Hi Bill R, and all,

I would really like it for this forum maintain decorum and a civil demeanor, and "play the ball, not the man".  We benefit from the shared experiences of others, and it is not lightly that I share my experiences with others, as I feel must the case for everyone that has been in such a predicament.  There is a lot of trust in talking about these things, both in private and in public forum - please respect these things.

Regarding the providence of the wearing-out bearing - if I may say something here.  I cannot say, one way or another.  I am assured by the current owner who very kindly provided it on short notice, that it was an original AMEL part.  The part was relayed 'safe hand' by another person known to the forum.  When compared, the new bearing is very slightly different to the one that was already in there.  Which part, if either, OR BOTH, is original AMEL, I cannot say.  I will withhold any opinion until I receive a part directly from AMEL (which is underway), and even then any comparison can not be definitively conclusive.

So I would be very cautious myself in drawing any conclusions about this, and even less so to extend this to make inferences about other people.

All that said, I have (re-)learned a valuable lesson, which has been spoken about in relation to other's experiences here also in this forum.  That is, if you want a good job, then do it yourself.  I enlisted the assistance of someone who, when I checked, said that he had done this particular job over 50 times before.  What I thought was happening was all good and proper.  I had my concerns, and expressed them, but did not intervene.  It was only later that I realised that things had gone wrong.  At the end of the day, I was on site, and could have stopped things, checked back and then done it 'by the book'.  But I deferred to the expertise on hand. This was, and is, my look-out, and I do not deflect this to another person.

The lesson is: very closely supervise ANYONE working on your pride and joy, and stop anything as soon as you start to feel unconformable.  It is easier to re-start work more slowly, or in a different direction, than to have to go back and re-do things or, worse, to need to undertake repairs or rectifications.  I think this has been said here before, so I just wish to re-enforce this previous message -- ignore this hard-earnt lesson  at your peril.  !!!

The fact that issues like this create such exchanges, with such emotion underlying, only highlights how passionate we are about our precious AMELs - and indeed, they are magnificent creations deserving such passion.  I can not believe how emotionally engaged I have become to PERIGEE in the 8 weeks I have been in her care, and she in mine.  Let us not allow the necessary emotion get in the way of all that is good, and can be done better, on our boats, and in this forum.

Rant off.