David W. LaVigne, D.V.M.

David W. LaVigne, D.V.M. (aka Captain Doctor Dave) lived and cruised aboard his 37' sailboat, Fidelis, with his wife, Annie, for more than eight years as they lived the dream. Doctor Dave received a Bachelor of Science degree with high honor from Michigan State University and subsequently graduated from Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine with honor in 1979 where he received recognition as a member of Phi Zeta, the veterinary honor society.

He and Annie started sailing late in life, buying their first sailboat in 1993. After five short seasons on the Great Lakes during which they spent vacation time sailing Lake Huron and its North Channel and Lake Michigan, in 1998 they decided to chuck it all, move aboard, and take off for warmer waters.

Before his cruising life, he owned and operated a veterinary hospital in Michigan for twenty years. After selling the business and moving aboard, they traveled from the Great Lakes to the east coast via the Erie Canal and the Hudson River. In Baltimore they stopped in the Inner Harbor for a short, six month stopover as he ran a veterinary practice in the Federal Hill neighborhood and Annie worked as manager and dockmaster at nearby HarborView Marina where they lived aboard Fidelis. In true cruiser fashion, 'the plan' for staying six months ran amok and unexpectedly evolved into an extended stay of four years as they enjoyed the city life while they continued to live aboard, cruising and exploring upper Chesapeake Bay as time allowed. Two consecutive record-setting winters brought them back to reality, as they resumed their sojourn down the east coast to Florida, the Bahamas, and eventually to the Caribbean. They enjoyed cruising the islands of the northern Caribbean for three more years, cruising as far south as Antigua, before heading back to Florida where they have resumed life ashore.

Dr. Dave is the author of two veterinary books: Where There Is No Pet Doctor (originally published as Wilderness Veterinary Companion for Cruisers) and Pets On Board, Adapting Your Pet to Travel By Boat or RV and is coauthor of the non-veterinary beginner's guide and narrative Island Hopping to the Caribbean, written with wife Annie. He has presented numerous seminars at a variety of sailing venues including boat shows on both coasts of the U.S. as well as SSCA events, has written articles for the SSCA website pets page, and tries to keep pet owning sailors apprised of updates and new information via his website www.captdrdave.com. In addition to his pet-related seminars, he has conducted seminars for the beginner on the basics of cruising from Florida to the Caribbean by island hopping, which has played to full houses at a number of cruising events.

He currently lives on Florida's gulf coast as he practices emergency and critical care medicine. He is licensed in the states of Michigan, Maryland, and Florida and is a member of the AVMA and the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society. Dr. Dave is a Rear Commodore in the Seven Seas Cruising Association and holds a USCG master’s license. He and Annie have gone from living aboard their sailboat to spending lots of time aboard their kayaks as they explore Florida’s coastal "skinny water."  Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .