Our “reverse” on the starboard engine has always been a bit “finicky.”  The engine’s saildrive will go into reverse but it does not always engage immediately.  Sometimes it takes between 8-60 seconds to engage.  Which can be a problem as you approach a dock or berth.

We had Whangarei Marine service both sail drives in 2023.  However, they could not replicate the issue.

We have been able to just “deal” with the issue for the past few years with no problem as we were not staying at any marinas. 

However, it became a problem really fast when we tried to get fuel at Vuda Marina.

The starboard saildrive did not to engage just as we were approaching the fuel dock.  Lucky for us we were going slow and there were dock hands available.

What is a saildrive?

A saildrive is basically a transmission for a boat. 

It allows you to shift between forward, neutral, and reverse. 

The saildrive is attached to the engine and protrudes downward through the hull connecting to a horizontal propeller shaft mounted on a skeg outside the hull.

Plan B

We scheduled Whangarei Marine to work on the boat when we haul out in November (in 6 weeks). 

However, we need to get this repaired now before we get back to New Zealand.

We called Ritesh Kumar who works at Krishna Yacht Services in Fiji.  

He arrived next day he and a helper arrived at Sugar Shack’s berth in the marina. 

• First, they moved the engine forward in order to access the saildrive.   
• Next they had to disconnect the saildrive from the engine.
• Now, they can access the gears and the sleeve (under the black “oil” top).

The good news is they found the problem.  The bad news is we need to find a new part for our 25 year old engine/saildrive.

The saildrive is the silver mechanism in the 2 lower photos below.  

The forward gear can be seen in the lower left photo in the circle and the sliding sleeve is below that.

The sliding sleeve  was worn on one end (the reversing end) which is why the saildrive had issues engaging.  

In the photo below you can see the “gray” bottom. It is rough in texture which allows the mechanism to shift. 

The copper portion on the top is smooth which prevents the engagement of the part.

The culprit is the sliding sleeve Volvo Penta part 87308. 

It took me several hours, but we found two at Marine Direct Australia. They are an authorized Volvo dealer and they happened to have these parts in stock! 

We had them in our hands in 2 business days (yeah, DHL).

Install

Ritesh and his helper came back and had the cone clutch installed, saildrive connected, and engine put back in place within 2.5 hours.

We tested both forward and reverse which both worked! 

Of course we are tied 7-ways to Sunday so the “real test” will be once we leave the marina.  Then we can test reverse in full throttle but we are confident it will work.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We worked on the saildrive toward the end of September 2025.

Check out where we stayed while we worked on the saildrive -Blog post on Vuda Marina.