While pregnant with our second child, I planned and brought to life what would turn out to be our 6 month old’s first family vacation adventure – a 7 day sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands (renting a bareboat catamaran), knowing full well that this would include 2 days of travel on either end, a 4 hour time change, and living on a 44′ boat crammed with at least 4 adults and 2 children. (for those of you that have never heard of this: think RV camping, but on the water) My husband asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?” My Dad asked, “Are you sure this is good timing for this trip?” And I said, “Heck yeah!” To mediate the level of crazy you are now elevating me to you in your mind, let me explain. We had done this type of trip before (exactly one year before we started planning this trip). That trip had some major issues: we learned our older son (he was 2 years old at the time) is very motion sickness prone as well as myself and 2 other passengers from that trip, my Mom got Vertigo requiring a trip back to port to go to the medical clinic, and we got a line looped around the propeller requiring some local workers to come fix it. Despite all that, the trip was awesome! This time, we would be renting a boat with a better configuration that would alleviate my son’s motion sickness, we would bring the correct medication in case of a repeat Vertigo incidence, and all would be fabulous! “What about the 6 month old (to be)?” everyone asked. At just under 6 months the baby wouldn’t be mobile (less risk of falling off the boat), and would still be exclusively breast feed (no special food to bring) – have boob, will travel! “Why not travel with a 6 month old?” I said. (Famous last words, right?) So, we agreed and booked the catamaran. The vacation members were to include: Myself, and my mom, dad(the Captain), husband, 2 sons, and my cousin. Even better because my cousin was going to fly with my husband, myself, and our boys (3 adults to 2 kids!). We were set!
Fast forward nearly a year (10 days before departure)- the 6 month old was NOT following my plan! He had been begging for food since 3.5months, and had been receiving it since 4 months; someone forgot to tell him you aren’t supposed to be mobile at 6 months, because he was already scooting backwards around the house and on the verge of full fledged crawling; AND he wasn’t sleeping more than 2 hours at a time at night. From 10 days out to 3 days out I was in a full-fledged panic. I couldn’t believe I had thought this was a good idea. I just kept plugging away at the packing and continually talking myself off the ledge (of meltdown). Then it occurred to me- he doesn’t sleep here, so he won’t sleep there, but there my 4 year old will have lots of others to keep him company, and there will be extra hands to hand the 6 month old off too so I can actually get a break, and all while we are in the British Virgin Islands. 3 day til departure we were nearly packed and I was beyond excited again! We were prepared for everything, including what I was referring to as “boob-ageddon” (if I was sea-sick enough to need the scopolamine patch and it had the side effect of drying up my breast milk). Off we went!
In part 2 I will delve into the adventure itself, but first here’s a bit on the planning and preparation that went into this trip that helped make it an adventure, as opposed to a disaster.
Boat: I touched on this a little above, but the first decision was the boat itself. A catamaran allows for cabins in each hull – ours had 4 cabins and 4 heads (bathrooms). Most important to us was that there was exterior forward seating – without this one the first trip it had contributed to nearly everyone being sea sick. There isn’t a whole lot you can do for a 4 year old that was sea sick so an improved boat layout was paramount. We also got him sea bands and some homeopathic oil for behind his ear. With the boat selected we then had to decide the best way to get to it.
The boat, and it’s forward seating options:
Travel: We sailed out of Tortola, a British Virgin Island, but flew into St.Thomas, which is a U.S. Virgin Island. To get from one to the other we took an hour long ferry, which was cheaper than flying into Tortola and allowed us to go through customs at the ferry dock instead of an airport. Flying from the west coast of the U.S. meant a lot of travel time, so we decided to break it up into 2 days. We searched for flights that gave us a long layover (8 hours or more) at a midway point. Also factoring into this decision was how cold it would be at that overnight city (any stops in the top half of the U.S. were ruled out simply due to the temps and weather delays that would expose us to). Last point on the flight decision tree was time of day we started and ended in SFO, because in addition to the usual “two hours prior to departure” part, we had a 2 hour drive to get to the airport. After settling on our flights, we then booked airport area hotels for our layover cities. One more hotel was booked for the last night of our trip before our flights – we would be returning the boat and taking the ferry back into the U.S., then begin flying home the following day. Our last transportation decision was deciding to take the airport shuttle bus to the airport instead of driving – we hoped it would allow us a little more freedom, and space, with less stress.
