Mellow, I suspect a few things.#1: the impeller /sholder wear ring forward clearance was set too close and some forward movement of the shaft happened, and the impeller touching the wear ring.#2 an inferior thrust bearing was installed and failed [may not have been lubricated properly prior to run the boat in the water].I've seen bearings with plastic ball cages and less balls [very bad practice]that failed prematurely.#3 the thrust bearing cap wasn't checked for keeping the bearing from axial movement toward the engine by the thrust of the impeller and the bearing may have travelled far enough forward to cause the impeller grinding into the wear ring.The early berkeley's didn't have a shouldered ring so it wasn't an immediate problem with minor movement.I'm sorry to say ,but the bowl and impeller would have to be removed to further investigate the problem.If you didn't do the pump yourself,it definetely should be checked under warranty.