Delivering mail by jumping from a moving boat 

And to answer the obvious question: yes, there are other ways to get the mail delivered these days. But it's a tradition, and one that a few lakehouses are happy to continue!

Tom is really out here completing side quests

Tom, thank you for visiting us and making a video about Lake Geneva Cruise Line! It was great to meet you, and we think you did an amazing job delivering the mail -- come back any time for a job as a mail jumper on the US Mailboat! 😃

"They know that their outgoing mail might have toothmarks in it" is probably my favourite bit.

I love how much Tom overcomplicated this. "so I run toward the mailbox, I put it in the mailbox, I turn around from the mailbox, I go back toward the boat" 😂

I think the driver must be praised too here guiding the boat so close to the platform and not hitting it every single time is commendable.

It’s fun to think that every Tom Scott video is like a postcard from a friend telling you about a cool place they found.

Tom just seems so genuine now, and you can tell he loves doing RU-vid. Something a lot of people don't have.

Love Paige’s surprised “Oh, he did it!”

I love that Tom's way of coping with nerves is to give a running commentary of everything he's doing. Natural television presenter.

Tom Scott exploring the weirder parts of the postal system is a miniseries I am loving so far.

It’s so weird to hear Tom describe this job being done by “people half his age” because I always envision him as being just a little older than me, which would mean half his age is quite young.

I love it that he actually copied her kissing the goose, that's so essential for the mail delivery! ❤

The people involved seem so nice. Paige is so encouraging and the captain has so much of a "let the kids have fun, I'll make sure they're safe" vibe.

This seems like a wonderfully unique tourist attraction! It also feels like it's the kinda wonky tradition that has just been kept alive cause everyone involved is just so very happy to be a part of it :D

Tom is the perfect example of "if you can't overcome your fear, do it scared"

I actually work at the cruise line and have for 6 years. Fun fact: kissing the goose is supposed to give you good luck so you don't fall in on the north shore

Many a commenter before me has expressed the shocking feeling one gets when Tom Scott stops by a place where one has been before. Today, as someone from Wisconsin who has been to Lake Geneva several times, I finally understand what it's like. I shall now be the one to say, wow, I never knew that an amazing place like this exists in my neck of the woods!

This isn't the point of the video but what really surprised me was 'outgoing mail'. For some reason I didn't realise in America you can just put outgoing post in your own mailbox to be taken away.

I love how about 3 seconds after letting out a primal scream, Tom still politely kisses the goose before departing

I think what I love most about Tom is his willingness and motivation to try crazy and interesting things despite being obviously uncomfortable and sometimes terrified. Awesome bloke.

I like the acknowledgement that he still had his mic on, and then going for the jump without taking it off anyway, as if there may have been some insightful commentary that wasn't worth missing for the sake of possibly buying a new mic... But he made it so it all worked out fine

As someone with a parent in the USPS, I love seeing the quirky yet still active parts of the Mail Service. I love it.

Tom is so hilariously uncoordinated. I'm really impressed that he's putting himself in so obviously uncomfortable situations

tom is so scared to be physical yet he is so physical these days.

The way he aggressively and audibly kissed the goose 😂

Tom is out here doing every side quest the game has to offer

Imagine if a pizza delivery guy can speedrun his way to reach for the customer's house by doing exact the same thing as Tom does.

I spent a summer at Lake Geneva a few years ago, and it's wild to see Tom having a very similar reaction to the one I had when I learned about this.

It surprises me that out of all the weird things we do in Wisconsin this is the one Scott chose to cover. But at the same time it doesn't really surprise me lmao

Imagine jumping off a vessel and running onto a dock and having to sprint back before you are abandoned at a strangers house to deliver someone’s walmart coupons.

Fun fact: The town is called "Lake Geneva" while the lake is called "Geneva Lake". They were both originally named after Geneva NY (confusingly split into the city and town of Geneva) which in turn was supposedly named after Geneva, Switzerland. Edit: To avoid confusion with Geneva IL, both were later renamed "Lake Geneva" and "Geneva Lake" respectively.

