LEOPARD 48 'LIVING DAYLIGHTS': HIGHLIGHTS
4 CABINS VERSION - NEVER CHARTERED - TWO OWNERS ONLY
PREVIOUS OWNER ONLY LIGHTLY USED WITH PROFESSIONAL SKIPPER / CARETAKER TO LOOK AFTER THE BOAT YEAR AROUND
ALWAYS KEPT IN IMMACULATE CONDITION AND REGULARLY UPGRADED WITH TOP OF THE RANGE EQUIPMENT
CURRENT OWNERS PURCHASED IN GREECE AND FURTHER UPGRADED HER FOR ATLANTIC CROSSING AND TO COMPLY WITH STRICT ARC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
FURTHER UPGRADED AGAIN BEFORE CARIBBEAN PASSAGE TO PANAMA AND AGAIN BEFORE PACIFIC CROSSING.
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This boat presents beautifully, has been upgraded for serious cruising between 2017 and 2022, as well as maintained in beautiful condition. The list of safety, cruising equipment, tools and spares is impressive.
As per our company policy for offshore cruising vessel, Living Daylight is to be fully surveyed at the end of September by an independent Australian surveyor who will fly to Fiji especially for this purpose. The report will be available on request. Small cosmetic work needed, such as salon upholstery and bathroom mirrors which have corroded around their outer edge.
Read on for the full description!
A WORD (OR TWO!) FROM THE OWNERS:
"This Leopard 48 has proven to be the perfect boat and home for (all of) us as a family, allowing us to travel to remote places of the world with great comfort and with everything we need. When we first started looking, as sailing newbies we were pretty agnostic about which cat would be a better fit as we had never owned any boat before. So, we focused more on the “bones” of the boat, how it had been treated, how we’d fit, and how it would suit our needs and become our home rather than a specific model. We went to all the boat shows, looked and poked at all catamarans we could find, got properly confused, but we managed to get a feeling for what we would like and what wouldn’t be necessary. When this cat came out for sale in Greece, we specifically asked to visit and be able to talk to the owner. We did a lot of research and realized a Leopard 48 would fit the bill perfectly, as a proven, reliable, offshore cruising catamaran that sails well and looked very safe as we were going cruising with three kids. Long story short, we have never regretted the decision or been in doubt that Living Daylights was the right boat for us. Being a cruising catamaran, this 4 cabins Leopard 48 focuses on the comfort of living onboard without sacrificing solidity, good speed under sail, and easy access to all compartments. It is a 2013 boat, the first of the Leopard modern designs, which have been copied down the line for other later models.
Upon seeing it firsthand, the first things we noticed were the spacious feel, the cleanliness of the design, the huge cockpit table, room for everybody…even when one needs some alone time. Not surprisingly it’s a good sailboat, doesn’t require much wind, handles strong winds well, and is easily handled by one person alone safely from the cockpit. How safe? Get this: just before leaving I had gifted my wife with a new, all bells and whistles Goretex sailing jacket. I thought … a necessity when going at sea, right? 20,000 nautical miles later, two ocean crossings and you know how many times has she used it? Yep…you guessed it: exactly zero. Not even once. It’s still in the wardrobe, in its original cellophane, collecting dust.
Neither of us had prior significant sailing experience and that’s why we were looking for, and found, an impeccably maintained catamaran, which would carry us while we got our hands wet and learnt what was needed. Paradoxically, our lack of experience (both my wife and I come from a finance background) has influenced the way we organize and maintain our own boat, that is, we make damn sure to keep everything in top condition. We take all measures to ensure our (and our kids) safety, from safe navigation, engines that are expertly maintained, impeccable rigging, to making sure all safety equipment is certified and redundant for the passages we have taken. In deep scuba diving, a very dangerous sport, there’s a thing called the Snowball effect: “Fix the first problem fully and completely as soon as you recognize it”
We take the same approach to boat maintenance: our life and our kids depend on it. Goes without saying, we are still cruising on Living Daylights, and keeping everything in great shape. The boat will be handed over in excellent condition and turnkey ready for anyone who wants a ready to go boat life, and to enjoy the fabulous lifestyle of sailing around in your home away from home.
Living Daylights spent her first years in Greece where she saw mostly summer use and was stored in a good climate. The first owner had a skipper on payroll year around, who would take daily care of the cat and keep her, literally, in top condition. She has never been used in charter and it is obvious to everyone who visits her that she has been well taken care of - something we have been told repeatedly by other cruisers and are proud of. After 5 years the owner wanted a bigger cat, and, truly, that turned out to be our lucky day.
