My buddy is going to Maiu to race in the Maui to Molakai challenge. He had a rental car set up at MauiVans that had a roof rack. He mentioned he was hauling a surf ski and they cancelled his reservation. They only rent to haul windsurfers not surf skis. Does anyone know of where he can rent a car with a roof rack for a ski, or the best way to haul a ski on a rental car?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
That sucks!
Ski is much lighter!!!
Lesson: Never tell rental places what you plan to do with their vehicles!
Either
rent a van or SUV with a roof rack from somewhere else and use foam blocks for the ski, or maybe just try posting on the Yahoo surfski list and/or contacting the race organizers to see if he can hook up with someone on Maui who’s willing to haul the ski to the race start for him. Local paddlers tend to be pretty nice people and willing to help out. Is the ski already on Maui? If so, does it have any helpful neighbors?
When? Where?
When is he planning to be on Maui? I’ve got a buddy that lives there and works for a couple of hotels. Email me some details and I send them to him with you contact info, I’ll be he can arrange something, or can be bribed for a 6 pack.
LK
They probably thought
it was a JET ski!
Mouth shut + pool noodles…
Reserve from another or re- reserve ?
Thanks for the posts
The Ski is already on Maui, belongs to another friend of ours that lives here but a guy over there keeps it for him.
He thinks he has a differnt mini van reserved, that may have racks on it, so he’ll bring his own faom saddles and straps.
he’s gonna check out Pnet tommorrow at work.
One year he decided he wanted to do the Dusi in South Africa, so he quit his job, flew over and walked up to the registration table a day before the race and asked if anyone needed a partner. (Each year the race switches from solo to tandem and this happened to be a tandem year) They hooked him up with a guy whose partner bailed. Three days of racing and portaging with 1500 other boats, three pretty mean swims. Sounded like a great time.
Thanks again, he’ll be checking out the leads you’ve given him.
That’s ridiculous
What an arbitrary policy.
I’d suggest waiting a day, then reserving again. If they are big enough, or he gets a different agent, they probably won’t remember him, and he should just not tell them he’s hauling a surfski.
Hertz would shudder if they knew the things I have done to their cars - getting them stuck in the mud, hauling hazardous waste samples in them…
Maui rental car story
Many years ago I was visitng a friend in Hawaii. We were on Maui and wanted to drive to Hana, taking the less-travelled “back” road. It was the rainy season, and the back road frequenty washes out in places, so we reserved a jeep.
When we got to the rental place we were told that they had no more jeeps. “But here, take this Chrysler LaBaron convertable for the same price.”
We explained why we wanted the jeep. The rental car guy said: “There is no place on this island that you can go in a jeep that you can’t go in this car.” Well, to me that sounded like a fun challenge, so off we went.
The first wash was negotiated barely slowing down.
The second wash created some pretty load thumps under the car, but nothing fell off.
The third wash put a pretty serious dent in the muffler, but nothing fell off.
The fourth wash broke a connection in the exhaust, causing the car to sound a bit sportier.
The fifth wash was probably 60 feet wide and 20 deep. There was just no way the LaBaron was going to make it out were I to attempt driving it in. Had there been a bar right there I probably would have made the attempt, but the location was pretty desolate, and we had no way of calling for a tow.
So, change in plans, we go beat the car on the road up the volcano, and more fun, back down. This afforded the opportunity to get the brakes really hot.
This story really has no end, but if anyone ever tells you that a LaBaron is just as good as a jeep, tell them it just isn’t true.
I agree you don’t buy genius
that cares for 18K per year
If your friend has some extra coin…
…rent a Caddy. A surf ski on a Cadillac, with a Deadhead sticker. Quite an impressive entrance to the race parking lot. Very intimidating.
Thanks guys!
Great concept but he actually paddles, hikes, and rides too much to fit in a full year of income. He walked away from a engineering job with the city cause they wouldn’t give him a year’s leave of absence to go paddle the Dusi and ride from South Africa to Switzerland.
Sounds like he has found a minivan to fit his budget and is bringning foam blocks.
His list of “impressive entrances to the parking lot” does, however, include our skis on top of his completely restored black '56 Chevy Sedan Delivery (Nomad w/ panels inplace of the rear side windows). The first car he ever owned. Dual quad 252V8 or whatever size those old things came with. Glass packs, Cragers, and a Black Lab named Bodie. A true Granola w/ Dual Quads, not a guy you meet everyday. Kind of a John Denver meets Richard Petty with major Greg Barton/ Chris Duff influences thrown in.
Thanks again.
entrance
you want an entrance, see me roll up in the 94’ volvo 940 wagon in dark red, avaitors on, bit o zz top going, pure bad ass 