Politics aren't Clyde Rawls' cup of tea. Customer service is his passion and the area he hopes to employ his skills in the near future.

Rawls, who in the spring of 2008 was appointed general manager of Camper & Nicholsons' Port Louis in Grenada, left his position at the end of the year.

“I enjoyed working in Grenada; Port Louis is a wonderful project,” Rawls said. “But I was uncomfortable being on the nightly news and in the hot spot on behalf of a foreign company.”

As GM and in charge of oversite during construction of this new superyacht facility, Rawls was in the gun sights of a group of islanders called Citizens in Defense of Grenada’s Lands & Heritage (CDGLH). The group formed in 2008 in the wake of Port Louis founder and British entrepreneur Peter de Savary selling the marina portion of his $562 million seaside resort development to Camper & Nicholsons. 

CDGLH targeted a number of mega-tourism projects, which they feel threatened Grenada’s natural environment and local people’s rights. Port Louis was at the top of their list.

The Opposition Party took up CDGLH’s cause, turned it into a major platform point and used it to win the 2008 general election. This election upset ousted Grenada's prime minister, who cemented the Port Louis deal with de Savary. 

Then, the global recession hit. With Port Louis the only big economic development project left on the island, the new administration reneged on campaign promises by not digging too deep into CDGLH’s concerns. Even so, CDGLH continued, keeping Rawls in the spotlight, making life difficult for a guy who wants to simply run a marina.

In December, he headed back to Ft. Lauderdale, where he oversaw the redesign and rebuilding of Bahia Mar Yachting Center several years ago. The first week of January, he went on a job interview to The Pearl, a luxurious new destination development and superyacht marina in Qatar. 

“It was good to see this part of the world,” Rawls said by phone after the interview. “Unfortunately, or fortunately, they didn’t invite me back.”

Speaking frankly, Rawls noted the exciting opportunity for marine business in the Middle East, but also the challenge in running a marina where pleasure boating is still a new concept.

“Sheiks are buying 40-foot Bayliners out of the box,” he said. “They employ a pilot to back out of the slip, then they drive around and when they are finished, the pilot takes the boat back into the slip. It’s different from a clientele who learned to drive a dinghy first and has boated all of their lives. It’s tough to anticipate the wants and needs of these new boaters.”

The end of January saw Rawls back in Grenada to pick up his dog, an Australian cattle dog, and say a final good-bye to friends during the Port Louis Grenada Sailing Festival, the island’s major regatta. Then, he took off on a cross-country drive to contemplate his future.

Rawls admitted that his dream job would be dockmaster at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. The position speaks to his life-long love of pleasing the customer that dates back to the days when he worked as a bellhop while attending the University of Tennessee. He took the manager’s job there upon graduation.

Vacations, he said, were spent in Florida with his brother and sister-in-law on their yacht. A trip into a marina office to check in one day and a light bulb went off. This was just like the hotel business, “only more fun,” he said.

“One of the reasons people like one marina over another is customer service,” he said. “It’s how people feel and how they’re treated, and that’s what I like.”

About the Author

Carol Bareuther

columnist

Carol Bareuther is a registered dietitian and a regular contributor to The Triton.