Shipping Packages & Mail

[GordMay]

Duty-Free Shipping & Poste Restante Snail Mail:

Perhaps we could jointly compile a list of specific recommendations regarding the cheapest & easiest procedures for receiving parcels & mail in foreign ports.

Please share your expertise with various jurisdictions (by country).

Procuring Replacement or Spare Parts for the “Yacht in Transit”

Often essential replacement parts & gear are unavailable, or exorbitantly expensive, in local (foreign) ports of call, and have to be ‘imported’.

Sometimes customs duties & taxes can be avoided when goods are imported directly to the vessel, and consigned as “Yacht-in-Transit”.
Often, yacht parts sent for "Yachts in Transit" are duty-free, but require professional brokerage, local installation, and/or ‘special’ documentation. Private courier companies (UPS, FedEx, Purolator, etc.) can sometimes expedite things advantageously
Usually, the items to be imported must be specifically for repair or maintenance , and anything that could possibly be sold separately from the boat, is subject to duties.

A generic Shipping Label
To: Your Name , Master
Your Nationality Yacht in Transit “Your Boat Name”
Location Specifics

ie: May, Gordon A. (Master)
Canadian Yacht in Transit, “Southbound” (#38E1458)
General Delivery (Post Restante *)
Nassau, New Providence
BAHAMAS
*** REPLACEMENT PARTS ENCLOSED ***

~or better yet~
May, Gordon A. (Master)
Canadian Yacht in Transit, “Southbound” (#38E1458)
c/o East Bay Yacht Basin,
East Bay St.
PO Box SS-6871
Nassau, New Providence
BAHAMAS
*** REPLACEMENT PARTS ENCLOSED ***


* ‘Poste restante’ is a service provided by postal systems where the post office holds mail (that has a notation written on it) until the recipient calls for it.
In general, this notation contains the word 'POSTE RESTANTE', the full name of the recipient (as on the identification presented to verify the identity; and with the surname listed first for ease of sorting), and the name of the destination post office. As a courtesy to the postmaster, an expected date of pick-up is also indicated. Each postal system has its own regulation on how to handle the service, including the length they hold the mail before discarding.
In the United States, the United States Postal Service uses the term general delivery, and reserves the term poste restante for international mail sent to general delivery.
Many Post Offices will reliably hold mail marked "poste restante" for at least a month - longer if the sender indicates a different period. There may be a fee for parcels held longer than one month.