Moving to Hilo in Summer 2012 (transfer, DMV, living in)

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Yeah, but Hilo rain dumps it down all seven inches in an hour so there's some time left over for sunshine. Portland just kinda does a week long drizzle without a whole lot of accumulation.

I concede you have to live there full time to understand the rain - and yes, I've seen some sun - and it is very lush, a real tropical place. And very friendly people. But, oh my gosh - does it rain when I'm there every month. I must have bad timing - but when it rains - it pours. It just dumps.

I'd like to clarify - I like hanging out in Hilo on a business trip - a beautiful place - but the rain is intense. I always have fun in Hilo even when I forget my umbrella and wake up at 4am and say, really - frogs - don't they give up?

[birdmove]

I live in HPP, which is a Keaau address. We moved here from the Seattle/Tacoma area. Today was a gorgeous day. It is raining right now at 8:28PM. The rain keeps my water catchment tank full. It is very common at my house to have little or no rain during the day, but to have it at night. Now having said that, Nov, Dec, Jan were really wet! From my info, abnormally wet. I am an avid motorcyclist and scooter rider and would never have moved here if I couldn't ride a lot. I prefer the weather here to where I left behind. I get into Hilo a lot. I am a member of the Aloha Fittness gym and I usually ride there and back. And I have been caught in some terrific rains. One can either pull over for a bit and try to wait it out, or suit up with the riding rain gear I always carry.
We love it here!!

[HiloDiver]

Thanks, Bird, it's refreshing to see someone on this forum with a positive attitude!!!

I'm laughing while recalling living in an extremely rainy place with my little Miata, which I love to drive with the ragtop down of course, and how many times I had to look for a place to pull over to put the top back up before getting any wetter. I remember several times with friends in the passenger seat as we'd be laughing our head off, getting soaked while pulling the top on, what fun! And the reason I always carried towels.

[sea_era]

My daughter will be moving in June to attend graduate studies at UHH. Matson quoted 3535.66 for a 20 foot container AND car (1100.00 for car) from LA to Hilo (port to port). In Hilo rent trucking for about 350 for drop off
at location(s) OR pick up at the yard in Hilo. That leaves 2435.66 for the container. A 40 foot container costs 4400.00. It is cheaper to go port to port
than door to door. If you want we can split cost of 40 foot.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by sea_era

My daughter will be moving in June to attend graduate studies at UHH. Matson quoted 3535.66 for a 20 foot container AND car (1100.00 for car) from LA to Hilo (port to port). In Hilo rent trucking for about 350 for drop off
at location(s) OR pick up at the yard in Hilo. That leaves 2435.66 for the container. A 40 foot container costs 4400.00. It is cheaper to go port to port
than door to door. If you want we can split cost of 40 foot.

Two things occur for me reading this post...

The first is... Whoa, that's a lot of stuff to be bringing! Are you aware of how much smaller Hilo apartments and houses are on average than on the mainland? I know a family of 4 who brought less stuff than that and still thought they brought too much. If you haven't already done so, read through the back files here and see how many times people have been advised to "pack light" when coming this direction. And since 90% of people moving in head back to the mainland within 2 years, it's smart to keep in mind that the less you bring in the less you have to get rid of or ship back on a return leg.

And the second is... yes, it's cheaper to ship "port to port" but you need to realistically confront what it will take to get the container loaded and unloaded.

[CyberCity]

Making use of the "do it yourself" method can pay off, IF you have enough possessions [that you need/want while in grad school] that make it worthwhile. And, IF you will be here long enough that you won't just be sending things back the other direction within too short of a time. We've gone to the mainland before, accumulated many items such as tools, car parts (engines and other heavy things) etc, that could not be re-bought here at the same lower price, and then shipped the whole batch back via a container. We came out way ahead.

Ditto for interisland. Matter of fact, we bought a container once for interisland use.

Does your quote ($3535.66) have the car in or out of the the 20' container? If it's "in", then the space for other stuff will be significantly reduced.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by CyberCity

Does your quote ($3535.66) have the car in or out of the the 20' container? If it's "in", then the space for other stuff will be significantly reduced.

It never makes sense to ship a car in a container, unless it is an extremely valuable car, because it costs you the same $1,074 tariff for the car, whether in or out of a container, PLUS the container cost.

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by sea_era

My daughter will be moving in June to attend graduate studies at UHH. Matson quoted 3535.66 for a 20 foot container AND car (1100.00 for car)

Originally Posted by OpenD

It never makes sense to ship a car in a container, unless it is an extremely valuable car, because it costs you the same $1,074 tariff for the car, whether in or out of a container, PLUS the container cost.

I had asked because my thought is that if they are a student, they might not have 20' of possessions. So, perhaps they are getting the 20', and putting their car inside of it, and using the balance (10') for possessions. I'd need to do the math to how the cost breaks down (savings vs oops), but maybe they want to ship 10' of possessions and a car, and are planning on putting it all into a $3535 container.

So, SeaEra, more details please, and maybe we can help you sort it out.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by CyberCity

I had asked because my thought is that if they are a student, they might not have 20' of possessions. So, perhaps they are getting the 20', and putting their car inside of it, and using the balance (10') for possessions.

As far as I know, the only car that would fit within 10' currently is the Smart ForTwo. Even the tiny Fiat 500 is longer than 10'.

Originally Posted by CyberCity

I'd need to do the math to how the cost breaks down (savings vs oops), but maybe they want to ship 10' of possessions and a car, and are planning on putting it all into a $3535 container.

To be clear, if the quote is $3535 for a 20' container AND a car, then that's the same charge whether the car is inside the container or not. You have to pay the same $1,100 tariff to ship the car either way, and the same $2,435 to ship the container either way.

[KoaKine]

I will stick my 2 cents in here

its $1,74.00 to bring a car over if you want to put a cat in the container they will add $1,074.00 to the cost of the container when I cane over I had quotes from Matson, Horizon thwy were the same rules.