BIG ASK: Seeking Transatlantic Passage (East USA -> UK) with a 50-lb Dog in June 2022

[morganharbin]

Hello everybody!

For the longest time, I've had a dream of crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a ship. My eccentric mind just despises the idea of flying to Europe from the USA and never understanding the true size of the earth.

The idea first popped into my mind when I was a single 14 or 15 year-old, but as a now married 22 year-old with a dog, my life is a bit less flexible. My wife and I, currently living in Florida as a teacher and university student, respectively, hope to move to England in the next few years, but for now, we plan to take this summer break to spend a month in the UK to see what we think of it (I expect to love it)!

We are firm believers that when we adopted our dog, we signed up to make her part of our family, so using that logic, we believe that leaving her at home for a month with a dog-sitter for the sake of convenience isn't quite right. We intend to do everything we can to get Annie to the UK.

I hope to combine my dream of crossing the Atlantic with our dream of traveling with Annie, a sweet boxer mutt with lots of energy (I'm pretty good at controlling her energy, as I'm sort of her alpha). Therefore, my ideal itinerary is to cross the Atlantic (starting in Jacksonville, Savannah, or Charleston) with my dog in mid-June of 2022 to arrive in the UK (ideally Southampton) by July 1st, spend the month traveling the UK by train and car, and depart from the UK around August 1st to arrive back in the southeastern US by mid-August. My wife, who understandably prefers the efficiency and comfort of an aircraft, would fly to the UK the last day of June, spend the month with me, and then fly back to the US the first of August, so she is not included in my request to sail. I know it's short notice, but this opportunity crossed our radar recently, and I am acting as soon as possible.

All told, I am asking if anyone knows a way for me to accomplish an approximate version of this itinerary. I am aware that freight lines do not allow pets, I am aware that the Queen Mary II transports pets and am uninterested in paying their high prices (I'm only a university student and my wife is a teacher, after all), and I am aware that my request is quite a big ask. I sincerely appreciate anyone who takes the time to read and consider this; thank you for being supportive of crazy dreams! I get a feeling that everyone on this site thinks in similar ways

Best regards,
Morgan Harbin

P.S.: I fully expect to spend hours upon hours filling out paperwork, applying for visas, updating vaccinations, and training our dog; I am willing and excited for all that this adventure will entail! AND if sailing lessons would make me more attractive to skippers interested in taking me, please let me know and I will absolutely complete those!