SAILING WITH HAVANESE IN THE CARIBBEAN by Joan Conover
F or the past ten years we have traveled with our Havanese sail- ing offshore most of the US east- ern seaboard on our 51’ sailboat, Growltiger. For the last two years, we have sailed to and from the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Sint Martin, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Bahamas and Cuba from November to end of May each year. And all with our furry little crew of three Havanese! Along the way, they have met other dogs and made friends across the Caribbean. But we are not alone, in 2015-2017, we joined fellow sailors with the Salty
Dawg Rally who also sail with dogs, in fact, five Havanese and several other dogs participated in the Virginia to British Virgin Islands passage this year as well as last. The name of the rally says it all! The rally founders, the Knowles, give full credit to their dog, Brie, a wonderful little compan- ion now followed by their little Zoe. On our trips, two vessels had veteri- narians/captains on board, as well as medical doctors, we had like minded companions the entire way and for the next months in the tropics. We have awonderful timewith our lit- tle ones as companions and as active
participants in our sailing lifestyle. They enjoy the boat, their sleeping ar- rangements in the master stateroom, little bookends at the head and foot of our bunks. They have their own spots under the main salon’s table and have the front of the deck house as a perch. We carry bags of dog food filling up one lazaret worth of storage, carry a years worth of heartworm medica- tion (Sentinal) and Frontline Plus. The combination has worked well for us, no infections or fleas for ten years. While two dogs are in full coat, the warmth in the Caribbean did not seem an issue—they sat in the cockpit,
44 • T op N otch T oys , O ctober 2019
Powered by FlippingBook