Hmmm & Wow! Where do I start?
Having called the island prior to our arrival, I learned that Cayou Quay has a no-charge boat ramp. And, while under normal circumstances, this alone would warrant a positive rating, what ensued more than negates any positive accrued by the freebie.
We arrived at the quiet marina in Deer Harbor, backed our vehicle down the ramp, launched our boat, parked (car and trailer disconnected to be more efficient with parking space as a courtesy) and headed out for the day.
Upon our return I retrieved our car and, while in the process of loading the boat, an SUV parked at the top of the ramp blocking our exit. No problem, I'm a patient, understanding person, and am happy to adopt "island time" while someone gets done what they need to get done.
After perhaps after about 10 or 15 minutes, and no sign of the truck moving, my wife thought she'd go kindly mention that we're waiting to pull out. She was met by the bristly owner of the marina who asked if we were aware that there was no parking at the marina for visitors. My wife explained that we were completely unaware of this, to which he accused her (and us) of ignoring the posted sign. "What sign" she asked, at which time he pointed to the side of a small building on which an 8.5"x11" piece of paper with small, sun-faded lettering, declared "No car or trailer parking!". The face of the building ran perpendicular to the road. We simply did not see the sign.
After a few minutes watching my wife speaking with the man, I could tell things were stalled for some reason, so I walked up and introduced myself. He repeated his question to me whether we were aware that there was no parking and what was I prepared to do about it? He asked me if he should call the sheriff with a report of criminal trespassing.
Both my wife and I were apologetic, explaining that we did not see any signage indicating that parking was prohibited, and when he made a comment regarding "usage fees", I promptly offered to pay him for the parking, but he ignored the offer and proceeded to continue to lambast us with accusations of criminal intent and egregious behavior.
This man was belligerent, accusatory, threatening, and wholly irrational. Every attempt of ours to be conciliatory was ignored, and it became clear to us that his real interest was in the conflict, the argument, the drama of a "proprietor been done wronged"! I asked him what he would like from us, and his response was "I'd like you to come up with a better excuse", to which I said "then you'll be disappointed, as all I have to offer you is the truth, and there's only one version of that". We would have had NO problem paying for parking, or would have endeavored to find alternate parking, if we had known. My concrete hunch is, based on the surreal quality of this encounter, that the sign is deliberately small and mounted in a way highly likely to be missed, He was on the hunt, and we took the bait. This was sport for him.
That he parked his vehicle in our way and made no effort to communicate his concerns with us until we were forced to approach him should have alerted me immediately to a well-developed passive aggressive nature.
He finally tired of berating us, got in his car to leave, and as he was doing so I tried to reassure him that it was all an honest mistake, that we had no intention of wrong-doing, and to again offer my apologies and (channeling my late father) offered my hand to shake, to which I was treated to the biggest, most heaving helping of big-time stink-eye, and a door-slam to the offer of my open hand, that I've ever had!
In short, I'd have to say I caution anyone who might be contemplating using the Cayou Quay Marina. The owner is a nut job. Unstable, passive aggressive, threatening, irrational, argumentative, non-conciliatory. A whack-a-doodle! Or, as my wife said: "A bully!"
We won't be back! read more
