MAIL MATTERS

Lou Lou Pack

When we first left UK shores to go ocean cruising it didn't take long to realise how important our mail would become to us. Letters suddenly became the conduit for all the snippets of information and things we'd taken for granted in a normal working life now we had no telephone conversations with family and friends, newspapers, catalogues, photos of the latest family additions and so on. `Poste Restante, Funchal, Madeira' might have sounded a romantic destination for our first batch of forwarded mail, but on our arrival we'd had six or seven fruitless visits to the central Post Office there before finally we tracked down the package. I can remember as if it were yesterday sitting at a table outside the nearest street bar consuming one cafe con leche (grande) after the next and drinking in the contents of all that lovely accumulated mail.

Like everyone, as the years went by, so we got better at dealing with mail, learning of the more reliable forwarding addresses, the importance of timing and gradually instilling into those at home who were handling our mail how correctly to handle, package and address it. Even then, mail seemed to get lost fairly regularly for a wide variety of reasons. Above all, how often do you come across yachtsmen who are in harbour `waiting for mail' when they would prefer to be heading on to the next place?

We soon realised that the crux of the mail problem was at the UK end. In their day Eric and Susan Hiscock used their bank to forward mail because, unlike friends or family, they do not fall ill, move house, or go away on holiday or business. Also, when a service is being paid for you can expect it to be right and complain if it isn't; forwarding a travelling friend's mail is an onerous enough task at the best of times, the relationship can be strained when that traveller then starts moaning that `HOLD FOR ARRIVAL' is not being written on the envelope in big enough script... The other maddening aspect of modern day living that we had no control over was junk mail; we once beat to windward for 150 miles to pick up a package waiting for us, only to receive double-glazing brochures and AA insurance offers.

Another potential thorn in our side when cruising was procuring spare parts. Sometimes it could be very straightforward, at others you could spend considerably more on long distance faxes and phonecalls than the cost of the item sought, and even then the wrong thing could turn up. If only there was a sympathetic ear, who knew something about boats, at the UK end so many problems could have been solved.

Our own circumnavigation ended abruptly in Venezuela when my husband Geoff was offered the job as Editor of Yachting Monthly. We flew home, and with anchor firmly swallowed I started up SHIP-TO-SHORE in the hope of addressing the cruising yachtsman's perrenial problem -- that of needing a UK `agent' to hold and forward mail plus sort out various other common problems. After five and a half years sailing, with more than 50,000 miles logged I have a sound understanding of the yachtsman's problems.

We have attempted to keep the operation of SHIP-TO-SHORE as simple as possible. First of all, our Hamble address (PO Box 400, Hamble, Southampton SO31 4JZ) becomes yours. Whenever you want your mail you have two options:

1. Leave us (on Answerphone or Fax) a return fax number and within 24-48 hours we will call back listing the mail currently held for you. You can then decide if you want it forwarded (if we hear nothing back, it will be held).

2. Leave a message with your name and present address and within 24-48 hours it will be dispatched there.

Alternatively, on a set cruise plan -- an Atlantic circuit for example -- provided with your instructions we can forward mail to arrive when you do.

And the cost? There is an annual registration fee of œ75, plus 15p for every item posted on. If there are more than four adults aboard, the annual registration fee is œ125. On the estimate that an average cruising yacht receives 135 items of mail annually, this handling charge would typically be œ20-25p. On top of this you would be charged, at cost, your own postage and packaging expenses. In this way you are the one to regulate what you spend on your mail; those wanting a weekly package to Polynesia are bound to spend more that a Mediterranean-cruising yacht receiving her mail every other month. Each customer provides a deposit (œ25 is suggested to start with) from which postal charges are deducted, and a statement is provided with each package sent.

What else can SHIP-TO-SHORE do for you ?

Spare Parts & Charts Procurement: Being Hamble-based, we are in the heart of the UK's boating industry and are well-placed to track down spares, charts, pilot guides or chandlery requirements. This service is charged by time expenditure (œ10 per hour) and any expenses involved.

Emergency message forwarding: In emergencies only, we will leave on our Answerphone introduction message a request for an individual to contact us ASAP.

Fax message forwarding: You can have your faxes sent to SHIP-TO-SHORE, and at your request we can forward them to you or include them with your normal mail.

Photo-processing: If you're having problems getting films (especially transparencies) developed reliably, send them to us. We can provide fast and very economic processing.

Junk-mail filtering: On your request we can filter your mail.

And finally: We can personalise our service to your needs. If you want your favourite magazine sent out from time to time, non-prescription medicine, that favourite author's new novel, an occasional Sunday Times or even your favourite brand of jam or relish, we can do it.

If you think SHIP-TO-SHORE might smooth some elements of your cruising lifestyle, call me on 0703 457666 (fax 0703 457440), or write to SHIP-TO-SHORE at PO Box 400, Hamble, Southampton, SO31 4JZ and I'll forward some literature and a registration form.

(On the basis that there's nothing like a personal recommendation, particularly where important (and potentially confidential) matters like cruising mail are concerned, I'd like to add a few totally unsolicited remarks.

I've known both Geoff and Lou Lou for the best part of twenty years, since before they set off across the Atlantic in their first Foreigner, a 35ft Wharram catamaran. Two more likeable and reliable people it would be hard to find. Geoff now has a high profile as Editor of Yachting Monthly (as well as being an OCC Rear Commodore), and as such will be known to many members.

SHIP-TO-SHORE sounds like an eminently sensible idea. Liz and I knew how very fortunate we were to have knowledgeable and supportive parents who acted as our `home agents' when we were off on our travels, and were equally aware that not all our friends were so lucky. If only they'd had Lou Lou to look after their UK interests! Anne Hammick)