That's the only conclusion I have come to as well.... :/ Still thinking on it, but I HAD TO LAUGH at the look on the lady's face at DMV when I gave her my marina address
I dunno.... But I AM looking at cheap apts/mailing addresses...
*sigh*
Skeet
You Can't Live on a Boat Anymore
- Thread starter Roger Long
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That's the only conclusion I have come to as well.... :/ Still thinking on it, but I HAD TO LAUGH at the look on the lady's face at DMV when I gave her my marina address
I dunno.... But I AM looking at cheap apts/mailing addresses...
*sigh*
Skeet
Zeehag, You were right once. But as I found out, the laws have changed. Many of the freedoms we had as late as the 90's have been taken away. I was OK with not voting as it was more or less voting for the lesser evil. But the drivers license and boat documentation/registration etc became a huge issue. I was actually prevented from renting and told my license was suspended. It proved to be due to not updating my address. Go figure! I am still baffled as to HOW they knew. But I had used it with no problem in many other countries. If you are still somewhat living below the radar then more power to you. For those of us who still live and work in US it is no longer so easy. I will most likely eventually leave US with my boat but I believe this is not really an option or desire for Roger, or in fact most people here. Until then we have to comply in a creative way.
sorry, i am CURRENT, compete with drivers license and the whole schlemiel.... there are ways around the obvious--you must learn to think outside the box in order to live successfully on board.
is kinda a why gods made family and friends and special places that do these services for us......rodlmao, but then, yer gonna die and yer gonna....
just find the best solution--i had cars and everything until 2 yrs ago when i left good old usa complete with my cali drivers license, good until 2015.....
things do change, and have changed since 1990, but that doesnt mean one need live in an apartment or rent a very pricey slip just for an address.
the operative words are THINK and CREATIVITY. bureaucracy has loopholes built into everything. use em.
So how do you leave this country and get permission to work in others.
I thought you had to get a work visa and it was extremely difficult to do so.
Is it legal to accept donations to maintain a cruising kitty?
I thought you had to get a work visa and it was extremely difficult to do so.
Is it legal to accept donations to maintain a cruising kitty?
cheap slip my help you
I rent a couple of boat slips on a canal off the ICW near Belhaven, NC. They are only used part time in this economy, and the price has dropped to $60/month. I've also got some local boating friends who have unused waterfront property in Southport, ME, who offered to let me store m boat there for the winter. Would either of these options help?
I rent a couple of boat slips on a canal off the ICW near Belhaven, NC. They are only used part time in this economy, and the price has dropped to $60/month. I've also got some local boating friends who have unused waterfront property in Southport, ME, who offered to let me store m boat there for the winter. Would either of these options help?
so , as you know, i am disabled and no longer work. so who needs a work visa.
i am allowed to reside wherever i am able to receive usps delivered mal. i receive that as a transient in marinas in where ever i am ville.
i do not accept donations, my mother sends me money on rare occasions, and is cheaper to send thru paypal than other alternative high priced methods.
i worked very very hard for the small amount of money i bring in now--i paid taxes for ever--since i was 16 yrs of age, and i troubleshot traumatic injuries and critical illnesses in human beings for over 30 years to earn my disability.
yes i live within the fine print of my ssdi paperworks.
what do you do.
Thanks for thinking of me. If I'm going to give up my Maine residency, get a new driver's license, etc.; pinning myself to the NY land I actually own would make most sense.
The Southport thing might be interesting but friend of a friend is getting to be a pretty long chain. It would have to be a place with a house. I think I have some options that will work. I'll PM you if I want to look into it further.
Roger,
Love reading your posts. Especially love the pictures! Thank you.
This whole thread had me thinking. My dad lived aboard his boat for 5-6 years. He used my address as his legal address. I got his mail and forwarded it. I remembered you having a son on one of your winter adventures. Couldn't you legally use his address? Sorry if this sounds a little off.
Love reading your posts. Especially love the pictures! Thank you.
This whole thread had me thinking. My dad lived aboard his boat for 5-6 years. He used my address as his legal address. I got his mail and forwarded it. I remembered you having a son on one of your winter adventures. Couldn't you legally use his address? Sorry if this sounds a little off.
He will be moving to Russia for a time in the fall since he just graduated with a major in Russian studies so I think there would be come complications with that
The other son will still be in college and I don't think his mother's address is an option either.
I first lived on a boat in 1974 and I can tell you nothing has changed. The whole issue with residency was a pain back then and it is no worse now. You just have to get a bit creative and not make a big deal out if it. If you want the lifestyle you make it work. I live aboard now and face the same issues I did as a teenager, in fact I think it is a bit more excepted now by officials then it was back then, but back then I was a hippy now I am an adult lol
So as not to derail this thread, I will repost on the cruisers forum.
I have the same name over there.
I have the same name over there.
