More of the same
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Sun 24 Jun 2012 15:26
Needless to say the second engine wasn't installed on Saturday, despite assurances that it would be. I had a slightly rambling text message from Martin (probably sent from the bar) telling me how pissed off he was with me complaining about him. My reply was however pissed off he was it is nothing compared to how I feel. We will have several words today. I really am torn between telling him to get lost right now and stop screwing up my life/boat and letting him finish the work.. On balance (just) it's probably best that he finish what he started, if only from a time point of view although now I'm not paying for the hard standing that pressure is gone. However, living ashore is more expensive that living on the boat. I really want to be at anchor and spending nothing for days at a time. I have a projected eBook to finish and self-publish, and the 'Tim project' (illustrated childrens' book) is nearing completion.
The club (Royal Suva Yacht Club) has kindly waived all further hard-standing fees in view of what's been happening. I had paid up until the end of April. The club commodore is not impressed with what has happened, and was even less impressed when I told him about the latest 'non-happening'. He will be speaking to Martin again this week. As the club approve all workers, they are getting concerned about their reputation. As Martin had a reasonable reputation locally for his standard of work, I'm really very confused about why this has gone so wrong. I simply cannot understand why a man would take work on and not finish it in order to be paid. Makes no sense to me at all.
Henning took a quick look at both engines, but couldn't tell much as they are bolted together. The installed one looks OK, the uninstalled one he was able to turn over by hand and was a little surprised because he said it didn't feel like there was any damage. He said it should take no more than two hours to have it installed and connected up. He then went to talk to Martin (I stayed out of the way) who now says he thought the engine would be OK!!!!!! He also said he was going to install it on Monday. Unless I really lose it and throw him off the boat.
Thanks for all your emails of support. Yes I know things could be worse and people mean well in pointing that out. I only have to think about poor Steve on Dignity who's in hospital in Melbourne to know that. No news there incidentally. He has small lesions throughout the brain and is scheduled for more tests.
http://aboarddignity.com/blog/
and the video clip of the one-legged ballet dancer was inspirational. It shows just how people can overcome real problems in their life, but it doesn't actually help! I've been fairly stoical for a year, bearing in mind all this was my fault in the first place, but there comes a time.....
--
http://www.peterbernfeld.com