My cruising and underwater adventures aboard Maruzza: a tiny sailboat bound for the African coast
Who is Maruzza
Maruzza is more than a sailboat. She is my faithful companion on all my sea adventures. She has carried me across the Mediterranean, turning every voyage into a journey of discovery. She he is a symbol of freedom, exploration, and a life lived in the name of self-sufficiency.
The Little Sea Snail
Indeed, Maruzza means “little sea snail,” at least around Naples. And since I am 50% Neapolitan, I couldn’t have chosen a more fitting name for a sailboat. Sea snails live right where the strongest waves crash against the rocks, yet they never flinch. Small and tough, just like Maruzza.
With Maruzza, I sailed across the entire central-eastern Mediterranean all the way to the Middle East. I made two long passages in open water—from Malta to the Peloponnese and from Tel Aviv to Rhodes—I sailed for years with the Meltemi in Greece, and I never once thought that Maruzza wasn’t up to the task. Thank you, Maruzza!
The Boat
Maruzza is an ALPA DODI 670 sailboat, built around the 1970s by the A.L.P.A. shipyard (Azienda Lavorazioni Plastiche Affini) in Offanengo (CR). The shipyard was one of the best in the world and produced magnificent boats. She was designed by the renowned naval architect Ericus Van de Stadt and is built from fiberglass. Her lines are sleek, she sails well upwind, and she is relatively fast and as safe as needed.
The interior spaces are reasonable, considering the size. The forward double berth is surprisingly large, and the boat has many lockers, a small cabinet, a sink, and a stove. I removed the marine toilet because it was really impractical to use and replaced it with a nice blue bucket!
- Length: 6.75 meters
- Beam: 2.10 meters
- Draft: 1 meter
- Weight: 0.95 tons
- Cockpit: aft and very spacious
- Rig: sloop with one set of spreaders and two lower shrouds
- Keel: cast iron, encapsulated in the hull
- Rudder: hung and highly balanced
- Sails: mainsail with three reef points, genoa, jib 1, jib 2, storm jib, gennaker, and spinnaker
- Water tank: 40 liters
- Log: mechanical VDO
- Engine: Johnson 8 hp, 2-stroke, 1998
- Solar panel: 35W SOLARA walk-on panel, sufficient to charge phones, portable GPS, and laptop
- Self-steering: I built a fully functional wind vane named Giacomo, my most trusted travel companion!
In short, the only things I would change are the cockpit (too large if it were to fill with water from a breaking wave) and the hung rudder, which is inherently delicate. On the other hand, the large cockpit is very convenient at anchor, and the hung, highly balanced rudder is very light under sail and allowed me to pair it with a very simple wind vane. So, as I’ve well learned, a sailboat is always a matter of compromises.
The Boatyard Projects
Folks! I love and adore Maruzza, but to make her what she is today, I had to sweat buckets—seven shirts, a few pairs of underwear, and even my socks! I did every single job myself. This was incredibly useful because now I know the boat inside out and can repair anything, anywhere, using just the tools on board.
- In 2001 in Procida (5 months): I took apart everything that could be disassembled, replaced every metal screw and pin, changed everything that wasn’t working properly, unstepped the mast while replacing the spreaders, shrouds, chainplates, and fittings, replaced the rudder bearings, fully restored the cabin interior, and built Giacomo, the wind vane.
- In 2022 in Samos (2 months): I once again disassembled everything possible, replacing every screw and pin, changed the plexiglass windows with new, thicker ones (8mm), replaced the bow sprit, treated the rudder blade against osmosis, and built from scratch a gel-coated fiberglass coaming that was missing in the original design.
- In 2023 in Salamina (2 months): I unstepped the mast, replaced shrouds and chainplates, and greatly improved the watertightness of the cockpit. I also had a sprayhood made (that one I didn’t do myself!) which immensely improved life on board.
- In 2024: I replaced the entire electrical system, installing an MPPT charge controller and a 50Ah lithium battery.
- In 2025 I reinforced the chainplates bolting them to the hull.
Of course, every year I do the routine maintenance, including general overhaul, hull cleaning, winch servicing, checking all equipment, anchor lines, engine, cleaning, woodwork, hull polishing, and more… In short, a lot of work! But Maruzza is now more perfect than ever and ready to take me to Africa!
"Your channel has been a wonderful discovery. Congratulations on the passion you put into it. Rarely have I seen someone with such respect for nature and the sea."
Alfredo Salvatori
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