Here´s some real sailing again. You may have read my past articles about Andrea Mario Lodolo, the 52 years old Milan-based entrepreneur who swapped a lush early retirement for becoming a skillful solosailor on his Rustler 36 BIBI? I visited him the past week in wonderful, magical Camaret-sur-Mer. A small harbor village vis-a-vis the bustling port of Brest, but seemingly exactly the opposite: Calm, unagitated and very sympathetical. A place, Andrea couldn´t have better chose to be his new training base.
I arrived after an adventurous 16 hour trip from Germany, utilizing three high-speed trains (TGV), a hasty train station swap crossing the center town of Paris and some 1.5 hours driving in a local bus all around the Brest bay inlet. As the sun went down, the mighty tide had amost drained the whole of Camaret´s harbour basin and a strong salty smell of seaweed and mussels filled the air. God, how I loved it here!
A reunion with BIBI
Andrea had changed his training base, relocating from Les Sables d´Olonne to this north-westernmost top of France, the rugged coastline and rough beauty of Brittany. Here, not many „normal“ tourists spend their vacation time. Sailors coming by out of the English Channel or entering it try to cross the Biscay of the Channel as quickly as possible: This region is known for harsh weather and wind conditions, challangeing wave patterns created by the strong winds and the violent currents of the mighty tidal system.
The next morning, walking down the pontoon, I see BIBI, Andrea´s Rustler 36, from afar: Although still within the summer sailing season, the pontoons are sparsely occupied. As I have been guest in this area with boats myself as well, I never really had Camaret-sur-Mer on my radar, passing by opting for the much bigger port of Brest. But this is something for a later article. Andrea arrived here some weeks earlier after coming back from his first big solosailing adventure himself.
Azores touch and go
As an entrant to the famous singlehand circumnavigation Golden Globe Race, which will take place in roughly two years starting 4th of September 2025, he undergoes a riging training scheme. This incorporates sailing training aboard BIBI, further improvement of onboard routines, checking and constant updating of the boat´s equipment and a vigorous personal fitness training. Having spent the past weeks with shorter, 24 to 36 hours heavy weather training sessions in the Camaret „backyard“ of the boiling Brittany seas, the Azores „touch and go“ was his last big long sailing adventure.
Starting in Les Sables d´Olonne, it took BIBI no more than 14 days to reach the Azores. Having timed this training deliberately to take place in the middle of the summer, the chance to encounter heavy weather was there but did not really materialized. „There´s more than enough time left to slowly increase the external level of difficulty“, Andrea said: „I wanted to test other things first.“ Amongst which was the onboard sailing routine, routine sails maneuvers and especially Spi and Asy-Spi maneuvers. Andrea says this had been phsically very demanding, especially since he had just decided to go vegetarian and skip meat alltogether. A demanding trip with a completely new nutritional challenge …
All in all, he says, the solosailing experience to the Azores and back (which took BIBI only 12 days) was a big success. The sleeping management system both in terms of timing and code of conduct as well as the equipment and product he uses proved just as fine. „I can cross of that one from my list“, he says. That´s for the good news. Detecting major flaws and much room for improvement in his food supply was one of the big items on the to-do-list when he came back: „I have to find a more balanced diet between dry and wet food and also work on the variety of the dishes.“
With a full bucket list of this to do, upgrades on the boat to be made and so many new learnings to process, Andrea went to Camaret-sur-mer. The quick dashes out, just two days with a night in between, mostly in demanding weather, were the perfect setting to pinpoint and focus on different details, gather informations, draw conclusions and come up with solutions. And, in this, he came up with another change of plan. And this is where I came into play.
Two weeks to go …
„Welcome back aboard BIBI!“, Andrea smiles as I meet him on the pontoon. His Rustler is moored next to a vacational cruiser. Just by taking a quick look onto both decks – one clean and „empty“, the other cluttered with fittings, spi-poles, lifelines, extra equipment – tells books about their two different use cases. The white boat, beautiful and certainly seaworthy as well, is meant to deliver pleasure for a sailing family. The other one, BIBI, is destined to take on the vastness and violence of the Southern Ocean. You know it: Andrea Lodolo is one of the official entrants for the Golden Globe Race 2026. BIBI is as well.
