Keeping in contact while cruising.
? Copyright 2001 J.A. Rogers
(All rights reserved)    

 In most of the countries of the tropical Americas where cruising boaters venture, telephone calls are expensive and technology is lagging behind that of the US and Canada. The main reason long distance calls cost so much is that most of the phone companies in those countries are government monopolies and the calls are big money makers. So unless you can?t avoid it, never pay for long distance telephone calls in the countries you are visiting.

     One way to avoid being a hostage to government owned phone companies is by reversing the charges and billing the person you are calling, then settling up the bill later. 



J.A. Rogers is author of  several books on pleasure boat cruising. For more info check out www.jarogers.com

     Another way to get the cost down further is by the use of a calling card account. Calling cards have become a very common convenience in recent years. On a touch tone phone, you enter your calling card account number and the number you wish to call and the call is billed to your account at predetermined rates. No operators are needed to handle the transaction. Unfortunately not all calling cards are accepted in the tropical Americas. The most widely accepted is probably the ATT calling card. In the Bahamas for example, you can go to certain public phones and use an ATT card account. In Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, most of the better known calling cards are accepted. Before departure, it will be worth your while to be sure that your calling card is accepted where you plan to sail.

     Another feature of calling card accounts which is very handy for keeping in touch with people by telephone is the voicemail feature many of them offer. These accounts are great for cruising boaters because they work like an answering machine but don't require a physical phone anywhere. By dialing a number which is toll free for callers in the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and some other tropical American countries, people can hear a greeting left by you and leave their own message the same as using a regular answering machine. You then can call in from any touch tone phone and pick up your messages. Be sure to check the cost and availability in the countries you will be visiting before signing up though, because depending on where the calls are initiated, rates can change radically for use of the system. In one particular case, the amount charged per minute (both yours and your callers) jumps from 15 cents within the US to 65 cents when calling from outside.

So your phone bill will be a regular piece of mail that you will need to receive while cruising, and that brings up the problem of receiving your mail reliably while on the move. Some cruising boaters have friends or family who receive and forward mail for them while cruising and that can work well in some cases. But when important mail like regular bill payments, bank statements and so on are involved, it is really not fair to place that kind of responsibility on a friend. Better to turn the job over to professionals who specialize in mail forwarding for cruising boaters. Many of the companies who do this are owned by people who have been cruising boaters themselves and know about the special needs involved. They know the most common addresses where cruising boaters have their mail sent and can tell you what those are ahead of time, whether it be a general delivery post office near a cruising anchorage in the Caribbean, a yacht club or port captain's office in Mexico. They know the time it takes for mail to travel to and from various destinations and will have better luck sending mail so that it gets to you on time during your limited stays at the various points along your cruise.

For a membership fee and the cost of the postage, mail forwarders will send mail at regular intervals to the addresses along your route. In certain cases there may be extra charges involved which you should take into consideration, and in many cases there are extras included at no charge. So be sure to get all the details clearly understood before signing up. To get you started, a list of several mail forwarding companies which specialize for cruising boaters is included below.

Most mail forwarders will forward telephone voice and fax messages with regular mail. Some can also receive and pass e-mail and offer voicemail and satellite systems as well. Others offer extra conveniences like selling and shipping discount marine hardware as part of their services. Some offer free communications by HAM, SSB and VHF radio. With this feature, cruising boaters and their friends and family can pass messages via regularly scheduled radio nets by calling the mail forwarder who contacts the other party. One service that has been in existence for decades passes messages free for any cruising boaters on the Pacific coast of Mexico via a Ham radio net. Non-Hams can call their messages in by phone or receive them aboard their boats in Mexico either by VHF radio or a friendly visit from a Ham anchored nearby.

In summary, handling mail and phone calls is an important area of concern for those preparing for cruising and is sometimes overlooked until the last minute or until it?s necessary to bite the bullet and pay expensive costs that could have been saved by a little more planning.

MAIL FORWARDING FOR CRUISING BOATERS

Downwind Marine
Contact: Chris Frost
2809 Canyon St.
San Diego, CA 92106
Marine hardware and supplies. Not in the mail forwarding business, but will send packages of mail with cruising boaters for delivery to others along the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America. Monitors and passes messages along the Pacific coast of Mexico over the Manana Net ham radio net (1900 utc 14340 khz Mondays thru Saturdays).

Mailbag
Contact: Kenny
1402 E. Las Olas Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-467-8005 Fax: 954-522-5174
More than 9 years at the same location.
Telephone answering, notary, secretarial services.

Mail Call
Contact: Gary Trout
2726 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
Phone: 619-222-1186 Fax: 619-222-1185
E-mail lgmh58a@prodigy.com
Virtually all Mail Call customers are boaters.
Receives and forwards e-mail and fax messages.

Postal Annex
Contact: Terry or Sue Brunning
2907 Shelter Island Drive # 105
San Diego, CA 92106
Phone: 619-224-9930
Fax: 619-222-1664
Email: Postannex@aol.com
Part of large franchise like "Mail Boxes Etc." Has a Cruising Services account for mail and message forwarding once a week.

St. Brendan's Isle, Inc.
Contact: Doug or Linda Moody
411 Walnut Street
Green Cove Springs, FL 32043-3443
Phone (904) 284-1203 Fax: 904-284-4472
E-mail: sbi@boatmail.net
Web page: http://www.boatmail.net
More than 10 years in business. The most frequently used forwarding address among cruising boaters I've encountered. Discount marine hardware.

Voyagers Mail Forwarding
Contact: John Miller or Beth Burlingame
88005 Overseas Hwy. #9
Islamorada, FL Keys 33036
Phone: (305) 852-1101 Fax: (305) 853-1181
E-mail: Mailboat@aol.com
Web page: http://members.aol.com/Mailboat
Radio and satellite communications.
Marine SSB radio monitoring, 800 number voicemail.