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Old 12-19-2016, 12:03 PM   #1
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How do you deal with an "Address"

We have started the count down 18 months to get acquainted with our new to us Grand Banks 36 Classic (1977) and complete our downsizing. Seems like a long time, but we have short summers here in WI for getting work done and use to the boat, plus 60 years of stuff that needs to whittle down to a 10 x 10 climate controlled storage unit.

So with us selling our home, and planning to be on the move the next 4-6 (or maybe more who knows) years what do people do about an "Address" as needed to tie your banking, drivers license, and other such critical items to?

Though I would ask the people that are doing it.

Look forward to the responses.

Russ
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Old 12-19-2016, 02:15 PM   #2
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You for sure need a mailing address. The first time we moved onto a boat, we got a mail box at a UPS store. I told them we would be traveling and I would call them when I knew we would be in a certain port and have them send all my mail to my name, general delivery at the post office. There was a small fee for this.

This time I am using one of the kids address, and they will send it to me when I call them and tell them where to send it.

Just have them address it like this: John Doe
General Delivery
Friday Harbor, Wa. 98250

You will usually have 30 days to pick it up.
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Old 12-19-2016, 02:25 PM   #3
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For drivers licenses and a few other things, you may need a physical address....at least in some states, some places, etc.

We just went round and round with the local post office forwarding mail from a marina that was considered a "business address".

Well, I told them about different states that handled it differently and the postmaster for that post office told me politely....sorry...

Well I get to my sisters this week, the whole mail forwarding concept for the PO was her job for many years in a regional center. She politely told me the postmaster back at home was full of it....that idea was not post office policy.

So that's where you are...it all depends what may or not work for you when it comes to addresses and what you can do.

I use my son's physical address and have him forward my mail. Works for NJ even though that are to stupid to realize some of their citizens don't fall into their narrow minded concept of legal address. So be it.
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Old 12-19-2016, 02:27 PM   #4
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We use a UPS store as an address as well. we use general delivery once in awhile but more often we have them forward to a marina we will be stopping at
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Old 12-19-2016, 02:37 PM   #5
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St. Brendan’s Isle in Green Cove Springs, FL forwards mail for over 7,000 people. They'll assist in setting up Florida residency, voting, bill paying, etc. We know cruisers who use them full time for everything and others who just use them for mail forwarding.

https://www.sbimailservice.com/
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Old 12-19-2016, 03:55 PM   #6
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St. Brendan’s Isle in Green Cove Springs, FL forwards mail for over 7,000 people. They'll assist in setting up Florida residency, voting, bill paying, etc. We know cruisers who use them full time for everything and others who just use them for mail forwarding.

https://www.sbimailservice.com/
Have used them for over 15 years. Terrific in that I can view mail received over the internet. First just the envelope and then if requested a scan of the contents.

Has saved me a couple of times as the IRS (government tax collector for non-Americans) and others have short deadlines for responding.
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Old 12-19-2016, 05:28 PM   #7
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I use a private mail box company that also forwards my mail when I'm away.
Almost all states want a physical address so they can come and arrest you if necessary.
What I found in 4 different states, the facts will eventually overcome bureaucrats. I live on a boat that moves and have a semi permanent off season dock that doesn't have mail service.
On a ship, the company usually takes care of mail.
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Old 12-19-2016, 05:38 PM   #8
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https://travelingmailbox.com

