Farne Islands - not big dog friendly

A lovely boat trip to the Farne Islands went a bit pear shaped. We found a dog friendly boat operator called Golden Gate and was told that water and biscuits for doggies would be available on the boat. Fabulous. Alas, to get onto the boat, Sailor and Penny had to step from the sea wall over the side of the boat and then down three steps. The boat was incredibly full so we were doing this surrounded by people sat down. I got on first and then tried to get Penny to step in, but instead her back legs fell through the gap between the sea wall and boat. We pulled her out and got her into the crowded boat but she was traumatised, we were traumatised and we had an hour and a half on a majorly crowded boat to get through.

It wasn't our day, we couldn't move, the dogs couldn't move, it was super choppy so they really needed space to lie down. Sailor went down but Penny couldn't, I felt her tail and my hand was covered in blood. I can't tell you much about the Farne Islands, I was shaking I was so stressed and having to keep penny upright meant I was looking down and then felt sea sick! We saw seals, cormorants and shags and then landed on Longstone Island. It's the only island that allows dogs to land.

However, we couldn't get them off the boat! So instead we sat in the shade to calm them down and I watched the seals playing in the crystal clear water. We could have been in the Med! The boat filled quickly, we had comments about the dogs taking up too much space and then made our way back to land and managed to get them off the boat easily. Phew. Half way back I had cramp in my leg...not the best time.

So, the dog friendly cruise to the Farne Islands is dog friendly if you can pick up your dog, but not friendly for big dogs. In addition, if it was half full, that would have been fine, but we couldn't move. It's £13 per person. I would rather pay more to have only half the number on the boat and maybe a dog only cruise which had less people and more dogs, allowing them space to move and lie down.

I was still shaking when I got off the boat from the stress and worry that it could have been so much worse and Penny could have fallen through into the water. We sat down to get over the boat journey, then had lunch of chips and gravy. I swear the whole of Seahouses smells of fish and chips. Ice cream for dessert and a special ice cream for Sailor and Penny for getting through the day.

We ended up in the vets to fix Penny's tail. This is the second holiday where we have had to find a vet. I hope it's not a holiday tradition.