The Intrepid Project

The Sailboat Intrepid project, based out of Cleveland, aims to restore a historical vessel with help from the Lorain County Veterans Service Commission, that will test the skills of local veterans and maritime students on Lake Erie.

The project was head-started by Chagrin Falls resident Jim Finley.

U.S. Naval Academy. The vessel will allow veterans and maritime students to learn the ropes of sailing on Lake Erie.

The project was head-started by Chagrin Falls resident Jim Finley. Finley served as a U.S. Navy corpsman, a medical professional for the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines from 2003-06. He was serving in Iraq in 2005, where he was injured in his last month of deployment. “I spent the last month of my deployment in a hospital with four chest tubes, my lungs had blown and I had a bunch of burns on the right side of my body,” Finley said. He said he when he was overseas, he dreamed of sailing. “When I was in Iraq, everybody would sort of dream about what they wanted to do when they got back,” Finley said. “Some people wanted to buy a classic car or motorcycles, but I wanted to get on a sailboat because it seemed peaceful after the chaos of war.” fter returning from deployment, Finley said he took several rides on a sailboat, but he wanted to learn the ropes. “I thought it would be great if we had a boat and instead of just giving veterans a ride,” he said. “We could teach them how to sail. “I wanted to work as a team again because that’s all you ever do in the military.”

The Intrepid Sailing Corps is seeking funding to restore a historical vessel that served in the U.S. Naval Academy. The vessel will allow veterans and maritime students to learn the ropes of sailing on Lake Erie.

After returning from deployment, Finley said he took several rides on a sailboat, but he wanted to learn the ropes. “I thought it would be great if we had a boat and instead of just giving veterans a ride,” he said. “We could teach them how to sail. “I wanted to work as a team again because that’s all you ever do in the military.”

In 2019, Finley partnered with Andrew Ferguson, chief executive officer of Agronaut, to breathe life into his mission.The Intrepid Sailing Corps is seeking funding to restore a historical vessel that served in the U.S. Naval Academy. The vessel will allow veterans and maritime students to learn the ropes of sailing on Lake Erie.

Agronaut is a Cleveland nonprofit that offers aerospace and maritime youth education programs. “Some of those kids are going to be heading to West Point, Coast Guard, Naval Academy and we thought it’d be great not to only do this for veterans, but integrate it with the kids that are interested in service academies,” Finley said. “The kids can listen to our experiences and we can tell them what to expect and work together.”

Finley and Ferguson acquired the Sailing Vessel Intrepid from the Lorain Sea Scouts.

Finley and Ferguson also partnered with Lorain County Veterans Service Commission Deputy Director Larry Amato to bring the program to fruition. “This is going to take a significant amount of money; we’re talking about a couple of $100,000 to fully restore it,” Ferguson said. “But, it’s worth it. “We probably won’t find another boat that has so much history within the Navy.” The vessel will be a North Coast based boat, making stops in Lorain, Ashtabula and Toledo. will allow veterans and maritime students to learn the ropes of sailing on Lake Erie.

Ferguson said he hopes the sailboat will be fully restored by fall 2025.

“The 250th anniversary of the United States Navy is in October, and the commissioning of the Navy combat vessel, USS Cleveland, is happening in October,” he said. “Our goal is to make this restoration of a historic Navy vessel a part of the 250th anniversary.”

Finley said it’s important for him to connect the generations of those who served in the military.

“Everybody feels the same thing when they go to war; we all feel the same thing no matter what generation,” he said. “It’s good to get all those generations together and prepare the next generation for what’s next.”

For more information on the Intrepid Sailing Corps, visit http://intrepidsail.org/

THE INTREPID SERVED IN THE U.S. nAVY FROM 1967 TO 1983

The 44-foot Luders Yawl was one of 12 custom designed sailboats built for the NAVAL academy.

The vessel will be a North Coast based boat, making stops in Lorain, Ashtabula and Toledo.