I've managed to find a small apartment that is being held for someone's eventual retirement. Since I won't be there, I won't object to or be in the way of renovation work and occasional use by the owner. That flexibility gets me a lease at a price I can afford. The lease makes it a legal foundation address for the mail which will get handled by UPS and make it a legal presence for drivers license, etc. It would be legal for me to rent my home and go traveling for a year or more without having to give up my Maine drivers license so I can't see any way that this doesn't cover the bases as long as I don't establish residency in another state and use it for some fraudulent purpose. I'm also getting the option to return to it and pay market rent if I need to come ashore for a while.
I think I will still make it a yearly ritual in the fall to visit the vessel documentation center and renew my document in person. No chance of it getting lost in the mail and a good excuse to visit Jimm.
As people have said above, there is always a way.
I think I will still make it a yearly ritual in the fall to visit the vessel documentation center and renew my document in person. No chance of it getting lost in the mail and a good excuse to visit Jimm.
As people have said above, there is always a way.
The comment was made that dmv found his whereabouts anyway.
Years ago, I was underground, I mean BIG time gopher-holed. No one knew where I was. As was the SOP at the time, I had mail, addy's, vehicles, etc, spread out far and thin. But not one single thing, not a phone, nothing, had me tied there. Except the power bill. There was no way whatsoever to turn on the power, WITH a S.S.N. no doubt, and have the bill sent to that physical address. Never thought it much, it's a power bill.
Skip forward a lot of time, and I was trying to re-establish an identity. Tough business when you're crawling out of THAT hole. But after the nightmares that you can imagine were concluding, I'm sitting at the dmv, the great gestapo. So this guy is giving me addresses that I had not lived at in 40 years. And I say yes, or no at times, because some of the addresses I did NOT live at, and he never slowed down. This went on for awhile, as my life has been somewhat convoluted is a simple way of putting it, but he finally asked about THE address. I just about vapor locked. I know I turned white. And I said no. It was very evident that that was the wrong answer. He asked a couple more times if I was sure, and sticking with the lie, I was adamant. He let it go, but he had me, and he knew it.
There's no other way, except that power bill. They're all plugged in I guess brother.
And sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction..
Years ago, I was underground, I mean BIG time gopher-holed. No one knew where I was. As was the SOP at the time, I had mail, addy's, vehicles, etc, spread out far and thin. But not one single thing, not a phone, nothing, had me tied there. Except the power bill. There was no way whatsoever to turn on the power, WITH a S.S.N. no doubt, and have the bill sent to that physical address. Never thought it much, it's a power bill.
Skip forward a lot of time, and I was trying to re-establish an identity. Tough business when you're crawling out of THAT hole. But after the nightmares that you can imagine were concluding, I'm sitting at the dmv, the great gestapo. So this guy is giving me addresses that I had not lived at in 40 years. And I say yes, or no at times, because some of the addresses I did NOT live at, and he never slowed down. This went on for awhile, as my life has been somewhat convoluted is a simple way of putting it, but he finally asked about THE address. I just about vapor locked. I know I turned white. And I said no. It was very evident that that was the wrong answer. He asked a couple more times if I was sure, and sticking with the lie, I was adamant. He let it go, but he had me, and he knew it.
There's no other way, except that power bill. They're all plugged in I guess brother.
And sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction..
Re: You can live aboard legally
Couldn't you just rent a room in a private home and without board, as the cheapest option?
Couldn't you just rent a room in a private home and without board, as the cheapest option?
You can bet I'm going to spend more time in Southport the next time I'm passing and you're going to earn a few beers telling me this story.
Roger,
I am from Texas and use an RVers permanent residence/mail service called Escapees (escapees.com) I pay an annual member ship fee and have my drivers license and voter registration from their address. It's what they do for mobile people. They also provide a mailing address for you and forward your mail wherever you want, when ever you want to receive it. I have them mail it to my current marina once a week but could go online and change those instructions to suite me.
Patricia
so if i live on a boat i can join this organization and be a full member with benefits as described in the web site..
regards
woody
Their site says:
"The Escapees Mail Forwarding Service is a licensed commercial mail-receiving agent."
That means that it is exactly what the UPS Store is. Those papers they gave you and said "sign here" which you probably didn't read (who does?) would have been the same ones from the US Postal Service that say there must be a physical address that Escapees is being the agent for.
I'm not surprised that you are able to use the address for your driver's license, etc. That's just because nobody is paying attention in your state. Maine is small enough that the DMV knows damn well where 50 Market Street is and that nobody lives there.
I like to follow the rules, not because I'm a goody two shoes but because I don't want to be interrupted in the middle of a cruise by a letter saying my drivers license has been suspended and have to drop everything to deal with it. Postal fraud is also serious Federal bad news. It isn't likely to be pursued unless you are maintaining multiple residences for the purpose of avoiding taxes, getting state benefits that you are not entitled to, or ripping other people off. However, we live in a society where proving yourself right because someone needs to make a quota or is just compulsive can cost as much time and money as if you had committed a real crime. The best way to remain free in what is rapidly becoming a police state is to give them as little room to get a hook into you as you can.
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