Sailing Catalpavideo
Preparations continue for our ocean crossing Episode 497
28 June 2026 · 15 min · 8K views · Panamá Province, Panama
Sarah smiles on sailboat in Los Perlas waters
What this video covers
Catalpa, an Australian family's sailboat, is in Panama completing final preparations for a Pacific Ocean crossing.0:44 Lee repairs a badly worn pivot point on an unspecified fitting — a previous owner had substituted threaded rod for a proper pin, elongating the hole — by pressing in three bronze bushes and fitting an oversized bolt, restoring a smooth bearing surface.2:35 The dinghy moves from the davits to the deck, where Lee builds a plywood cradle fiberglassed and coated with Total Boat Epoxy to secure it for the passage, with enough clearance to keep a forward hatch open for ventilation during the estimated month at sea.5:45 A leaking hatch in crew member Taj's cabin, sealed with silicone by a previous owner, gets resealed with two layers of butyl tape and passes a storm test.7:43 For provisioning, a Bougie RV CRD2 43-quart dual-zone freezer with a built-in LiFePO4 battery (28-hour runtime) goes aboard loaded with roughly 20 kg of beef.10:15 To handle surplus solar from 2,400 watts of Renogy shadow flux panels that fill the existing 800 Ah lithium bank by midday, Lee adds a Renogy 300 Ah lithium battery charged via a 30-amp DC-to-DC charger, monitored by a Victron shunt, bringing total storage to 1,100 Ah.11:27 The crew also secured a life raft before departure.1:08
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