Quote:
Originally Posted by JK n Smitty
You could also get a monohull with a walk through transom. That makes it a boat-load easier to get dogs or anything else on board without too much lifting. 
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Lifting a 65 pound pitbull down a 5 ft. ladder off the stern was no joke, esp the time my husband fell and we had to load the dog to get to the dingy to get to shore and the truck to go to hospital. That's about when we decided we were too old or bored with the added chore of the dog onboard. When she religiously peed on the bow the pee would run down the scuppers and then drain right over our open
head window, or worse, we would forget and leave the port over the
bed open. (we installed window awnings but they did no good) This was full time liveaboarding, not just weekend fun for us. Our best cruising dog was a 40 pound mutt named Taco and the
kids loved him so much, he slept in the foot of my little girl's sleeping bag every night. Then the dog was worth it, now with just the two of us, not so much. Where we live you can't go to a restaurant with a dog, you can't do anything without a leash on. Better off in the backyard I say. People often try to make a boat a house but
boats are not houses and need to be respected for the life they do bring to your table. All the doilies and framed photos and plants stay ashore.
We took our first
cruise to Cabo on a Tartan 30 in 1980 with our 5 year old son, no harbor there then. Dog entered picture in about 89 and was perfect but would not EVER go onboard, hence the little late night runs to the nearest land. The poor dog suffered on overnighters without land. Next we had a chihuahua, a mutt 40 pounds, and a pitbull. I am so over dogs on the boat! When you visit a foreign country you have friends on other boats watch your dog so you can do some onland travel...is that fair to anyone? It's hard enough to keep the boat clean without the dog hair and dirty feet (used to dunk paws before going aboard, pissed off the dogs a lot) This
marine swap meet I am selling 3 dog life vests with no intention of ever having a dog onboard again. I love dogs but simple pictures are best.