Dr Sheddy traded the familiar rhythm of veterinary clinic walls for a full-time life reliant on the tides and wind, aboard her yacht Chuffed in 2017 with her partner Jim. Documenting her experiences through her YouTube channel ‘Vets Tails’ she has since become widely recognised as ‘the sailing vet’ running what we believe to be the world’s only floating veterinary clinic. Following a recent standing rigging upgrade, ‘Vets Tails’ decided to use Barton Blocks to keep her veterinary practice afloat.
Sailing yacht Chuffed has carried her far beyond the reach of roads and regular veterinary care options. From remote islands and quiet coastal villages to sheltered anchorages tucked well away from civilisation, she travels to places where animals and their owners may never have encountered a qualified vet. Dogs, cats and wildlife are treated with care and devotion wherever they happen to be, often against a spectacular backdrop of palm trees, crystal clear waters and the occasional curious local.
There is no reception desk or waiting room. One day her clinic is a sun-bleached dock, the next a stretch of sand or a village jetty. Back aboard Chuffed, lockers once intended for cruising gear have been carefully repurposed to hold antibiotics, vaccines, dewormers, surgical tools and bandages. The boat is not just her home, but it is the haven that makes her work possible as a lifeline for animals in the most remote locations.
Running a veterinary service from a yacht demands more than medical skill. It requires seamanship, adaptability and equipment that can be relied upon when conditions rapidly change. It is great that many companies from across the marine industry have stepped up to help provide gear and support to keep her on the water providing such a unique service.
With Chuffed’s rigging on its last legs and a big project planned to replace it all in La Paz, Mexico at Barton we were pleased to be able to provide new size 7 blocks for the mainsheet system and boom vang. A variety of products were installed to ensure control lines run freely and reliably into the future, including our plain bearing fiddle block with swivel becket and cam cleat, double blocks and single blocks.
Donated to support Dr Sheddy’s mission, Barton blocks will play a key role in controlling the power as she takes her skills across oceans around the world. The mainsheet is one of the hardest-working systems on any yacht, and the new blocks will allow Dr Sheddy to sail with confidence, even in the most challenging conditions. Barton blocks are hard-working tools designed to handle high loads day after day whilst exposed constantly to sun and salt and moisture.
For Dr Sheddy, sailing and veterinary care are no longer separate pursuits. Together, they form a single mission that brings help to animals who would otherwise go without. Chuffed is more than a yacht. It is a lifeline, powered by compassion, skill and dependable equipment, carrying veterinary care across the water to those in need over the horizon.
