This is Quincy’s Corner. New to her corner? Quincy Dane is a young 6-year old Great Dane who lives on a cruising sailboat with her kids and feeders…who live full time outside of the US on the boat. The feeder (that’s me) loves traveling with kids, sailing/cruising and adventure travel. We write this website/blog so you don’t have to make all the stupid mistakes we have…ie: so you can learn through our trials/tribulations. Most folks have a hard time believing that a Great Dane can live comfortably on a cruising boat full time..or perhaps they want to believe that we’re commuter cruisers or bareboating for a bit. Nope..we live on the boat full time; having sold our house, cars and other trappings of suburbia to take on this new life. Quincy Dane is part of that new life..which is why we’re not tackling a Pacific Crossing or dashing across oceans in the near future. Neither me or my wife think a major crossing would be in the best interest of our (dog) Great Dane. Many of the island chains in the Pacific, Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia have strict quarantines for incoming pets/animals that we just don’t want to deal with…so we’re just not going to those places right now. We also know we want to cut our teeth for a season in the Baja specifically….a cruising ground often overlooked by cruisers who are hellbent on doing a major crossing by boat.
While there are dogs and cats on boat out here…they’re not common and there are certainly not many giant breed dogs out here at all. In fact, Quincy Dane is the sole Great Dane we’ve seen so far on a full-time cruising sailboat..but we’re on the lookout for more Danes on boats. It is doable to have giant breed dogs on a boat, as long as you know there may be some special requirements needed by your dog and you may need to invest in the largest doggy lifejacket known to man. We bought that doggy lifejacket…but after leaving San Diego rarely use it anymore since it just makes Quincy more nervous.
We have made some special accomodations for the dog that others might not do, but she’s part of the family and thus we’re going to cruise with her. The truth be told…Quincy doesn’t seem to mind being on the boat and she LOVES the time around the whole family, often laying where she can see us all or control the exits so she knows when anyone is moving around the boat. She also seems to love being at anchor, not exhibiting signs of stress and often making us feel more secure when we leave the boat. She also doesn’t seem to mind when we leave the boat…not howling, barking or whining like other dogs. She simply seems to know we’ll be back and doesn’t mind us leaving. Leaving the boat while on the dock is another matter,,,Quincy makes it known she wants to come with and she naturally knows I have all sorts of boat projects…so one of us sticks around to make sure she stays on the boat.
I know this isn’t the most hard hitting post you’ve ever seen on Quincy’s Corner…but she’s a bit lazy this morning and we’ve been at anchor for the past week so we’re working through things as we go. Quincy Dog is happy laying here at my feet but a bit upset that her favorite bedding cushions are gone…as they’re getting redone. Thanks for reading and make sure to follow us if you like our writing. Quincy will see you next Sunday!
Qui9nc
