The Intrepid Jerry: Fixes and Upgrades

The Intrepid Jerry was built in 2017 and lovingly cared for by previous owners. We moved onto him in July 2025.

The below list is quite detailed. This is to meet the expectations of the typical Leopard 48 owner. Ahem.

2025

Domestics

1. Replaced Splendide clothes washer/dryer with Equator 1.62 cu ft PET Compact 110 V vented/ventless Washer Dryer Combo from Home Depot
   • During the install we found the cause of our slow water leak that caused the pump to run spontaneously a couple of times a day, defying the edict that: “Your bilges should be bone dry” (I am quoting Bob Ross here)
     • Many plumbing fittings on the boat were poorly done and loose; had to trim the ends of the valves going into washer to eliminate leaks
2. Replaced old Vitrifrigio fridge/freezer (unlocalized freon leak) with new Vitrifrigio fridge/freezer
   • We were told by Cool Boats techs that Isotherms have the same board/compressor as Vitrifrigios
   • We did not want to hack away at our fridge hole to make it fit an Isotherm
3. Cushion upgrade
   • New helm seat cushion and helm platform cushion per Holly Vrotsos of Yacht Interiors of Annapolis
   • New cockpit cushions and backrests through Amalia at S&S Fabrics, Rhode Island
     • Reticulated foam instead of closed-cell foam; should be softer but still fairly water and mold resistant
4. Heads (Bathrooms) aesthetics
   • Replaced faucets in all 3 with Kohler Taut 0.5 gph faucets (wastes less water this way!)
   • Replaced peeling medicine cabinet mirrors with regular mirrors from Gambrell & Sons, Middletown, RI
   • Replaced stiff shower hoses with more flexible, shorter hoses to preserve water pressure
5. Galley (Kitchen) upgrades
   • Installed cabinets on both port and starboard sides, one with a sliding drawer WHICH IS AWESOME
   • Replaced sink faucet
   • Removed water flow restrictor on sink faucet
   • Replaced useless Eno Oven decoration/ facade with Ninja Doublestack XL 12-in-one
   • Replaced propane stovetop with exact same one (but much prettier now, and the electronic lighter works!)
   • Acquired bamboo cutting board to fit over stovetop and increase counter space
   • Acquired Origami folding kitchen cart to increase counter space since we ran out of time to commission a carpenter to do it
   • Got bigger trashcan
   • Got Dometic cooler
   • Outside beer fridge corroded temperature control fixed so beers would not freeze and explode
6. Zips and snaps on helm enclosure: lubricated
   • OMG so much easier now to manipulate enclosure!
7. Bilge netting installed in a few bilges to hold containers above…well, any potential bilgewater

Engine

1. Generator 1000 hr service completed and oil, diesel, and coolant leaks repaired
2. Replaced port engine battery
3. Replaced generator battery
4. Repaired Starboard engine coolant leak and serviced both Yanmar engines (via Corliss Diesel in Newport RI)

Water

1. Resolved air leak in rear water tank by tightening hoses, replacing Orings, and shaving down fittings so they fit better

Power

1. Added outlets to aft cockpit, galley, master berth, saloon, master bath
2. Put port water heater on inverters
3. Inspected and replaced corroded wire contacts in dinghy davit motor

Sail and Navigation

1. Replaced chafed Dyneema core halyard with quite pricey 10mm Dyneema core halyard from New England Ropes
2. Replaced halyard clutch with Spinlock XTS 6-10mm with higher snatching power for 10 mm lines
3. Replaced slipping Spinlock XAS jib furling line clutch
4. Serviced both port and starboard electric winches (manual mainsheet winch is pending) which needed it (emulsified grease working its way into pawls)
5. Rigging inspected during survey
6. Hired a rigger to tighten the steering lines on autopilot, which were loose and sometimes would snag, vibrating the helm and scaring Mel
7. Installed Raymarine RS150 GPS, which vastly improved the autopilot tracking and stopped the swinging vector on the course-up chartplotter view
8. Replaced speed transducer; not working yet; troubleshooting is ongoing
9. Cleaned/soaked stiff docklines and replaced a few
10. Installed new sailbag (aesthetic reasons only; we find grey to be depressing)
11. Removed third reef and changing reefing system to simpler jiffy-reef system
12. Replaced broken anchor light
13. Added some antichafe to sidestays to minimize sail chafe when it hits the diamond
14. Replaced broken rubber jib track bumpers

HVAC

1. Replaced starboard aircon with smaller unit that uses less power
2. Bought but did not install a new Sirocco fan for main saloon
3. Replaced both port and starboard water heaters with bigger, 11-gallon ones (also increases freshwater capacity)

Safety

1. Serviced Viking liferaft
2. Inventoried and restocked ditch bag
3. Bought many rigging knives and a quality marlinspike
4. Updated safety items in lifejackets — man overboard AIS and alarms; reviewed how to use
5. Rearmed lifejackets as needed
6. Acquired new tethers for lifejackets
7. Registered EPIRB
8. Made ditch checklist; reviewed procedures
9. Acquired Nauta flexible fuel tanks and fuel transfer pump for long offshores
10. Acquired working Starlink
11. Activated our Garmin GO! sat phone and learned how to use it
12. Installed BilgeBuddy Boatsense monitor/anchor alarm
13. Purchased Fiorintino para-anchor
14. Bought line and chain to assemble warp if needed
15. Bought updated digital Navionics charts
16. Predictwind account
17. Re-reading our heavy-weather tactics books

And now, some random pics of boat projects!