Tom! I grew up on Lake Geneva, spent my youth on my father's boat on the waves, and he worked for nearly 30 years at Gage Marine, the company that owns these boats (The flag with the G on the employees shirts!). I just recently lost him. Seeing this pop up now on my feed gave me a huge smile. The boat jumpers are a local legend in our area. Thanks for a nice reminder of dad!

Anyone else throw their arms up in celebration with Tom when he successfully got back on the boat? Good job Tom 😁🥳

Being from Wisconsin, it's so fun to see Tom here exploring quirky traditions I didn't know about! Thanks for visiting Tom! I need to go check this out myself!

Never thought I'd see Tom Scott kissing a goose on a pier in an American lake, but I also never thought I'd see Tom Scott in a profession wrestling event, so I guess it's fair.

I was waiting for him to jump on the boat ledge, say "YES!" and then fall in the water when celebrating. Overall a great job Tom!

As someone who occasionally orders live tarantulas, this made me unreasonably nervous

"If you don't know, now you know!"... Kind of thing Great video as always Tom

All of his parkour training showed with the way he broke down the steps and walked himself through leaping back on the boat. I love it.

"I am who I think you think I am" I worry that Tom believes himself to be physically inept on some levels because of how he views himself through the eyes of his peers. Proud of him for challenging that comfort.

This is one of those jobs you'd hear about from old folks that can't possibly still exist today, surely it's an urban legend... Great job getting the extra goose points!

Tom, that was one of your best videos. Fun, informative and amazing. It made me smile - and your joy at not falling in or missing the boat, was a great ending. It’s heartwarming to see this 100+ year old service being kept up as a real meal delivery and a tourist attraction. One more place to add to my bucket list!

If James Bond was in charge of a postal office

If you're wondering about that yellow flashlight on his back, it's a common lifesaving light for personal flotation devices. They start blinking if they detect they're wet and float next to you, so people can find you if you fall into the water at night.

I used to go up to Lake Geneva every summer and I remember going on these boats with my grandma. Its nice to have the memories come back.

Honestly made me laugh but not mockingly. I enjoyed every second of this and it's nice that they're still doing this awesome tradition for decades now. I hope it continues even further.

All of Tom's parkour training has led up to this moment :D

“They know their outgoing mail might have tooth marks in it“ that got me !!! Yes it’s hilarious

Tom’s nervous laugh is one of my favourite things! That was really exciting to watch- thank you!

I live in Wisconsin but had never heard of this before seeing your video. I bought tickets immediately and went on the cruise today. Thanks for making my weekend!

Out of all the crazy stuff Tom's done, it's the little but adrenaliney things that are the scariest. Not so much the things that have a serious chance of death if someone screws up.

As someone who has family in lake Geneva it’s really cool to have finally known the topic of a Tom Scott video before he explained it.

Tom is really turning into an athlete. Parkour, wrestling, now boat jumping. Really fun to watch him take on all of these sports and challenges

There's a place called house on the rock in Wisconsin, there's something called the infinity room, an automatic orchestra, the worlds largest carousel, and a bunch of other wild things you'd probably like.

That is the best "One Take" moment in Tom Scott history.

It's always so fun to see him not just document, but enthusiastically explore and participate in stuff if allowed to, even when realizing that he might put his equipment in danger or he's not super comfortable with it. People learn things and everyone involved has a good time.

These experiential videos of Tom doing weird jobs/tasks are just the absolute best.

I love lake Geneva! My grandparents live about 10 minutes away and we used to watch these guys do this all the time!

This is such an amazingly bad idea it sort of overflowed and wrapped around into being awesome again and now I kind of want to try it.

I recommend that everyone watch the inside edition video on this (yes I know, inside edition is stupid but the footage is cool), it actually shows the tryouts, and there are some really hard falls. It really shows the dedication to this job that the tryouts have and how hard and dangerous this job can be until you're used to it, since for Tom's video here they only showed the 5 year veteran making it look easy, and Tom's lucky try where he nailed it. "Teen Mail Boat Jumpers Might Be the Best Job Ever inside edition"

I've lived in WI all my life and never knew this was a thing.

Great to hear these people talk about this, seems like they really enjoy doing it. Also big props to you for rocking it Tom!

