Final weeks on land

The last few months have been astronomically stressful. The reality of leaving our home, cars, jobs and life on land to live at sea is incredibly daunting. I have to admit, the anxiety at the moment is overpowering the excitement. That is probably testament to how much preparation we’re putting into this, and an introduction to the reality of boat work. Every livaboard will tell you the same thing, there is no such thing as a quick boat job.

So while Lloyd has been the main force behind getting the boat ready, I’ve been working on the vet side of things. I had aimed to have myself registered at a vet in at least Spain before we left. But the more I did, the more I needed, and the higher the bar to be able to practice as a vet in Spain. And the more expensive it was getting.

This all came to a head two weeks ago, on the anniversary of my friends passing, when I just hit a wall. I just wanted to hide away and not think about anything. Both myself and Lloyd were running on empty, spending all day working our full time jobs, getting home and packing and selling our belongings, then working on the boat, preparing admin and paperwork. We haven’t stopped for a break for months. Truth be told we’ve been working towards this goal for years. Our beautiful Collie, Bella, has also recently deteriorated. Without going into too much detail, she has a rectal stricture so struggles to go to toilet. I’ve been seeking advice from several referral veterinarians and been scanned by another visiting specialist. We knew we’d have to leave her behind becuase of her health problems, so it was always the plan that Bella would stay with my parents (who love her to bits), but I’ve been processing and feeling devastated at the reality of the situation and her prognosis. She is now being referred to a specialist sugeon who has seen a similar case in a Border Collie before, and they are thankfully close to my parents. So at least I know shes going to get all the best love, care and attention in the world. It doesnt make saying goodbye any easier and I’m still struggling with the grief of not having her in our day to day lives.
On top of that I’ve continued to rescue wildlife, and up until recently had four little birds in our care, two injured wings, one neurological after being trodden on, and one fledgeling dove. All doing super well with treatment and moved onto an amazing rehabber for soft release. At work I’ve treated my first young otter pup, and seen a few injured and sick hedgehogs, one which needed a rear leg amputation, one strimmer injury and one needing TLC following lung worm and pneumonia. Over the last year I’ve been looking into starting a Wildlife Hospital here in Pembrokeshire, so have been investing considerable time into researching the work that would be needed to go into that, and its still something I am working towards, albeit its taken a slight back bench for now. I am hoping to assist fundraising while I’m away so we can still help set one up here in Wales, where we so desperately need one. Lloyd also attended his first dolphin stranding call out as a BDMLR medic and assisted refloat a juvenile dolphin as it struggled to get its barings. Its little wonder we’re both burning out.

So we both stopped. That Sunday I decided I didn’t want to leave the house, and we had a homely roast dinner and watched films. Since then I’ve slowed a lot down. Ultimately we’re going to be spending effectively a few weeks, here and there, in Spain, and each time in different regions. Rather than chasing my tail trying to get my qualification authenticated and accepted by the Spanish ministry, and then each local govorning body, I’m going to be volunteering with local veterinarians, and assisting in any way possible. This was always the plan, but I had hoped to be registered so we had a little more ability to plan our own TNR campaigns. It’s not going to change what we are aiming for - to make a difference in any way we can. There will be shelters who will value an extra pair of hands to clean kennels, to walk dogs, assist with cats medication. They’ll be oppotunities to share information, connect and campaign for causes and supplies these communities need.

That all being said, should you be a veterinary surgeon who has volunteered abroad, in the mediterranean or beyond, please get in tough with any tips! I know there are often ways around ensuring we are practicing legally as short term volunteers.

Where are we now; the keel is on, the mast is up, the furniture has been put back together. We’re awaiting a final post work survey and lift back into the water. We are anticipating moving on board in the next 10 days.

Our focus is on getting ourselves aboard and comfortable, getting the dogs settled and into a routine, and finally to get our vet equipment set up and stored safely aboard. While in the mediterranean most of our volunteer and outreach work will be with local charities and veterinary practices with their own equipment and medication, but there will be occasions where we will be visiting Islands with no veterinary supplies, no vet or equipment, and there I hope we can really help.

I’d like to take this time to thank my parents for coming and helping us over the last few months in particular, and to all our friends and family who are supporting us.

Hopefully, my next blog post will be written aboard Ocean Spirit