First aid kit for a sailing yacht — what's in yours?

Seamanship & Safety
1

I recently restocked my first aid kit and realised it had some items that had expired and was missing some things I really should have. It got me thinking about what a proper sailing first aid kit should contain.

Here’s what I now carry on my Bavaria:

Basics:

  • Assorted plasters, gauze, bandages, tape
  • Antiseptic wipes and cream
  • Tweezers, scissors, safety pins
  • Disposable gloves

Sailing-specific:

  • Seasickness tablets (Stugeron/cinnarizine — the best in my experience)
  • Sunscreen SPF50 and after-sun
  • Rehydration sachets
  • Eye wash — salt and sun are rough on eyes
  • Superglue — yes, really. Best thing for sealing small cuts on your hands so you can keep sailing
  • Arnica cream for bruises

More serious:

  • SAM splint (mouldable splint for fractures)
  • Triangular bandage / sling
  • Thermal blanket
  • Basic painkillers (paracetamol, ibuprofen)
  • Antihistamines (jellyfish stings are common here)

What am I missing? What do you carry?

2

Good list Carlos. I’d add:

  • Wound closure strips (Steri-Strips) — for cuts that are too big for a plaster but don’t need stitches
  • Compression bandage — for heavy bleeding
  • Oral rehydration sachets — dehydration sneaks up on you in the Med sun
  • A first aid manual — seems obvious but in a stressful situation, having step-by-step instructions is invaluable

The superglue tip is gold. Every sailor I know uses it. It’s also useful for emergency repairs on the boat!

I’d also recommend everyone does a first aid course. The RYA runs a specific Sea Survival and First Aid course that’s excellent.

3

For anyone sailing offshore (including the Menorca crossing), I’d add:

  • Prescription seasickness medication (Scopoderm patches — need a prescription but very effective for multi-day passages)
  • Dental emergency kit (temporary filling material — a broken tooth at sea is miserable)
  • Broad-spectrum antibiotics (discuss with your doctor — for extended passages where medical help is days away)

Also: check your kit every 6 months and replace expired items. Expired medications may not be effective when you need them most.

4

The superglue tip is genius! I cut my hand on a cleat during my Day Skipper and a plaster kept falling off because my hands were wet. Superglue would have been perfect.

Does anyone have experience with jellyfish stings here? I’ve heard they can be quite common in late summer around Mallorca.

5

@sophie_turner Jellyfish can be a problem in August-September, especially in the northeast of the island. For stings: rinse with seawater (never fresh water), remove any tentacles with tweezers, and apply vinegar if you have it. Antihistamine cream helps with the itching. The most common species here isn’t dangerous but the sting is painful. If anyone has a severe reaction, get to shore and seek medical help.

6

Good topic. I’ve updated my kit quite a bit since doing the RYA First Aid course a couple of years ago. The standard stuff is well covered elsewhere but here are a few things I’ve added based on actual incidents over the years that most lists miss.

First, SAM splints. They weigh nothing, pack flat, and you can immobilise almost any limb injury with two of them and some cohesive bandage. I had a crew member break a finger in a winch on a passage from Pollença to Ciutadella and the SAM splint was worth its weight in gold — we were four hours from any medical help.

Second, Steristrips and skin glue. Far more practical than trying to stitch a wound on a moving boat. Most cuts you’ll deal with on board are lacerations from stainless fittings or rope burns, and Steristrips handle those brilliantly.

Third — and this is the one people always forget — seasickness medication that isn’t tablets. If someone is already vomiting, oral medication is useless. I carry Scopoderm patches and Stugeron suppositories. Not glamorous but they actually work when you need them.

I’d also say check expiry dates religiously. The salt air and heat in a boat locker in Mallorca degrades everything faster than you’d expect. I go through my kit every April before the season starts.

7

I am reading this thread with a notebook open, honestly. My kit at home is basically plasters and paracetamol, which now feels a bit optimistic.

Quick beginner question — the school boats obviously have their own kit, but should I be carrying a small personal one in my bag for course days? And is there anything specific for jellyfish? I saw a few of them drifting past the pontoon in Santa Ponça last week and I would rather know what to do before it happens to me and not after. Sorry if this is obvious, still learning.

8

One thing I have not seen mentioned — sunburn treatment. I know it sounds basic but in August the reflection off the water doubles what you are getting and I have seen crew go from pink to blistered in a single afternoon sail. I keep proper burns gel in mine, not just aloe.

Also worth having seasickness tablets even if nobody aboard has ever been sick. You never know when conditions change and someone who was fine in the bay suddenly is not fine once you round the headland into a swell.

9

Anna, for jellyfish — vinegar. Keep a small bottle in your bag. Do NOT rinse with fresh water, it makes the sting worse. Soak the area with vinegar for 30 seconds, then pick off any tentacle bits with tweezers or a credit card edge. The ones we get around Santa Ponça are mostly Pelagia noctiluca (the purple ones), they hurt but they are not dangerous unless you are allergic.

I have had one wrapped around my arm while swimming off Cala Figuera and the vinegar sorted it out in a few minutes. Pharmacy on the Paseo in Santa Ponça sells the small travel bottles.