In May 2018 a serious refitting had been carried out, new batteries, new top-quality cushions, new fishfinder (he was, and still is an avid fisherman: we got the bug as well), and more. Late 2018 we bought it and started to add ocean cruising equipment as Living Daylights had been used in the Med only. Hence, during the following spring, as we started to prepare for the 2019 ARC to St. Lucia, we ordered and installed the Sparcraft bowsprit, new compression post, new Code 0 and new asymmetrical spinnaker by the best sailmaker in Italy (Sail Design), new blocks and jammers to handle them, new Facnor 4500 furler on the bowsprit, new Dyneema lines, significantly upgraded the solar panels, cables, Victron MPPTs, new battery monitor, new Iridium phone, new external Iridium antenna, new wind generator SilentWind Pro 400, new Electrolux 7kg washing machine, new wraparound cockpit Sunbrella enclosure, new kitchen shelves, new top of the line Plastimo lifevests with OceanSignal personal AIS transponders included for each of us. We also fully serviced both engines and saildrives, replaced the antifouling, had the rudders inspected and changed their bearings, changed the generator’s elbow, upgraded the watermaker low pressure pump, inspected, serviced and recertified the Viking Liferaft.
After an uneventful crossing (that’s how we like them), we spent the season in the Caribbean, until we got stuck in St. Martin during the Covid scare as the world closed down. We then headed south to Grenada for hurricane season and, in October 2020, hauled her out in preparation for the Pacific crossing we were planning for Spring 2021. We chose Grenada Marine as they were the official dealers for Yanmar engines and SeaRecovery watermakers: so, not only we did the usual works, filters, oil, new antifouling, Propspeed on props, we also replaced the engine-saildrive seals, had the cones lapped (it wasn’t needed, but still we preferred to do it just in case), replaced the whole anchor chain for a new one, new Mantus anchor swivel, had the watermaker professionally checked, dropped the rudders and had their steel core cleaned, new zincs, replaced the jib UV band and on and on..
There was one more very important item I wanted to tackle, something that had been bugging me for a while: a second autopilot. The original rotary drive autopilot hadn’t had any problem but, in keeping with “Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy” theme, we wanted to make extra sure we wouldn’t have any issue with it, if, for some reason, one failed. For that we headed back to St Martin, where we purchased a brand new Raymarine Ev 400 and started the laborious process of installing it, because, for extra safety, I wanted the linear drive (the piston) directly on one of the rudders, skipping the steering cables completely. A small extra fiberglass shelf was created in one engine room, and an extra arm on the rudders was welded in. The conversation with the welder went like this:
“Hello, I need to install a new autopilot linear drive on a rudder and need a new arm on it”
“Sure, this aluminum piece will do just fine for your needs”
“Great thanks, actually, I would like something about 5x stronger than what you’re suggesting”
He looked at me askance: “You don’t need it and it’s only gonna cost you more”
I smiled pleasantly “Please humor me”.
And so he did.
Unfortunately, French Polynesia threw a monkey wrench on our plans and closed down a few weeks before we were scheduled to leave. We then spent the dry (ah!) season in Panama, but we got out of dodge in April as lightning season started since there’s little that scares us more than lightning on a boat as we have heard too many horror stories. So, we went to Costarica, where we finally got our permission to go to French Polynesia in Spring 2022. Goes without saying, we hauled out the boat in January 2022, did all proper maintenance, engines, generator, rebedded our rubrails, winches and windlass were serviced, renovated all Sikaflex on our Tek-Dek, new antifouling, new seats for the dinghy, propellers were polished and coated with Propspeed, and pretty much everything was polished and scrubbed. As always, if it’s on the boat, it needs to work.
After spending the season enjoying the Pacific islands, it’s time to take stock: kids grow, college beckons, and priorities shift. We thought long and hard whether it makes sense to sell Living Daylights, but this cat is made for deep water sailing, not for the occasional weekend use. And so it is with a heavy heart that we have chosen to put our dear Living Daylights on the market. We hope that she will give someone else as much joy and adventure as we have had, and that the future owners will continue to take good care of her. We will do our best to make a proper handover and to answer any questions in the future. We honestly believe that whoever the next owner is, you will be very lucky." Living Daylights Family - Fiji, September 2022
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For a bit of info about Nautilus Yacht Management, we are a boutique-style brokerage devoted to high quality cruising yachts and to the cruising community since our launch in Sydney in 2011.
With several offshore branches from French Polynesia to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia to assist cruisers along South Pacific route, we are here to help both sellers and buyers with the logistics involved from registration to insurance, delivery, import, survey, storage and crewing if required. Ex- cruisers ourselves we just strive to help others begin their journey on the ocean.
If you think Living Daylights could be exactly what you have been looking for get in touch! Our team can organize a private video viewing with you as well as have all the time in the world to answer your questions, put you in touch with the owners if you wish, assist with organising your visit, purchase, delivery home if needed, insurance, berthing, crewing, etc.
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