Some of the stranded Manche Iles passengers forced to spend the night in Sark last weekend because the Marin Marie had engine trouble. (0956313)

SARK pulled out all the stops last weekend to accommodate almost 50 Manche Iles passengers stranded in the island after the Marin Marie broke down with engine trouble.

The passengers, most of whom were day trippers, were due to leave at 5.30pm on Saturday but shortly before then the vessel’s skipper told Sark harbour master Mick Mann that one of the engines would not start.

Attempts were made to fix the problem but once it became clear that this would not be possible, the passengers were bussed by drivers Colin and Keith Guille to the Island Hall, where they were given drinks while Sark Tourism officers Penny Prevel and Karen Adams arranged accommodation at hotels and guest houses.

The Marin Marie, meanwhile, returned to Jersey on reduced engine power – something that meant it could not take passengers.

Simon Higgins, who mans the Manche Iles check-in office at Maseline Harbour, told me that the emergency showed Sark at its very best.

‘Sark Tourism should be very proud of the way they found accommodation for so many people in such a painless way,’ he said. ‘Indeed, everyone involved – the harbour master, the Island Hall, the bus drivers, the carters and the hotel and guesthouse proprietors – should be proud. I must mention also Julie Baker at the Food Stop store, who opened up her shop so that one guest house proprietor could buy enough food to feed 10 unexpected but very hungry guests.’

If I can add a word of my own in addition to Simon’s comments, Sark is also fortunate to have an operator such as Manche Iles bringing tourists to the island.

It certainly knows the meaning of customer care and, as recent events elsewhere have demonstrated, providing accommodation for stranded passengers is something that perhaps some airlines could do worse than to copy.

I managed to miss last week’s Chief Pleas sitting, but from what I’ve read it was a fairly predictable day. However, I was disappointed to see Conseiller Paul Armorgie criticised for voting with the Shipping Committee on its proposal to force all operators using Sark ports to be licensed after he had put forward a Chamber of Commerce view which seriously questioned the wisdom of such a move.

Paul is an elected representative of the people of Sark and while he also happens to be a Chamber vice-president, he certainly doesn’t sit in Chief Pleas wearing that particular hat.

The conseillers are elected to make decisions based on the merits or otherwise of propositions. They are not delegates there to represent one particular faction or viewpoint and vote according to directions they receive from others. It would be as well for some other members of the legislature to remember that and perhaps consider that their decisions should be based a little less on who and a little more on what.

Prescription charges are to be increased by 50p to £5 from 1 May. The charges, which will still be lower than those in the UK, are being increased because of the rising cost of prescribed medication and falling interest rates.

Prescribed medication for Sark residents is subsidised by the Professor Charles Saint Medical Trust and its secretary, Peter Cunneen, told me that despite the best efforts of the Carnival Committee – which raised almost £43,000 for this particular cause last year – the combination of medication costs and low investment income means that the trust has no option but to increase the charges.

• The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.