„You know, I originally had planned to do an Atlantic Loop“, Andrea says, offering me a fresh coffee out of his newly installed fully gimballed Jetboil one-flame stove. That is true, this was his plan. „What do you think if I go down south as far as I can get, spend some time there, visit interesting islands and come back?“ I smile. Jaw dropped. Well, that´s a travel itinerery for sure!
While Andrea and his Les Sables-assistant started their daily work skipping through the various tasks, I calculated: That´s a 50 to 60 days passage sailing that far down south. Transiting all climate zones, from our to the subtropical and tropicals, the Equator and finally almost touching the Roaring Fourties and ultimately, Antarctica. As the guys checked the anchor chain (casually ordering a brand new Ultra Marine anchor at the phone, kneeling down in front of BIBI´s bow), I had the numbers ready: That´s an almost 7.000 nautical miles ride just to reach this sailing area. I am so excited for him!
Heavily upgraded
If someone can do it, then it is Andrea for sure. He has been investing so much money and time, but also expertise from so many people, to heavily upgrade and therefore prepare the boat for that trip. After a thorough refit by the Rustler shipyard in the UK, BIBI has been fitted with a custom made keel-steeped mast by Sparcraft. In this, his Ruster 36 boosts a custom extra pair of intermediate shrouds for bonus steadfastness of the standing rigging. There are extra-strong stoppers on the mast, all winches had been exchanged for brand new Andersen equipment. His intention was not to throw money around and get the latest gadgets – but to steo by step tun BIBI into a boat that will be able to overcome anything that is thrown at her whilst sailing in the most remote and violent areas of the world.
The boat is bristling with all sorts of electronic equipment – most of it with redundancy. The Iridium satellite communications are mirrored with Elon Musk´s Starlink-system, the Hydrovane windpilot is almost doubled in spared parts. There´s a wind generator, a hydrogenerator and of course solar panels. Technically, this rugged offshore-capable boat by birth is now better suited and equipped than 90 per cent of boats around, I would say.
Andrea asks me if I could join their efforts in preparing and checking BIBI for the trip down south: „I need you German methodology and precision.“, he says and smiles. I am sure he just meant our tendency to have check lists and some sort of system at hand out of nowhere. But of course, what an exciting task! So I agreed and happily joined the two.
Safety first
We checked the safety system of BIBI. In this, Andrea is a true pro: Having studied at the Maritime University, he holds an official degree. Safety Management Systems as daily routine on any professional commercial ship are a no brainer for him, implementing these aboard BIBI one of the things which sets his boat apart from most yachts I know. You can see it in all those small, for many invisible, but all so important details:
The lifelines for example are not just put on the sidewalks but tightened and measured in a way that he is still free to roam the deck while tethered but also never having to fear to fall overboard while hanging in there. There are also always knifes well within reach: I count three of those on deck alone. But he has also some very interesting solosailing lifehacks to offer.
In this, Andrea is not working on engineering the wheel again but to participate from the experiences and knowledge of keen fellow sailors and proven singlehanded skippers. As a solosailor, I guess, you are quickly engaged with those kind of people, asking for adives, receiving help and hints now and then. But that´s certainly also some stuff you will never read in the circumnavigator´s books. It´s a brotherhood, entry isn´t granted for free, it is earned. But he is also coming up with practical, easy ideas himself – just as the soft shackle-fitted cockpit lifeline, which is a very good idea indeed.
Lifehacks of sailosailing
As he is sitting in the cockpit almost all of the sailing time while on watch – we all know it from first hand experience – the steadiness of the bottom will suffer. It is going to suffer so hard! But Andrea, God only knows from where, on the spur of the moment, acquired a wheelchair cushion from the medical specialty shops, which are designed to prevent the occupants from Decubitus. I am puzzled, and it strikes me: That´s so logical, so clever, so awkward and so beautiful at once. What a contrast to „our“ normal world of sailing and the cushion hustle aboard a cruising yacht!
The boat is stuffed with these nice ideas and it would require an own article dedicated to show all of these. The point in this is: All is subdued to the prime reason for this boat to exist: In Andrea´s eyes, that is solosailing. He is bristling with energy, almost vibrating with enthusiasm. Every detail has a purpose, is a point on one of his checklists. Things with no such purpose will be skipped, dismounted and put into storage. This has already happened to the classy dorade air ventilators: Down south with constant heavy wash on deck, these would surely flood. The two dorades are gone, intakes blocked and sealed. Next will be the Refleks oven, the complete bathroom is due for dismounting when BIBI will enter race-mode before the Golden Globe Race mid 2026.
