DOkie
Guest
Went to Mackinac City over the weekend. I was one of appx 20 divers from my local dive shop along with what looked like probably 20-30 other divers from various dive shops. Saturday was beautiful diving and I couldn't wait for Sunday.
On Sunday we launched out of the public boat launch in Mackinac. We pulled into the "public" parking lot and was lucky to have a car spot open. Course, we pulled right in and then went into the Marina building to get our parking pass.
They were really nice to me and started to write out my pass until I told them that I was with a scuba dive charter. They then got rude and said I'd have to park together and then a guy stepped in and said "there are too many of you people" and I'd have to park in the gravel lot next door. He also informed me that I couldn't use the unloading spots since we've been hogging them. I told him no and walked out of the building with my pass. As I exited the door he said "I'm tired of you people". Course, he followed and ran into my husband..
He informed my husband that there are too many scuba divers and they need to have these spots for fishermen. My husband informed him that we didn't park in a spot reserved for trucks with boats but parked in a normal car spot. The Marina guy didn't care and told my husband that "there are too many of you people here and you are taking up all the spots". My husband finally won out when he kept saying that he's no different from the fishermen and if all the spots were originally taken he would of gladly parked in the other lot, but they weren't. Conversation ended (or so I thought)with the "Marina guy" (he'd earned another name by that point but I'm a lady), told my husband that he was done arguing because he'd had a bad weekend and well whatever. He actually followed us (20 divers) to the boats and stood guard as we loaded up. He kept asking when we were going to leave, how long we were going to be gone for, how many charters were going out for the day. I finally walked away from him when he started complaining about the divers using the carts to bring their gear to the boats.
My weekend ended good when "Rec Diver" let our boat tie up to theirs on the Cedarville and then ran a line back so that we wouldn't have to swim against the current. "Rec Diver" didn't have to do this but took the time to help fellow divers.
Much appreciated guys!
For those that are "Pro" Government intervention to promote diving, maybe they should inform the Marina that the Government wanted us there. We are not "you people" but are tourist spending our hard earned cash. Our group alone stayed 2 nights in hotels and ate 2 (some more) meals a day. Do the math... I actually felt "not wanted" until "Rec Diver" reminded me that it's fellow divers I can count on and it's one of the reasons I dive.
So..... Would someone (who maybe works or is involved with our friendly Government) like to explain why we are pushing for more laws when the local Marina made it clear that we are welcome just as long as we don't park in the spots that are needed for guys getting on fishing charters, don't use the unloading spots and, well, keep the numbers to a minimum??
On Sunday we launched out of the public boat launch in Mackinac. We pulled into the "public" parking lot and was lucky to have a car spot open. Course, we pulled right in and then went into the Marina building to get our parking pass.
They were really nice to me and started to write out my pass until I told them that I was with a scuba dive charter. They then got rude and said I'd have to park together and then a guy stepped in and said "there are too many of you people" and I'd have to park in the gravel lot next door. He also informed me that I couldn't use the unloading spots since we've been hogging them. I told him no and walked out of the building with my pass. As I exited the door he said "I'm tired of you people". Course, he followed and ran into my husband..
He informed my husband that there are too many scuba divers and they need to have these spots for fishermen. My husband informed him that we didn't park in a spot reserved for trucks with boats but parked in a normal car spot. The Marina guy didn't care and told my husband that "there are too many of you people here and you are taking up all the spots". My husband finally won out when he kept saying that he's no different from the fishermen and if all the spots were originally taken he would of gladly parked in the other lot, but they weren't. Conversation ended (or so I thought)with the "Marina guy" (he'd earned another name by that point but I'm a lady), told my husband that he was done arguing because he'd had a bad weekend and well whatever. He actually followed us (20 divers) to the boats and stood guard as we loaded up. He kept asking when we were going to leave, how long we were going to be gone for, how many charters were going out for the day. I finally walked away from him when he started complaining about the divers using the carts to bring their gear to the boats.
My weekend ended good when "Rec Diver" let our boat tie up to theirs on the Cedarville and then ran a line back so that we wouldn't have to swim against the current. "Rec Diver" didn't have to do this but took the time to help fellow divers.
Much appreciated guys!
For those that are "Pro" Government intervention to promote diving, maybe they should inform the Marina that the Government wanted us there. We are not "you people" but are tourist spending our hard earned cash. Our group alone stayed 2 nights in hotels and ate 2 (some more) meals a day. Do the math... I actually felt "not wanted" until "Rec Diver" reminded me that it's fellow divers I can count on and it's one of the reasons I dive.
So..... Would someone (who maybe works or is involved with our friendly Government) like to explain why we are pushing for more laws when the local Marina made it clear that we are welcome just as long as we don't park in the spots that are needed for guys getting on fishing charters, don't use the unloading spots and, well, keep the numbers to a minimum??
