Using Boat as Home Address

[osirissail]

As to the requirements/regulations for Social Security numbers. I was shocked to discover during a first person encounter about 20 years ago that things have changed enormously. I was in the Orlando Social Security main office helping a friend get a replacement SS card and was unsuccessful as they required a Photo ID in order to physically receive the replacement card. And of course you could not get a State ID without a SS Card. "Catch 22" situation.

But anyway the point is the head of the local regional SS Office came out and explained to me that "things have changed" not only that every person born in the USA is issued a SS# upon birth, but that the old bit about the SS# not being used for anything other than your SS account had been abolished back in the Carter years. It is, as he explained, your USA Federal Identification Number.

And although you do not have to reveal it to anybody other than Federal Officers, not providing it when requested is legal justification for not allowing you access to whatever you are requesting - like a Bank Account, credit cards, drivers licenses, etc. So if you do not wish to provide the SS# you have the freedom to live without such things as I mentioned.

But anyway, as far as long term cruising is concerned, it is not difficult to keep your "ducks in a row" and get a physical address from outfits like St. Brenden's Isle and others. That will suffice and keep your "links" into the "System" active. There are thousands of USA cruisers out there all over the world who are not worrying about this particular "detail." See their website at: Mail Forwarding Services at St Brendan's Isle

[GaryMayo]

Try getting a job at any legitimate business, without proper and multiple IDs. Impossible. Then wait to see if the background check comes back with a thumbs up. If you ever transposed a number before, or messed up an address, or phone number, and the system catches the discrepancy, you will be turned down for employment.

[hellosailor]

kettlewell-
The DMV clerk probably was too embarased to ask if a "yacht southerly" was the same kinda thing as a cul-de-sac.
I nearly gave one a heart attack over the eye test when I read the first line and then stopped and said I needed a translator, those looked like Arabic numbers and I only read Roman ones.

[Me-and-Boo]

Adding to the fun. A couple marinas I looked at set up the mail boxes just like an apartment building. The carrier stuffs the mail in each box. The marina I am at uses a slightly different system, but takes all mail at the office address.

You can buy an address list showing everyplace you can send US mail. USPS and private. There is no problem for any firm or government to verify location. Sometimes for new numbers it takes a couple weeks. Which means your "address" can be verified within a second or two.

Generally it is not a good idea to fake out something. The people with no sense of humour get involved and they are not nice people. However, there have to be solutions of some kind because I think of government people assigned to foreign stations for years and they somehow maintain a US address.

[iliveonboat]

I started this thread thats also linked here,

I live on an anchored boat , whats my address ? proof of residency ? - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum


I am trying to find out what to use as an address when you live on a boat.

The correct answer is not "use a fraudulent address"...

I live on the boat, its my home...

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, iliveonboat.

[Carlisle Spirit]

Originally Posted by svjustus

I originally posted this because a friend of mine wants to have only his boat doc.# on his drivers license. So we were wondering if that is possible. I personally use my marina's address. If it is possible, how would you go about this?
Thanks for your responses!!

I have my boat name as well as my dock number on my formal address for taxation , banking , driving license and everything else

CS

[hellosailor]

" a friend of mine wants to have only his boat doc.# on his drivers license. "
If you live in your car, can you use the car's VIN as your address? No, of course not. A car or a boat is chattel goods. It is not real estate, real property, or a fixed physical location. So the odds are your DMV will politely tell you "no" followed by "goodbye". They're each following a specific set of regulations and all of those can be found on the web.

Carlisle's dock number, on the other hand, is a specific fixed location. Some states will accept that. Some clerks will also accept that, with no idea it may not be legally sufficient in some states.

If you disagree with an agency there are three things you can do:

1-Change the laws, by suit if necessary or convenient
2-Move elsewhere

Doesn't get much simpler, does it?

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

If you disagree with an agency there are three things you can do:

1-Change the laws, by suit if necessary or convenient
2-Move elsewhere

Doesn't get much simpler, does it?

3-Spearhead an armed insurrection?

[Stugots]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

If you disagree with an agency there are three things you can do:

1-Change the laws, by suit if necessary or convenient
2-Move elsewhere

Doesn't get much simpler, does it?

Those options sound like the opposite of simple.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

Your marina has an address and gets mail. Your slip has a number. I fail to see why your slip cannot get mail, or why you could not use the address of your marina for the acquisition of a drivers licence.

In Florida it is commonplace. Just got our licenses with our marina address and slip number.

[Robin3]

Originally Posted by iliveonboat

I started this thread thats also linked here,

I live on an anchored boat , whats my address ? proof of residency ? - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum


I am trying to find out what to use as an address when you live on a boat.

The correct answer is not "use a fraudulent address"...

I live on the boat, its my home...

We used St Brendans herehttps://www.sbimailservice.com/mail_services.htm when we lived aboard for a year and this is still our address for things official like boat reg documents etc and stuff that might need to be signed for (like credit cards and bank stuff). We can have this mail forwarded to wherever we are as often as we wish. St Brendans also intercept renewal letters for USCG boat registry papers and State registration renewal (decals) taxes and will deal with them for us if we wish, very useful. Our cars are registered to here also so if we move state we can retain our FL plates plus we retain FL residency. When living aboard we set up a forwarding address locally to our boat by using a US Post Office PO box, we had one close enough to walk to that was open 24/7 at least to the mailbox area We could have used the marina office too buttheir mail collection area was open to all, not as secure....

[SecondBase]

www.paytrust.com covers 95% of mail needs and will forward physical credit cards, other paperwork.

[seamountie]

In British Columbia, Canada, the DMV requires a physical address, and a mailing address if that is different from the physical one.

My driver's licence has my boat name & registered port + my current mailing address.

eg: S/V Gandalf III
Vancouver, BC
PO Box 123
Tofino, BC V0R2Z0

In BC this has the added advantage that my boat is documented as my home, so if Fisheries checks me, possession limits do not apply - only daily catch limits. And I can process seafood on my boat, and still be legal.
_______________

S/V Gandalf III
Clayoquot Sound

[adam56usa]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

In Florida it is commonplace. Just got our licenses with our marina address and slip number.

I plan on moving to a Marina in Miami, Florida next month. I am getting a PO Box for my mail. Can I put the marina address on my drivers license and voters reg? What about vehicle reg.?