A week ago our hot water heater went out, not a big problem but an expensive one, throw a bit (a lot) of money at it and get a part in. We located the part last week and were ready to pull the trigger but we had no shipping address. Carl went up to the Harbor Master office to get the address but they told him they DO NOT accepted mail or packages there for any of the boats. WHAT? This is the first marina we’ve ever been to that doesn’t accept mail on behalf of their paying guests.
I’ve asked a couple of businesses in town but they won’t accept the delivery of our part either. The post office won’t accept Fedex packages… what are we to do? Destined to boil the kettle for dishes and the kids baths and to brave the chilly night air for a (paid) shower at the marina office? My next step will be to look into a mailing service out of Anchorage that we can drive 3 hours to get our packages.
On top of it all we can only access the internet at the library and our cell phone only works within city limits. Have you seen how many towns Alaska has? Not many! I stress every time I leave Seward, what if the car breaks down with 3 kids in it?
Grandma wants to send a care package for the kids, Carl needs a heater part and I need a new homeschooling curriculum to be sent.
We really are in the woods up here. Hellooooo rest of the world, we’re still here, good luck reaching us.
Sharron says
Carly, is there a store called Mail Boxes etc, or something like that? They will take your packages if you can find one ?
Carly says
I checked no mailbox services 🙁
Sharron says
Or UPS …or a packing and shipping store. They often have mail boxes.
Will faUlkner says
Belly up to a local bar; they’ll help u out. Otherwise I have a PO Box in Kasilof; not sure that helps much. I’d just pull anchor and go to Homer if it were me. Enjoy following your adventure; dream of doing the same some day.
Good Luck,
Will Faulkner(local commercial fisherman and oyster farmer)
Carly says
Thanks for the offer Will. My mum charmed a local fish and chip man for his address 🙂
Homer was lovely but Seward has a lot to offer for our kids, I’m sure Homer does too but it’s in the wrong direction.
AnnaBritt says
Hi,
I have been following your blog for a while and love what your family is doing. We happen to live in Anchorage and we be more then glad to help you out if you need an address to use. We have gotten to do some amazing travels of our own and know what it’s like to be totally stuck, especially with the whole mail thing.
Let me know if you need any help or if you and your family are in town and would like a caribou dinner (I figure seafood might be a little bit repetitive at this point).
-Anna Hoffmann
Carly says
Thanks Anna. My mum got the address from a Seward fish and chip shop owner. Sweet! The post office said we can use general delivery for 30 days and to use our slip number at the marina. I guess we just need to make sure everything gets sent USPS.
Thanks for the offer for dinner, we’re actually in Anchorage for today and tomorrow. We feel like locals, our poor little Capri needed to see a dentist so we had to come all the way into Anchorage for one. My mum flys back to Australia in the morning so we got a hotel room for the night. Stylin! We’ll definitely have to catch up, if you’re in Seward you’ll have to drop by the boat. Carly
Schooner Mahdee says
Wow, and you’re in the “big city” compared to a lot of SE AK we visited last year. LOL.
About fed-ex and the post office — the sender has to tell fed-ex to PAY postage to the USPS to get the post office to accept the package for you. We do it with general delivery everywhere we’ve been. Sometimes the sender is clueless and can’t help out though. Sometimes the local fed-ex doesn’t want to do it. In all cases, if Fed-ex puts the postage on the package for that last delivery bit, the USPS has to take it.
About Seward — send us an email if you’d like a contact name for a sailing contact we have there (someone who could receive a package for you).
About no cel phones– yep, that’s the reality of much of the remote and rural areas of the US and Canada today. And was the reality everywhere a mere decade ago. How things change. Best of luck in your continued travels.
Carly says
I went down to the post office and like you said we can get general delivery for all USPS, still stuck for fedex and ups but I’m sure if we request USPS it will be ok. My mum acutally got an address from a local and our part is on its way!!! So it could either arrive in 5 days or 30 from Seattle. Fingers crossed! It’s getting a bit chilly at night to be walking up to the showers. brrr! Yeah Seward is really like a big city!
Schooner Mahdee says
My point was/is that both FedEx and UPS DO have the ability to take packages to the USPS General Delivery for you–but they must add a small amount of postage for doing so. Where we are now in a rural area, the local postmaster tells us that about 1/2 of our packages come in the back door w/o that extra bit of postage because UPS or FedEx didn’t do what they were supposed to do. We contact the shipper and relay the info but are so thankful that the USPS will accept the FedEx and UPS even if it is NOT properly paid for.
s/v Nadejda says
Alaska is a learning curve, finding companies that will ship to AK and use a carrier that doesn’t charge a staggering fee is at times a challenge. We have used the barge for bigger parts and is great if you have the time. I could relate to discovering the trek for internet and the local cost of a shower (and laundry), makes the investment of installing the systems reasonable! I’m glad you were able to find an address. -Molly
Carly says
Yeah Molly, sure is a learning curve, we were kind of used to it coming from Greenland. We were just looking forward to everything being a little easier in Alaska but I guess that’s what makes this part of the world so amazing.
S/V nadejda says
We just realized that your boat was in Ilwaco, Washington when we were there back in 2012. Peter even went on it to do some work. It was a bright red back then and went flying down the coast when we were headed north. There was a video on Youtube of it surfing off the California coast. What a small world! Out of curiosity do you know what town she was built in?