Update
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Thu 27 Sep 2012 19:44
Martin's and my paths had not crossed for several days. As agreed with the Police, when I saw him in the club I rang them. Officers attended within fifteen minutes but had no knowledge of the case so it wasn't really very helpful. The only concrete result was that Arun the Elektrik has been asked to give a statement at the Central Police Station concerning the status and location of the 'missing' starter motor and alternator. Martin's version of events is that they were not repaired by Arun, although he was not asked to make a formal statement nor was he asked to attend the Police Station to make one. My understanding is that one pair were total junk and had to be replaced. The other pair was repaired by Arun, for which I paid him, and given to Martin. In any event by his (Martin's) own admission he has a 'worthless' alternator and starter motor and has not returned them to me despite repeated requests.
A great play was made of shaking my hand, in front of the attending officers, saying 'no hard feelings' and promising to work on the engines the next day. It will come as no surprise that this has not happened. Nor will it, to be perfectly frank. I'm damned if I'm going to let him get away with this. The problem has been that nobody has done anything on previous occasions. The RSYC continues to make no official comment on the situation.
My plan now is to have another mechanic get the one engine that has run finished, including instrumentation. I will have to await the outcome of the police investigation before I decide what to do about the second engine. In the meantime the marina fees continue to accumulate. Naturally once another mechanic steps in Martin will wash his hands of the whole situation. I have wanted to avoid this for several reasons. Firstly he still has 'engine bits' of mine, regardless of their operational status and secondly I will have little or no comeback if the engines have in fact suffered internal damage.Lastly of course I had not budgeted for the multiple attempts at repairing the engines. If Customs agree a duty-free period extension and the time is rapidly approaching when I will have to talk to them, then my redress will be through the small-claims court.
Immigration have still not signed-off my visa extension but this is only because the official who has the authority to do so has been in the Western region for the last week or so. I am assured that I am legally in Fiji and there is no problem. I have been asked to return to Immigration next week. Always a pleasure as they are polite and helpful.
Work continues on small jobs on the boat. I have also finished two of a projected six short stories which I intend self-publishing in the not too distant future. Book sales were non-existent for the first couple of weeks in September but have now gently restarted. I also received my first modest royalty payment from Amazon.
I also have a new recipe for pineapple wine. I sampled some on Calypso and enjoyed it. Only 19 days to go and I can try my own. In the meantime, stocks of rice wine are now perilously low....perhaps that will help the writing!
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