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Old 05-21-2018, 04:28 AM   #1
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receiving mail enroute

I have some questions about having a letter or package sent to your boat en-route on a cruise:
  1. Does a post office or a marina work better?
  2. How long will they hold your mail?
  3. I assume you call a marina and ask permission first?
  4. I assume USmail/UPS/FedEx makes no difference?
  5. Is this the correct address format?
Joe Blow on yacht "Minnow"
c/o Backwater Marina
123 Main Street
Watertown, NC 12345
Thanks.
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Old 05-21-2018, 05:13 AM   #2
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  1. Does a post office or a marina work better?
  2. How long will they hold your mail?
We have used General Delivery''


Yacht Minnow , Joe Blow Captain
Hold till arrival, return after (give a date).


This is more secure than a marina , unless you have visited the place before and they have good procedures.


A mail forwarding service works well, if you want magazines to get to you.
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Old 05-21-2018, 05:45 AM   #3
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Check out St Brendan's Isle.
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Old 05-21-2018, 06:48 AM   #4
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When we have mail forwarded to a marina, we always call the marina first. USPS Priority Mail is our first choice. With a tracking number and 2-3 day service at a reasonable cost it’s hard to beat.
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Old 05-21-2018, 06:59 AM   #5
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Our address has been 411 Walnut (St. Brendan's in Green Cove Springs) for about 10 yrs. It is our legal address, so all our mail goes there. We periodically have it forwarded to our location.
We've rarely used General Delivery, preferring to have things sent to a marina via UPS. General Delivery requires a visit to the Post Office, usually a long way from the marina. We've learned that UPS is the most reliable, least costly, and most easily tracked way to get our mail. We get NO magazines or junk mail, and have the option to shred items before they're forwarded. Occasionally, time sensitive items are a problem, but with the way the scanning service works, we can view each item that's received (scan of the envelope) and if it's time critical, there is the option for the service to open and scan the contents. Great if we're on the move and don't plan to be at single location for any length of time. We generally know early enough where we'll be that we can plan for a mail drop to be there when we arrive. And, yes, we'll usually alert the marina, but we've learned that those who have a transient trade are very familiar with the drill, and it's rarely a problem.



That said, there have been times when timing went awry and we ended up extending a stay. It's part of the lifestyle, it happens. Our experience with St. Brendan's has been exceptional, they are great to work with. The service they provide is top notch, one aspect of our lifestyle that doesn't require a lot of effort. Highly recommend them.
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Old 05-21-2018, 09:01 AM   #6
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We usually find a mail buoy along our route and pick it up there.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:04 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Maerin View Post
Our address has been 411 Walnut (St. Brendan's in Green Cove Springs) for about 10 yrs. It is our legal address, so all our mail goes there.
Sounds like you have been doing this for quite some time. On election day, are you able to do some kind of absentee ballot via St Brendan's?
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:09 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by seattleboatguy View Post
Sounds like you have been doing this for quite some time. On election day, are you able to do some kind of absentee ballot via St Brendan's?
https://www.sbimailservice.com/becom...rida-resident/
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:13 AM   #9
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https://www.usps.com/manage/forward.htm

Nato Mail Forwarding - Florida address - Mail Forwarding for RV travelers, nurses, military, businesses

https://www.sbimailservice.com/index.html

https://www.usglobalmail.com/

https://travelingmailbox.com/

Also, consider that just about everyone has digital options nowadays. Hardcopy isn't really needed anymore. Even all of our legal documents are digitally sent, signed and returned. Online banking as well.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:41 AM   #10
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Good information. Thanks.
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Old 05-21-2018, 11:52 AM   #11
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If you have someone scanning for you (such as SBI-we have it done at home for us) you'll find there's very little mail you ever need to actually receive. For those things you do need to receive you instruct them to be forwarded and choose the method. It's typically going to be UPS or FEDEX or occasionally you may choose Priority Mail. Where you are or are going and how well you know the marina will play a role in where you have it delivered. I put more faith in a properly informed marina than I do in a post office handling general delivery.

We've been on this trip for five weeks and haven't had a single item of mail forwarded. We get very little personal mail as we do most things online. 90% of what shows up in our mail box goes directly into recycling.

One other convenience that cannot be used with St. Brendan's but can with a home address or PO Box is Informed Delivery. It's a USPS offering that allows you to see what mail you're receiving.
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Old 05-21-2018, 12:36 PM   #12
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All, we did this a couple of years ago and it really does work. No credit card offerings and other similar junk bulk mailing. The only junk we receive now is basically the ads from the local newspaper that the USPS sling in everyone's mailbox.

https://dmachoice.thedma.org/
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Old 05-22-2018, 09:08 AM   #13
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"General Delivery requires a visit to the Post Office, usually a long way from the marina."


TRUE , so select a small town where the walk is short.
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Old 05-23-2018, 07:40 PM   #14
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Dockside Solutions is located at shilshole bay marina. They do mail, scanning and many other services. Their address also qualifies as a home address for your Washington state drivers license.
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Old 05-23-2018, 08:21 PM   #15
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Wifey B: Green Cove Springs FL has 7700 people and a significant percentage of them live in mail boxes at St. Brendan's Isle.
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Old 05-25-2018, 08:16 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seattleboatguy View Post
Sounds like you have been doing this for quite some time. On election day, are you able to do some kind of absentee ballot via St Brendan's?

We do an absentee ballot via Clay County, where we're registered. We apply for the absentee ballot online, it was a straightforward process, no problems.



The only issue with using a mail service and being homeless is that some financial institutions get their shorts in a knot if you don't have a "home". They have their protocols and if you don't fit their template, they just don't adapt. Our FL drivers licenses use our mail service address, and that is what ultimately convinced them to back down on their insistence that we just HAD to have a physical address.
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