Tom Scott visiting your local operation to make a RU-vid video has got to be exciting.. what a kick to the day.

being one of the drivers seems just as hard, holy hell they get so close to those docks

Always keep hold of the railing, Tom! Hand over hand, one hand for the ship and one for yourself!

This seems like a fun job!! Thanks for showing this, Tom!!

The fact that Tom actually did it despite talking himself down is amazing.

I’m more impressed by the boat driver to be able to get so close with the dock

Tom went for the style points. What a legend

This looks like so much fun, perfect summer job

When Tom Scott becomes Tom Cruise, *Mission ImPostable* I know it was a stretch.

I'm old enough that I remember when trains in the UK used to have doors you could open before arriving at a station and regular commuters would hop out before the rain had stopped. I didn't think Tom was that much younger, so I'm surprised that he was surprised by the technique of getting off a moving vehicle to a stationary platform.

Lived in this region most of my life and I've never heard of this. Absolutely amazing. Next thing you know, Tom's going to learn to play Hammer-Schlagen!

This is really cool. I love that they keep a tradition alive, making it safer with the ladders and vests. It so amazing.

love how the lady sounded so genuinely happy when he made it.

This is actually such a cool tradition. It’s nice to see people keeping traditions like this alive 😅💜

Tom Scott making good use of his parkours training! 😄 Very cool.

I remember when I felt like a nerd for watching Tom Scott, now everyone watches him!

"Stopping the boat for safety?? No, that's way too inefficient!!" I love that Yankee work ethic... 😆

4:19 "They know their outgoing mails may have tooth marks on it" - bites the mails 🤣🤣

Tom is slowly acquiring all the skills to be an action hero.

This is just awesome. Tom legitimatly is one of, if not the, best youtuber I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Both informative and very fun, I love it!

knowing about this mail jumping thing, this is something so Tom-ish that I stopped for a second and asked myself, haven't Tom made a video about this already?? lmao

Tom Scott doing literally anything physical is the most entertaining thing on youtube.

I kinda want a regular mail driver to go through all the risks they take just to show tom this isn't any more risky than that

I love all of your videos but this has to be my favorite so far. So simple and fun while being informative about this interesting little tradition.

I'm also very impressed how close they drive by the piers. With that speed and the boats are not small, a crash would certainly deal some good damage.

I feel like Tom is going through my random RU-vid history and doing all the things I've learned about. I love it!

What an awesome episode! Good job, Tom, and thanks for sharing!

Every summer, I worked on the big cruise boats on Lake Geneva from 1956 to 1959. I was initially the "Rope Boy" on the "Louise" (and, yes, she's still afloat!), and we docked directly behind the old wooden original Walworth (long since retired) on the Left pier. At the time, the mail jumper wore NO life-jacket, had NO special handholds on the boat for the return jump and, like me, got paid just a few dollars for each of the 2 to 3 one-hour and 45-minute trips we made around the Lake each day. Once summer started, there were absolutely NO days off! None! There was no test to be a mail jumper other than the direction to "Get out there and do it!" You'd all find out soon enough if you were agile enough to handle the constant activities. Hard enough to do it in clear weather but imagine doing this in a rainstorm on a moving wet deck! Fun times!!

Since you seemed to enjoy delivering mail by boat so much: In Lehde (Spreewald) in Germany, about 60 houses have two mailboxes, one on the road side for winter, and one on the lake side for summer. Not sure which one is more physically demanding - the boat in Lehde doesn't even have an engine, you'd be punting it on the whole route.

Whenever Tom starts a video with "This is objectively a bad idea" you know you will enjoy said video

The Lake Geneva mail boat is a Wisconsin summertime legend.

4:15 Bravo to the editor, perfect synchronization of the interview and the footage there

“This is a bad idea by having teenagers jump off a moving boat to deliver mail’. Introducing Tom Scott to show them how it’s done… :D PS Now we know why he’s been doing things like parkour, roller coasters etc! All for this one moment.

The best part about tom scott visiting your country is that he informs you of something you never knew existed in your own backyard.

This made me smile, Tom. Thanks.

Oh, that looks super fun. I would have wanted to do that as a teenager too.

Tom Scott, becoming the most informative stuntman :D