Although both born among the mountains of Piedmont northern Italy Mariolina Rolfo developed a deep love for the sea that culminated in 1992 in the breaking of the social bonds and departing on a voyage across the oceans of the world on the yacht Saudade III. The decision was not an escape from civilisation but rather an odyssey in search of a more human temporal dimension in order to regain that most precious and rare of commodities: time.