Giulia and Elia… & Franca are on an adventure

For our feature Spirits of Adventure, we meet this couple who could never enjoy their adventure without Franca.

Spirits of Adventure has a goal: to discover spirts, both liquid and soulful. On our sailing journey of 3000 miles so far, we have met many that follow the philosophy of adventure… and freedom. In Crotone, we met sailors Giulia (35, from Bologna) & Elia (43, from Tesero, Trento). So let’s dive in!

Giulia and Elia, how did you meet?
We met in Bologna in 2020, just before lockdown, while standing in line at a bookstore to get an autograph from Elettra Lamborghini.

How did the idea of building a boat come about?
Giulia: So much time has passed that it’s hard to remember who had the idea first. In my mind, it’s something that grew in both of us until it became the only sensible choice.
Elia: We started building Franca without really planning to leave everything and live on her. But as we worked on her, it gradually became the right thing to do—partly because Franca kept getting more beautiful, and partly because the world around us felt like it was getting worse.

When did it all begin?
About five years ago, the idea started almost as a joke. Then we began doing research and discovered that many people build their own boats. That’s when we started taking it seriously.

Did you have any prior experience?
Giulia: Absolutely none on my side. Elia had a big advantage—he was a carpenter in Bologna with his own workshop. We read many books on boatbuilding and relied a lot on our designers (Paolo Lodigiani, Matteo Costa, Emanuele Ponzano—professionals with incredible talent and passion). But having Elia’s tools and knowledge made a huge difference. He taught me everything about working with wood in practice.
Elia: The internet helped a lot too. There are so many videos of people building or repairing boats. They’re often very passionate and willing to share what they’re doing, even their mistakes—so it’s a goldmine of useful information.

Giulia in one of those moments: What are we doing?

Where did you build the boat?
Giulia: We were lucky. At the time, Elia needed a new place to live and found a house just outside Bologna with a small garden. The first thing he asked the future roommates and the landlord was whether they’d be okay with a small boatyard in the garden.

How long did it take, and how did you fund it?
Giulia: It took us four years. For the first two, it wasn’t too difficult financially—buying wood and epoxy gradually, while we both still had jobs, made it manageable. The hardest part came at the end, when we had to buy the mast, sails, onboard instruments, and deck equipment. We managed thanks to a bank loan and help from Elia’s parents.
Elia: We also sold everything we couldn’t bring with us—our van and the machinery from the carpentry workshop.

Why did you name the boat “Franca”?
While building her, we kept a list of possible names, adding new ones whenever we liked them—but none ever felt completely right. Then one day, about a year before launching, we said: “We need a name… something like… Franca!” We looked at each other and immediately knew that was it. It’s a simple, no-frills name—and in the Tesero dialect, it means “safe.” The perfect name.

Did you have a timeline?
Giulia: We had many “finish dates”! For four years we kept saying, “One more year of work.” At some point, it actually became true. At the beginning, we thought it would take two years—half the time it really took.
Elia: Giulia had a timeline in mind; I didn’t. It was such a huge project, something we had never done before, working outdoors and only in our free time—it was impossible to estimate. But I think it helped to set deadlines, even if we kept postponing them. Otherwise, we might have lost motivation.

How did you leave your previous life behind?
Giulia: It was quite easy. We were both renting rooms in shared apartments, so we just left them. We took what we needed, gave away or threw out the rest. I left some books in my parents’ basement.

What was your sailing experience before?
We just jumped into it. We had some experience from holidays with friends and short sailing courses, but we had never spent more than eight consecutive days on a boat, and we didn’t have much overall experience sailing.

What was the most difficult part of building the boat?
Giulia: Technically, covering the cabin with shaped mahogany wood was very difficult, and in the end, we had to simplify parts of it. Structurally, the hardest part was the ballast—the heavy weight that keeps the boat stable. Aligning everything correctly was a real challenge right up to the end.
Elia: Another difficult part was positioning the internal walls (bulkheads) correctly so everything lined up. The structure is large, and making all the curves smooth and consistent is quite complex.

Hard to believe the job is finished— March 2025

Did you ever have doubts?
Giulia: When we were finally finishing the boat, we had almost no money and no clear idea of how we would earn a living. Of course, I worried. But I never thought we shouldn’t leave—we had spent four years imagining that moment.
Elia: I never thought about going back, but I was definitely scared. There were no certainties ahead of us—but there weren’t any behind us either. The only certainty was that we had built the most beautiful boat in the world together. That made me feel like we could do anything.

What does a typical day look like?
Giulia: It depends. If we’re staying in a port, it’s like a normal day. If we’re sailing, everything revolves around the boat—where we’re going, what the conditions are. We check the weather very often.

What are each other’s strengths?
Giulia: I’m good at organizing routes and thinking about backup plans. Elia is incredibly good at finding creative solutions in any situation—which is very important at sea—and he’s also great at docking.
Elia: Giulia is the one who makes Franca “fly.” She has more sailing experience and knows a lot about how to adjust the sails. She never stops studying and learning. She’s also the only one with a boating license, so she knows all the navigation rules, charts, and signals.

What do you miss from your old life?
Giulia: Honestly, nothing. Maybe just the frustration of dealing with clutter in such a small space—I’m always trying to get rid of things or organize them better. But in the end, that’s just part of living together.
Elia: I miss having long-term relationships with people. We meet many people, but eventually we always have to say goodbye. And… a private shower.

How do you support yourselves?
Giulia: When we first left, we had quit our jobs and had very little money. Our goal was to reach a tourist destination and work for a season—and that’s what we did. It helped us financially and reassured us that we could always find work if needed. I then started teaching Italian online via Preply (I used to teach in middle school in Bologna), and now it’s my main job. I love it—it fits our lifestyle perfectly.
Elia: I work as an illustrator and comic artist on commission. When I don’t have drawing jobs, I work on other people’s boats, mainly as a carpenter.

What are your plans for the future?
Elia: We don’t really have a plan. We thought about going to the Canary Islands, but we might stay longer in the Mediterranean—there are so many places to explore. Our priority was to reach a warm place where we could live on the boat even in winter, and Sicily is already perfect for that.

Your most memorable moment?
Elia: Probably when we ran aground and spent over an hour hitting the seabed, at the mercy of wind and waves, waiting for help… and then realized the boat was still intact. Just a few scratches.

Where do you see yourselves in ten years?
Giulia: I don’t know exactly where—but still on Franca, exploring new places, hopefully working less.
Elia: I agree.

What advice would you give to others?
Giulia: Do it. There will always be good, reasonable reasons to postpone or not to start—do it anyway. And if you don’t have a project, contact Matteo Costa and his team.
Elia: Yes, do it—but find yourself a good partner. It’s a difficult and, above all, long journey. For us, the kind of collaboration we had was essential. We did everything together from start to finish—it was a shared project and a shared investment in terms of effort, time, and money. That made all the difference, because we were equally involved, and whenever one of us felt discouraged, we could rely on the other to find the energy to keep going—and in the end, that’s what made the whole experience so meaningful and rewarding.

Where are they now? Riposto, near Catania. Their next project is a circumnavigation of Sicily this summer.,

stay tuned!

Giulia and Elia are not very active on social media but here is are their emails:

giulia.calogero123@gmail.com

rossi.mario694@gmail.com

In case you want to learn Italian online with a 30% discount and support their project, here is Giulia’s Preply link

Giulia and Elia… & Franca are on an adventure

stay tuned!

Sharlafied at Sea