Pets and Sailing - Page 2

sailingdog · #11 07-21-2006

I'd agree with Eryka... she's right...keeping the cat/dog on the boat is much better than having to do an POB drill. Also, make the tether and jackline short enough that they can't go overboard at all. Think of it as a pet run, but on a boat.

BTW, Hi Eryka. The boat is working out great... love it.. but have to haul it out this week to re-paint the waterline, as it is currently too low.

SailorGrandma · #12 07-27-2006

We took our cat on the boat for the first time this past 3 weeks. He adapted very well. He is toilet trained at home and took to the head right away with no problems. He found himself a perch up under the dodger when we were under way. he doesn't like the sound of the engine when we are motoring so he stays under the dodger. he nevers venture on the forward or aft deck while moving. He stays put. At night we let him stay on deck until we go to bed as he likes to jump up and catch bugs, as all cats do. We have a net that we have not put up as of yet. Then maybe we won't worry so much about him falling overboard even at anchor. We do take him to the beach along with the dog and he loves to play there and chase after the dog. They are best of friends. i thought that it was a great treat for us to have him aboard and will bring him along everytime we go out. he is funny to watch!
Smooth sailing!

eryka · #13 07-30-2006

Hi Sailingdog - about waterlines - why do we evaluate sailing characteristics so carefully, then screw everything up when we load tons of "stuff" aboard? (I should talk! When we bought our present boat and had it trucked from TX to MI the trucker charged us for 17K lbs. Last time we hauled we weighed 22! We get credit for full vs. empty water & fuel tanks, etc, but I can only blame so much on the extra 100 ft of anchor chain ... no way to avoid admitting that in 4 years of living aboard, we somehow added 3500 lbs of food, tools, gear, and personal possessions <*blush*> to a 33 foot boat!!)

Anyway, hope you're sailing fast and having fun!

sailingdog · #14 07-30-2006

5000 lbs is more than my boat weighs...

Was sailing up til last week. Spent the last two days getting the boat hauled and getting it ready to redo the waterline and hull paint. Currently, the hull paint on the aft end of the boat is about two-inches shy of the actual waterline, so I've got barnacles and other crunchies growing on the poor boat's gelcoat. Want to fix it before it does any real damage to the boat. UGh..

eryka · #15 07-31-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingdog

5000 lbs is more than my boat weighs...

..

Well, yeah, but what does your boat + your home + all your personal possesions weigh?

eryka · #16 07-31-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Was sailing up til last week. Spent the last two days getting the boat hauled and getting it ready to redo the waterline and hull paint. Currently, the hull paint on the aft end of the boat is about two-inches shy of the actual waterline, so I've got barnacles and other crunchies growing on the poor boat's gelcoat. Want to fix it before it does any real damage to the boat. UGh..

The Chesapeake is also unusually 'fertile' this summer, some of our neighbors are having divers clean their boat as often as every 2 weeks! And we're sailing with a thick green shag carpet

Hey, we've really and truly hijacked this thread, so I'll attempt a PM or email.

Magic_Moments · #17 08-02-2006

I have two cats that came sailing with me for a few summers. One would get very seasick and throw up often before we were much out of the marina. After that they would be ok. They would mostly sleep during sailing. They never liked the engine but one would sit on top of the stairs (on the engine) and complain out into the cockpit. Neither of them liked to see water while it was moving so they would not leave the cockpit until the boat was anchored.
Both cats have fallen in exactly once each. Both were very careful afterwords.
Litter box has been a point of contention between us however because they like to fling it all over out of the box and I don't like it. I never found a kind of litter I liked yet but the white crystal kind makes the least mess and is least likely to get into the bilge.

kjsailingSpring · #18 08-04-2006

A guy sailed into my marina a couple of weeks ago with a unique fix to the pet problem. His dog was continually getting tangled in the lines at crucial moments so he put a strip of velcro on the side of the boat, in the cockpit and out of the way, and a strip on the lifevest of the dog. He then proceeds to velcro his dog to the boat. He said it works like a charm when he needs to make sure his dog is secured.

I'm not sure I would personally endorse this method but it was very unique!

kjsailing