A SetSail visitor has asked about mail forwarding services for cruisers. Boy--that's a question quite close to the bone for us at the moment. Bone of contention, that is. I have just dealt with a massive mailing of change of address forms--and wondered just who we have missed. After 14 years with the same mail forwarding service it is like an amputation. More on this later. Let me give you some historical perspective first.

When we first started cruising aboard BACCHUS in the 60's, we hadn't a clue about handling our mail. It just sorta happened. It was all Postal mail at that time. We directed our friends and family, and the few businesses we dealt with, to send mail to us c/o Al's mother. We would let her know when and where to send the collection to us. Usually these mail calls were few and far between, and we often didn't get mail for months at a time.

What fun to approach a landfall that coincided with a mail port too! Who would have written to us? The mystery...the suspense...And yes, the disappointment at times as well. We learned that best friends are not always best correspondents. In the 4 years it took us to sail around the world I don't think we lost any mail. Mind you, some of it took some weird routes to get to us, and was not always received in the most timely fashion! Brother Bob sent us 2 rolls of film to Jamaica; two years later he received it back--returned to sender!

Course, life was a little simpler in those days too. We had no credit cards, no regular bills to pay, so didn't have to think about statements chasing us around the oceans. Our one bank account was in the same small town as Al's Mom, and the bank was owned by Al's best friend. Getting money to us was sometimes a problem, but Ernie usually found a way. Then it was up to us to find the money! It was amazing how banks could screw around with delivery of a telegraphic transfer of funds. We sometimes had travelers checks, but more often a wad of good old US dollars stashed in a hidey hole on the boat.

Back to the present. In 1989 we quit our jobs and were ready to leave the States and continue full time cruising aboard SUNFLOWER. We wondered just what to do about our mail. We had been working in Florida and had a Postal Box there. But who to tend it? Then our friend Jim came along with a proposal to start a mail forwarding business. What did we think? We didn't have to think at all, just sent him a check and said, "You're on!" We were his first customer. We had known Jim and Kitty since the late 70's in Guam with our (then) new SUNFLOWER. Long story, but they had retired from their cruising life to raise a youngster and had settled in Texas. Jim was connected with the offshore oil business, and saw a need for a similar kind of service for the guys on the Gulf oil rigs. Jim's experience with gathering mail in foreign ports, his excellent administrative powers, and our personal relationship gave us first rate mail forwarding service.

Alas, two years ago, tired of not having any vacations in 12 years, and involved more and more with family commitments, Jim sold the business. There were a few hiccups in the first few months of the change over. Things straightened out for a while, then the hiccups became more noticeable, and turned into big time fah-cups. (Thanks Herb!) This year has been such a disaster I don't even want to remind myself by writing about it. Up shot of it all: we have changed agents.

What are the options? Everyone seems to decide on a different tack. Some of our yachting friends have one of their family members handle the mail. An eye opener about the family member in some cases! A close friend would work too. Some people have long time business associates, or a bank, or some other institution they are involved with forward their mail.

There are regular Mail Forwarding Services (MFS) these days, that can fill just about any requirements you want. You can find a lot of names on the internet--try a Google search for "mail forwarding services" and you will be surprised at what comes up! I did this, and looked at a bunch of different web sites for different MFS's. I E-mailed several for more extensive information. Interesting how some of them responded--or didn't. Tells you a whole lot about the quality of service. I also asked around, and randomly E-mailed a few cruisers that we knew used this agent or that service, and got feedback from their point of view.

In the end, we chose to sign up with St. Brendan's Isle MFS. (www.boatmail.net) They were responsive and seemed to have the kind of services we require. We used to get a mail packet sent out twice a month, but think we will just go for once a month now. They charge $13.99 per month, plus postage, plus a $2.00 handling fee for each mailing. So you see, it could add up. We get reliable mail in Malaysia, so have usually had our packets sent via US Postal Mail. US Postal Service International Global Priority packets sometimes gives faster service. We do have courier services like Fed Ex and DHL available in Malaysia too, though usually they come at a VERY steep price.

OK. Mail is only part of the administrative side of things. Money is another, and that is really easy these days. We used to have to chase around to find our money when it had been sent to us. By the time SUNFLOWER came along we were well used to having credit cards, one of which was an American Express card. With that card in hand, and a personal check, we could go into most AmEx offices and get money and/or traveler's checks. Now of course the ATM has pretty much taken over. The ATM "hole in the wall" spits out local currency and can be found almost everywhere today. No worries about banking hours, or whether the bank has a foreign exchange department either.

You still have to have some sort of mechanism for paying money out and getting money in. We chose to organize it all together by signing up with a Cash Management Account. Ours is from Merrill Lynch, but many financial companies have similar set ups. Now any incoming funds are electronically deposited to our account. The moneys earn interest (very little these days), and are automatically debited when we write a check on the account. Our ATM withdrawals come from the account and any credit card charges for purchases are debited at the end of the month. We don't have to worry about bills trying to catch us in the slow mail. It has been one of the best things we have done to streamline the money questions. Course there is a charge for this--it costs $150 per year.