however, this was back when we lived in the Motherlode region and it has been a few years... We both are signing up for the Wilderness First Responder training to take this summer. The kids will all take a basic first aid course. The school district I teach for provides training over the summer in the areas of basic first aid and CPR. Those courses will also go on our summer list.

~Stef