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| What is the Best Way of Forwarding Mail While Cruising in Washington and B.C.?
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L. Books sent this question:
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April 7, 2000
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This summer we are planning a five month sailing cruise from Seattle to Glacier Bay and return. Your Guide is a great planning tool but in reading your Guide, I find no mention of the common problem of having mail forwarded along the way while cruising in US and Canadian waters.
Do you have suggestions for the most reliable locations to have mail sent? Also, I am thinking of using one day services such as FedEx but what method of forwarding is recommended?
Thanks for answering,
--L. Books
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Response
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You've asked an interesting question, and I don't have much of an answer. The local post office holds our mail when we're out for 6-8 weeks on our long summer cruise.
But the post office will only hold mail for a limited period (6 weeks, I believe), less than the time we're gone. However, once picked up, the post office will begin to hold it again for the next 6 weeks upon request. We give our daughter Sheri a signed note authorizing her to pick up the mail (a huge accumulation of mostly junk) at the end of the given time period. With the note, Sheri also has the authority to tell the post office to continue to hold the mail until our return. When we get home we pick up the rest of the mail at the post office. It takes several days to go through everything.
But that doesn't address the problem of being gone for five months. By "forward," do you mean that each piece is forwarded to an address up the Coast, or do you mean that somebody sorts through the mail and sends a packet of the important stuff? I get the sense that somebody would sort and send only the important stuff.
The Waggoner does note that Lorna at Port Neville will hold mail for boats, but nobody else has mentioned the subject to me.
Perhaps our readers have some insights. We'll post your question on our web site, and I'll start asking around for answers. I would appreciate your reporting to us whatever you learn. This information would be good to have in the book.
--Bob Hale
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