Their website is less than informative....:mad their office is closed until monday.

I want to take the 2002 to the autocross on Aug. 20th, then soon after put it on a boat to Oakland/San Fran. I have to get out of my current apt. by september, so I'll probably get a one-way flight for August 31st or Sept. 1st (~$180 now).
I've checked with both Matson and Pasha (both $975). Pasha sounds safer, but it doesn't look like their boat schedule will work.
I've finally found Matson's schedule here: https://www.matson.com/fss/reports/haw.pdf
On page 4, the 'mahimahi' sounds like it'd be perfect (depart aug 25th, arrive aug 30th). If not that one, then I could make it onto the 'manoa' (depart 28th, arrive sept. 4th)
I have found one person in San Fran that might let me stay there a few days, but I'd rather avoid any extended period.
I had already completed a booking with Matson, in which I requested shipping it on the 22nd. On the e-mail they sent me, no dates were mentioned.
I was wondering, whats the likelihood of getting it onto the Mahimahi boat? If I drop it off on the 22nd, is it more likely to get a seat? or should I wait till the 25th (and thus not be stuck without transportation a few more days than necessary).

Can I load the car full of stuff? The website mentions leaving keys to everything so dept. ag. can search it, and leave 1/4 tank of gas, but I didn't see if the car needs to be empty.
The trunk is huge, and I want to cram most of my belongings in there. Otherwise, I'd have to ship them or sell/give them away here. But of key importance is my toolbox, which I'll need with me in the car, and weighs a lot.

Should I worry about the ride height? I think it says the car needs to be completely stock, and atleast 5" off the ground. Of course the car isn't stock, but they won't know that. It is lowered, though. Slightly less than 5" in some spots. I'm wondering if I should pick up some spring rubbers or the little blocks you can wedge in springs to raise it up temporarily (all available at Redline).

From Oakland, I'll be headin down thru Yosemite, across Death Valley, thru Vegas, down around the south rim of the Grand Canyon, up thru four corners and Colorado, then maybe down to see friend and Oklahoma, and up to see friend in Iowa (depends on how i feel at halfway). Then its onto Ohio to kick back for a bit and find job on the east coast.

Lastly, I have 2 cats I need to get to Ohio by Sept 1st.:help
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kfunk/cat/
I've found some supposedly cargo legal kennels for 40 bucks each, where i can mount food and water on them. Then I guess they need to go to vet for checkup 10 days before shipping, then I talk with airlines directly about putting them in cargo. I think they said to book it 3 days in advance, so I should put it off till later.

Well, I figured some of you guys have done this stuff before, so let me know if there's anything I'm forgetting!
I've already posted cross-country plans on the 02 forum, and I'll be ready to rebuild an engine on the side of the road if I have to...

Thanks for any tips!
:redspot

WOW! First of all, good luck with the trip! :eek:

I don't think you can book a boat to go on. If I recall correctly it is first come, first serve. So there is no gaurantee when your car will go on the boat. They have always told me three weeks to get the car, but it has always been 1 week.

I don't think you can have anything in the car. They won't be responsible for the contents.

Yes, be worried about the ride height. They will measure and if it is not the correct height, you will not go on the boat. For example when I sold the e36 it was too low when I shipped it to Maui, so the buyer had to pay extra $$$ to put it on a pallet (because it couldn't be driven on the boat). I didn't have spring wedges, but there was another guy there with a Civic that had to put them in his car to get on the boat.

I think that is all you need for the cats.

Your car must be empty when it is shipped out. Also, you can have no more that 1/4 tank gas in it. If not, they will drain your tank.

As for cargo kennels, are they those wire crate ones? Try the Humane Society and see if they have any available. Sometimes they sell pet cages and stuff for $10 or so.

Shit, finally found the place on the matson site where it says car has to be empty....

Well then, this is gonna suck. Think I'll fill as many flat rate boxes as possible to send unnecessary stuff to Ohio (scuba gear, books, paperwork).
But the problem is my tools necessary for the drive... I'm thinkin I should pay to take an extra check-in bag, and make it my toolbox, and duct tape it closed. Its gonna be tough gettin it under 50 lbs., so i might have to shove some stuff in my other bags....

and yeah, i know you can't pick the boat. But with Pasha, they've only got one boat, and its schedule has no chance of fitting my needs.
I just wanted to check on whether they tend to back up and never ship it for a couple extra weeks, or its likely to get on one of those and only take a week.
But from 95Dinan3s experience, it assures me that its likely to get on one of those boats and not take forever.

ok, got my plane ticket from ATA, $168. I'll arrive in Oakland on Sept. 2nd at 8am. Hopefully that'll give me time to get a cab ride to the dock, grab car, and take off down the road.
ATA is lettin me take three check-in bags, so i figure i'll take the toolbox and distribute some of the heavier tools between my other bags.

But.... what fluids can I put in my check-in bag? I'd kinda like to take some ATE Super Blue, etc....

I don't think you can take the ATE as brake fluid is flammable.

I don't think you can take the ATE as brake fluid is flammable.

my clothes are flammable too. :eek:

any room under your fancy shmancy integra rear seat bottoms to stuff some duct taped tools?

any room under your fancy shmancy integra rear seat bottoms to stuff some duct taped tools?

no, no there isn't. :shifty

and if there was, i wouldn't have thought of that a few days ago, and i wouldn't have posted it on a public forum. :shifty

and if there wasn't such space there hidden beneath the tightly bolted/clipped seat, i wouldn't want anyone's opinion on whether it was safe to slip some tools past matson that way. :shifty

no, no there isn't. :shifty

and if there was, i wouldn't have thought of that a few days ago, and i wouldn't have posted it on a public forum. :shifty

and if there wasn't such space there hidden beneath the tightly bolted/clipped seat, i wouldn't want anyone's opinion on whether it was safe to slip some tools past matson that way. :shifty

so you DID get them stuffed in there! no worries, your secret's safe with me;)

Good luck with your journey and if you wouldn't mind keeping us posted on your findings...I am doing the exact opposite in about 6-7 months.

If you need any help on the EC, let me know. I've been in NJ for 24 years and before that was in FL. And know ppl in most other EC states.

This ride height thing will be problamatic, thank you for the head's up.