Is the Superferry going to make it? (military, to move)

[Mar0]

In Jan of this year, the local government in Kauai had an eradication plan for coqui frogs. I'm not sure how that worked out (in fact, I almost ran over a huge frog last night in the driveway....was it a coqui?? who knows) But the infestation of more frogs, snakes and mongooses (geeses???) are a concern for Kauai residents. I remember reading an article or editorial in the Garden Isle about this......

[Jungjohann]

The huge frog in your driveway was hopefully a bufo, and not something brand new. You've already got mongeese, kind of a stupid idea from years back. The mongoose was brought in to kill rats, one slight problem, one was nocturnal, the other wasn't! Duh!

Aloha and okolemaluna

[Livingood]

I didn't know it had to turn around from the Kauai trip. Do you know what happened?

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by Livingood

I didn't know it had to turn around from the Kauai trip. Do you know what happened?

Kauai Protestors Keep Superferry Away

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by HankDfrmSD

Kauai Protestors Keep Superferry Away

Citizens
Against
Virtually
Everything

strikes again!

[GirlinAZ]

Didn't I hear that the prices were slightly crazy? Even if you were renting a car, it seemed like it would cost about the same as a plane ride, so why would anyone take a boat when a plane is faster? And if you are taking a car, it is really pricey, so I could only see that making sense if you are moving or something.

[pj737]

Originally Posted by NanawaleJulie

Didn't I hear that the prices were slightly crazy? Even if you were renting a car, it seemed like it would cost about the same as a plane ride, so why would anyone take a boat when a plane is faster? And if you are taking a car, it is really pricey, so I could only see that making sense if you are moving or something.

Good question. Shipping a car roundtrip will cost about $180 + $160 for yourself = $340. It would only make sense if you planned to keep your car for more than 2 weeks on the island. The trip is also roughly 3-4 hours long (vs 30 minutes by plane) and the ship is traversing some of the most treacherous ocean in the world. And don't forget about the nice coat of salt on your vehicles as they tranport in open-air decks. That's definitely good for your car.

I think that the Superferry wouldn't be in a pickle if they didn't allow public transport of vehicles. I personally think that shipping your car over that much ocean is asinine. Just rent a car. It's almost always cheaper and you don't need to waste all the gas required to drag 4,000+ lbs of steel over the Pacific Ocean. Just doesn't make sense to me. Also, many in Kauai are concerned because they think people will come and deplete their resources and bring them back to Oahu for profit. One example are Opihi which are expensive and plentiful on Kauai. With the SF, people could drive their SUVs over to Kauai and fill several coolers of Opihi and bring them back to Oahu for sale. This will hurt local farmers - big time.

Then there are the frogs and other invasive species that could "spread like wildfire". This would be the almost guaranteed result of open and unchecked tranport of ANY vehicle. If you're going to load 200+ cars on the ship within 30 minutes, how much time will this give you to check the vehicles? You guessed it - very little. Definitely not enough time to check for illegal drugs and fireworks (which, by the way, is a huge industry in Hawaii), Opihi, or noisy little frogs stuck in the dirt under your wheel well. Just doesn't make sense.

The Superferry should be allowed to transport COMMERCIAL vehicles with special licenses, as well as all the people they can cram onto the boat, but the average Joe and his Dodge truck? Forget it.

I can see both sides and I believe that having an alternative way of transport is always a good thing. But we don't need to transport our cars, trucks and SUVs. It is wasteful and stupid. Period.

[Jungjohann]

I think the Superferry was just a poorly concieved project to begin with, that was paid for, a large part anyways, by the state. You're definitely right about pricing, a cheap interisland flight and rental car would cost you far less. Maybe they thought tourists would love the idea, kind of a scenic, slow, interisland tour. As far as pests being transported interisland, that will pretty much occur with or without the Superferry, but perhaps with less rapidity, doubt if Young Brothers does a very thorough inspection of the vehicles they ship. I've taken the Molokai ferry from Lahaina a few times, much smaller ship, and when the water gets rough, tourists start getting that kind of greenish tint to them. Not a very good sign! Fortunately I don't get seasick.

Aloha and okolemaluna

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

I think the Superferry was just a poorly concieved project to begin with, that was paid for, a large part anyways, by the state. You're definitely right about pricing, a cheap interisland flight and rental car would cost you far less. Maybe they thought tourists would love the idea, kind of a scenic, slow, interisland tour.

Tourism probably wasn't the primary motivation behind the Superferry. It's not a coincidence that the Superferry can be used to transport quite a few Stryker Combat Vehicles.

[Jungjohann]

Why would the military want to use the Superferry to transport military vehicles when they have more than enough ships to do the same at Pearl Harbor? Doesn't make much sense. I doubt if the military had anything to do with the ferry, I just think it was a bad idea, kind of like Mid Pacific Airlines, Air Hawaii, and who could forget Mahalo Airlines, I think that was the name, playing right into an old Replinger skit, "Mahalo for flying Mahalo Airlines"

Aloha and okolemaluna, and Mahalo for flying Mahalo airlines.......