Participants: Honestly, the participants in a vacation can make or break it, even more so when kids are involved. When you are on a boat your child has to follow directions from anyone giving them, feel comfortable being around anyone on the boat (it really is close quarters), and everybody has to participate in duties. Travel with kids has all the same components as living with kids – the diapers, feedings, discipline, naps, etc don’t stop just because you are on vacation. Plus, on this type of vacation the cooking, dishes, and cleaning don’t either. We decided that my parents and our family were not quite enough hands on deck, so to speak. Several options were considered and my cousin, who has spent considerable time around the boys, agreed to join us. She was a perfect fit! She knows nothing about sailing (honestly though, neither do I) but is always willing to try and never has to be asked to pitch in.
Making a list: With the details all worked out, next came the actual packing. If you read my other post, you know I am the queen of forgetting something important. I aimed to minimize that this trip. There are small convenience stores on some of the beaches, but not much in the way of groceries stores, and definitely no Targets, so it was very important to bring any essentials. I realized if an item makes the list it gets packed, so I tried something new this time – I confiscated my 4 year old’s easel and made BIG lists, DAYS before. That way as I thought of things I could just go add them to the list (I was barely functioning on very little sleep during this time), plus it kept all those lists out of my head. Then starting a week before, I started bringing items to be packed into one central spot and made one HUGE pile. If it made the pile, I crossed it off. As it got closer, I used a new sheet of easel paper taped to the wall to make a list of each of the carry-on bags we would be carrying and what would go in each (keep in mind, the night at the layover airport we would not have our checked bags). The lists probably would have made some people go insane – for me it allowed it all to be on paper and not in my head.
The ever growing pile and the initial list, the pile packed into the checked bags, and the carry-on bags:
Baby gear: due to the space limitations of the boat, bringing baby gear was extremely limited. A high chair was out, as was a stroller, a pack n’ play, baby gates, or any type of swing or bouncer. He sat on the ground, bench, table or counter to be fed. We brought a blanket as a play mat and some toys. For sleeping we brought a very compact travel bassinet (Brica was the brand), which doubled as a playpen at the airport. He was either carried or in the lillebaby carrier (a soft pack style carrier) when we went anywhere (when we did the trip 2 years prior- we used a metal framed hiking backpack for our 2 year old). We brought a tub of formula he was used to (just in case my supply was compromised), my breast pump, bottles, a manual food masher, and an assortment of food pouches (what I thought would be sufficient for all meals out plus all travel days), disposable bibs, and cheap baby spoons.
Messy feedings, bassinet for nap, night, and travel, and baby wearing:
Safety: We were assured by the boat rental company they had life jackets for infant – adult. Our 4 year old weighed in at just over 50lbs right before we left, which means he fit into a youth life jacket, so we opted not to bring an extra one for him, but did bring his water wings. Our 6 month old clearly needed an infant jacket and we decided to bring ours just as back up in case we didn’t like theirs, since his was so critical. It turns out they did not have infant jackets and we were sure glad we brought ours! We brought a first aid kit and an assortment of essential medications, including some for the boys. My Dad brought a tether, which came in handy to keep the little mobile one from tumbling down the stairs to the cabins. Immediately after arriving at the boat, we all sat down together and discussed the rules of the boat concerning the boys so everyone was on the same page as to when life jackets had to be worn, when the 4 year old was and was not allowed to go, etc.
The tether and the gaping hole down the stairs, and the infant life jacket:
Itinerary and provisioning (boat-speak for food): Luckily for me, this was not my responsibility, but since I’m the Momma I did have major input. My dad, the Captain, did all the work of plotting different courses and letting us decide as a group which itinerary was best for us. He did a great job of factoring in what everyone really wanted to see, and what would work best for the boys and came up with a great itinerary. It allowed us to have some idea before hand where we would be going and what to expect from each day. Knowing our 4 year old may have issues, Dad limited the length of time we would be ‘under way’ each day and it even worked out that he got a nap every day! The main grocery store is in the town we start from, but there is limited fridge and freezer space on the boat, plus even bread and produce spoil very quickly there, add in 2 kids, and planning your food supplies suddenly becomes a big issue. Dad gave us a list of restaurants at each of our stops for us to look into. We agreed to plan breakfasts, lunches, and 1/2 our dinners (the other 1/2 we would eat out). We all agreed on 4 simple dinners and a general shopping list was created ahead of time. The night we arrived at the boat provisions were obtained, however that grocery store did not end up having everything they listed on their website. That night after dinner we reviewed what was purchased and what the meal plan was. We revised our meal plan and created a second list. The following morning before we set sail, a second grocery store run was made.
On to the adventure!
Mamas On The Move 