Welcome aboard The Sailing Pets!

If you’re trying to figure out how to share your life at sea with a dog or cat on board, you’re in the right place. The Sailing Pets is a vet‑led project created to make travelling with animals safer, kinder and less stressful for everyone involved.

I’m Rita, a veterinary surgeon and liveaboard sailor currently cruising Southeast Asia on my 35‑foot Hallberg‑Rassy Rasmus, Swizzle, with my three rescued crew members: Fifa, Binks and Mazu. After years of working in clinics and shelters around the world, I realised how hard it can be to find clear, trustworthy information about travelling with pets by sea - especially once you leave big marinas and familiar veterinary systems behind.

What you’ll find here

This blog is the storytelling side of The Sailing Pets platform. Over time, you’ll find:

• Practical, evidence‑based posts about preparing pets for boat life, staying safe on passage, dealing with common health worries and navigating vet visits abroad.

• Real‑life stories from our own journey on Swizzle and from other pet‑owning sailors, including what went well, what we’d do differently and what we learned the hard way.

• Deep‑dive guides that link to our free tools: directories of veterinary practices, pet‑friendly marinas and (soon) features like Paw Alert and Pet Whispers.

Everything here is written or reviewed by a vet, but it’s not a replacement for a clinical examination - think of it as a calm, reliable starting point before setting sail or make a big move.

Why I’m starting with the blog

The long‑term vision for The Sailing Pets includes interactive maps, community features and structured advice services. But I wanted to launch something useful as soon as possible, and the easiest way to do that is with words: sharing what I’ve learned, while the bigger platform continues to grow in the background.

By starting with the blog, I can:

• Answer the questions I hear most often from people who travel with pets or dream of doing it one day.

• Build a library of resources that you can come back to whenever you hit a new challenge.

• Learn from you - your questions, experiences and stories will help shape which guides and tools we build next.

How you can be part of it

If any of this resonates with you, I’d love you to:

• Bookmark the site and check back for new posts.

• Share the blog with friends who travel (or want to travel) with their pets.

• Send in your questions and experiences so we can feature real stories from different boats, routes and species.

Creating a safer world for pets at sea is a big goal, and it will only work as a community effort. I’m glad you’re here at the very beginning of the journey - welcome aboard The Sailing Pets.