Until you get this engine out and apart and have it inspected by someone qualified to do so, no amount of guessing is going to help you.

I get that but in a effort to get back on the water I almost bought a new head from ebay until I found out that the exhaust valves are water cooled. I would much rather have a valve guide put in then buy a new head for the boat. I didn't even know it was a possibility on these BBC engines. Im not guessing so much as Im hoping someone with experience will tell me for certain if that was a possibility. For a marine engine I would think someone has had this happen before. I believe someone replied above stating it happened to them but again I was unsure that his problem wasn't water coming from under the valve cover.

There is no water under the valve cover

Pull the heads off of the engine. If there are no obvious signs of a head gasket being blown then take the heads to a reputable machine shop and have them checked out. You have already wasted a week of summer and are not one bit closer to a solution.

No signs of head gaskets leaking all looked well. Sending the heads to the shop tomorrow.