SMS on board: Safety management system
What is a common sense code of practice for decades already in commercial shipping and aviation is a widely unknown thing even in professional sailboat racing: The safety management system, in short SMS, which Andrea has implemented on BIBI. And he is rightfully proud of this. There are basically a handful of checklists for certain purposes which ensure a flawless function of the boat. A pre-departure checklist for example. Sure: You don´t want to learn that something critically is missing just three days after casting off! A pre-landfall checklist as well. What takes up most of his time, of course, are the storm-related SMS-task lists.
The idea behind that system is absolutely convincing: By walking yourself through these checklists even the most exhausted, tired, maybe injured or stressed skipper won´t be forgetting details. These checklists will certainly be part of a more dedicated article for sure, but I instantly understood their meaning and vital function. As there is no crew mate, no „second brain“ to help you, to remind you, to control you when sailing alone, this is basically your insurance. The pre-storm and after-storm SMS checklists are absolutely interesting!
Working on the food
After some time we relocate under deck and Andrea switches to the food. To save weight, stowage volume and preparation time, he will be eating a mix of freeze-dried special expedition foods, „wet“ pre-cooked dishes which just need hot water or even just hot temperatures and dry foods. The fresh fruit and vegetables – if there are any – won´t last more than one or two weeks with maybe just onions or the nuclear-proove Granny Smith even longer.
He already tested this system during his Azores „touch & go“ sailing adventure and came back with mixed feelings. „I need to work on a better balance between dried and wet food“, he says: „And also on the variety of dishes.“ We all know it: The ship´s cook is the second most important man after the Captain on any boat: If food is bad, morale and mood will be bad as well. Very fast. Apart from the nutritional thing, a bad morale – moreover if you are alone – can and will lead to mistakes, frustration and maybe even worse things. In this, we sort the remainder of the food „thematically“.
Andrea has some very tasty (at least tasty sounding) dishes to feat upon: Breakfast cereals, curries, salty classics and even cake. „A month of these special foods is worth almost 1.000 Euro!“, he says. A quick check on the internet and we find a German company with a very promising wide variety of even tastier sounding dishes: „Let´s give it a try!“ The fact, that Andrea just weeks ago decided to become a vegetarian makes it even more delicate: Without energy-dense meat products, a vegetarian diet calls for even more volumes to fill a body with the nutrients needed. Let alone that many of these dishes are simply not known to Andrea´s palate.
Being Italian, I am thinking all the time: Where is the pasta?! And I am glad he brings it up himself: For the trip BIBI will also carry a significant amount of Spaghetti, Farfalle and Penne, dozens of canned tomato sauce, Pesto and other specialties of Andrea´s beloved motherland. Accompanied by rice, this will be the „nice food“ he is talking of: „I am not an astronaut and I don´t want to be one! I am a human being, a sailor, alone, yes, but still a human wanting to feel joy and happiness!“ He is right: What better can there be during a cold, windy, rainy day outside than to self-gratify you with a tasty hot steaming bowl of Italian Pasta?!
No, Andrea is not the classic „grumpy sailor“. This, as he tells me in a very emotional way, is a stupid concept anyway. „I hate this idea of those worn down, red-faced, tired and cursing guys who always tell exaggerated shit about freak waves and the hardship of sailing! They even take their time to get properly dressed and shower before invading the waterfront pubs, still wearing their wet oils! What is this? I mean, why don´t they bring their life rafts to dramatize even more?“ No, for Andrea, happy sailing – even in the harshest conditions – is his way. He smiles, holds up a watertight barrel: The „sweet container“, as he says. It is full of sweet treats, conveniently single-portion packed. The smile-makers. No, he is by far not a „grumpy sailor“!
The plan: As far south as possible
Two electricians knock on BIBIs deck and ask for permission to enter. They bring the new Starlink equipment, Andrea is replacing the „old“ big antenna by the new small one. As the guys work, we test BIBIs navigation software systems and Andrea shows me the travel route he intends to sail. This trip is something 99.9 percent of all sailors will never do in their whole lifes. For him, this is a training setup for the big race.
