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Anchoring at White Cove, Catalina Island. Tough decisions about what's next....
November 22, 2021 · 15 min · 1K views · Los Angeles County, United States
Sailboat cockpit view over calm blue water at White Cove
What this video covers
Mark, owner of a Valiant 40-2 named Kill Dragon, quit a career in big tech three months before this trip, planning to retire early and sail to Mexico by December 1st via Baja to La Paz — where he bought the boat two years earlier.▶ 0:09 The plan stalls when he discovers the transmission oil reservoir is empty.▶ 2:43 The culprit is an output-side seal leak on a Volvo Penta 2003T V-drive from 1988 with just under 6,000 hours; the transmission is obsolete, seals are unavailable, and Volvo Penta dealers confirm most rebuild parts cannot be sourced.▶ 2:43 He decides to repower with a Beta Marine engine, but supply-chain delays push delivery to approximately April — five months out.▶ 4:00 Rather than risk a Mexico passage with an unreliable, parts-orphaned drivetrain, he shifts to local cruising around the Channel Islands until the repower is complete.▶ 4:26 The trip itself is a shakedown motor to Catalina Island: 38.9 gallons of diesel taken on at the fuel dock, a crossing at 6.1 knots, anchoring at White Cove (Henrock) in 75 feet of calm water overnight, and a return past Angels Gate dodging the cargo ship Ken EI.▶ 14:14 AIS integration via NMEA 2000 to the helm chartplotter is newly functional.▶ 8:49 An obsolete V-drive transmission with no available seals is sufficient reason to cancel a Mexico passage.
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