Best thing I ever did for my nomadic lifestyle.
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Old 12-20-2016, 01:13 PM   #9
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I have a PO Box in town. I had a conversation with a gentleman at motor vehicle and told him my situation. He went thru the list of options and we ended up at "Unit XXX" at the street address of the post office. I did a couple of trial runs with mail and have had no problems in 5 yrs. License, registration and car taxes are all compliant.
Of course for everything else I use PO Box XXX, to make them happy. I get very little mail.
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Old 12-20-2016, 03:50 PM   #10
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Russ: Don't forget about personal liability insurance. When we went cruising, we sold all our dirt property. We applied for personal liability insurance and couldn't get it, we needed to either own or rent. One agent said if we have stuff in storage unit, use that address since we're renting. We didn't feel comfortable with that so we made a deal with an old frined and "rent" a small apartment from him. We then bought renters insurance which included personal liability plus we added an umbrella policy. On the edge maybe but unless someone has a better idea?
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Old 12-23-2016, 08:48 AM   #11
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There are a few virtual mail services that will give you an actual street address and scans your mail as it comes in. You can view it on a pad or a iphone that day. You get an alert when a new piece of mail comes in. Here is a link to one but there are a few of these.
https://ipostal1.com/how-virtual-mailbox-works.php
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Old 12-23-2016, 10:08 AM   #12
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Quote:
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St. Brendan’s Isle in Green Cove Springs, FL forwards mail for over 7,000 people. They'll assist in setting up Florida residency, voting, bill paying, etc. We know cruisers who use them full time for everything and others who just use them for mail forwarding.

https://www.sbimailservice.com/
If you're selling your home and plan on cruising full time, this seems like the best plan; becoming a legal resident of FL and using this service.

The government expects you to live somewhere and really doesn't make provisions for someone not having a fixed address.

It's not just about receiving mail, it's about taxes, voting, etc.
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Old 12-23-2016, 10:11 AM   #13
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St. Brendan's, Traveling mailbox, and many others work very similarly, in that they're all designed for those on the move. It's not just boaters, but RV'ers, traveling nurses, even some pilots and flight attendants.

Now, where they start to differ is in whether they can also serve as a physical address and their use on other things like state of residency. You need to decide your objectives up front. Do you want to remain a resident of the state in which you currently live or another.

St. Brendan's is very popular because it's in a state with no state income tax, because it is recognized as a physical address and you can get driver's license and all other needed items with it as your address, because it has an excellent system for processing your mail and because of their knowledge and experience in receiving and forwarding packages to you out of the country and minimizing custom's issues.

If using a relative you face a few issues. First, do you want them to see all your mail. Second, do they have the ability and willingness to scan. We have a family member pick up all of our mail from our PO Box and home while we travel. They do exactly what St. Brendan's does and that is scanning and then destroying or holding or forwarding as we desire. If it's an envelope they aren't certain if we'd want them to open, they scan it first and ask.

Now, psneeld's problem was based on ignorance in the post office and not making a proper distinction. If you're using a CRMA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agency) such as Mailboxes, etc or UPS store or others, then the Postal service will not forward mail from it to your new address. But if it's a marina or business or anything other than a CRMA, then they will. The key isn't business but it's CRMA.

That said, forwarding from a marina gets complicated because you're depending on them picking your mail out of all mail addressed to that location. So, it's important to have a specific address there. If you're having mail just sent to your attention at Marina ABC then forwarding later will be of questionable dependability. If though you were Marina ABC, Slip 24, then it should work better. The problem then is only that the Post Office doesn't have that set up as a separate location and full zip code. But there is nothing keeping them from doing so. A Marina slip is no different than an apartment number. Personally I would never use a marina unless they had a row of mailboxes like an apartment complex. Otherwise, they are one address, your mail in with all others, and depending on them to handle your mail as you need, might be asking too much. Legal items mailed to you are considered delivered when mailed, whether you get them or not.

So with a marina, I'd get a local PO Box for mail and use the marina only as my physical address.

Every state is different as to becoming a legal resident. Florida is easy, although you still need to validate that you're taking steps in your previous state to become a non-resident there. We were legal residents in FL in less than a week from the time we decided to become so.
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Old 12-23-2016, 10:44 AM   #14
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While I use St. Brendan's, another large mail forwarder is Escapees RV mail service out of Texas. Whereas St. Brendan's (patron saint of sailors) is aimed at boaters, Escapees is aimed at RVers.

As mentioned by a couple of posters the options of different services allow you to pick among several states if you wish to become a resident.
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Old 08-02-2018, 12:19 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Larry M View Post
St. Brendan’s Isle in Green Cove Springs, FL forwards mail for over 7,000 people. They'll assist in setting up Florida residency, voting, bill paying, etc. We know cruisers who use them full time for everything and others who just use them for mail forwarding.

https://www.sbimailservice.com/
I don't liveaboard anymore but I used them for years and will recommend them also.
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