Of course, you cannot just sail down there. Well, maybe you could but that would certainly create problems. Andrea made contact with a skilled skipper who used to sail the Southern Argentenian waters for many years and has valuable first hand information for him. Of course, being underway over Christimas time poses some other challanges. Such as leaving BIBI somewhere safe, fly back to celebrate with his family back home. All this is taken care of, a logistical nightmare one would think, but also great fun for Andrea.
Onhis way back – being there already – he plans to also take some time to visit South Georgia and, back in more warmer lattitudes, Fernando de Noronha. I am back on deck in the cockpit again as our next item is the check of safety equipment items, Andrea leans his head on his hand, still standing down on the first step of the entryway ladder. Suddenly kind of introverted, contemplative. After a silent half a minute, his eyes wide open, loud loughing and clapping his hands: „Hach, I am so excited and can´t wait to go!“ Such a lucky guy.
Double-checking every item
He begins to hand me waterproof sacks and containers, slowly the cockpit is filled. One by one we open the containers, put their contents onto the seating benches and check. Is everything there? Any visible damage? Best before-dates still valid? The amount of the stuff is staggering alone, but also, the way Andrea packs it. True to the saying: „Never put all eggs in one basket!“, the stuff is split up and stowed in different places of the boat.
Again: So logical, so easy and so obvious, but I never dared to even think about it. For example, the distress signals are split and allocated into three bags plus life raft. There isn´t just one first aid kit but I count four of them. Of course, not everything is reduntant but also not all of it is lost if one back is flooded, burned or washed overboard. Talking of medication, Andrea not only has the usual suspects at hand but also the heavy stuff: Heart medication, a number of „Pulp Fiction“-style adrenaline emergency shots, glue that can close deep cuts and even sterile surgeaon´s tools.
It first looks as if this was a total mess. A chaos nobody could ever control. But we manage to re-pack, re-seal and store away all of the items in an hour or so. Whilst doing so, Andrea tells me that he didn´t just pass the appropriate courses and trainings but as well tested the skin stapler on himself on one occasion: „Of course! Testing this on a pig´s foot is one thing, the real training on myself with a proper shot of Novocaine is something completely different.“ I guess, this is called full dedication then.
The Starlink-guys complete their task, which wasn´t so easy with us having spread out and blocked the whole cockpit, and just as Andrea dashes down again to test the comms systems, I finish the equipment check. It´s already afternoon and we enjoy a nice lunch – fresh fish of course – in the warm September sun.
Alone at sea: Andrea Lodolo´s sleeping-system
Back aboard I want to know more about Andrea´s approach to sleep. This is for me one of the most unreal things about solo sailing. „Well“, he says: „As solo sailors we simply have to accept the fact that we cannot maintain a proper lookout, as it is demanded in both professional and recreational seafaring.“ Of course he has an SMS-checklist for the sleeping periods at hat, which requires him to check his surroundings, the alarm, maybe switching on Radar and such, but I found it most interesting that he does not maintain any kind of watch system: „For what? A watch system is designed for managing a crew. There is no crew here, so bothering to force myself, my body, into a watch system in the first place?“ Again, sounds so simple and obvious.
Andrea distinguishes between sleep and rest. For both, he insists, it is imparative to sleep and rest well before fatigue sets in. „Check the reports on oceanic desasters. Almost all of them have in one way or another fatigue involved.“ Pointing out that a good nutrition, a warm and well-fed skipper (not the „grumpy“-type) is happy and up, he will notice when he will need to rest or even sleep. For him aboard BIBI, he will rest when he wants and sleep when he wants: „But only for 80 minutes at a time!“, he says, showing me his kitchen clock (LINK).
Not so solo at all …
As we are already kind of late in September, days have grown much shorter now. Wind has picked up significantly and I jump to the pontoon, helping a freshly arrived classic First boat with a sympathetic crew to safely come alongside and berth their boat. One of them notices BIBI and is instantly in love: „My aunt and uncle used to sail one of these!“, he says so happy, that Andrea invites the crew over for a berthing beer.
It is kind of strange and funny to watch him: The solo sailor, sitting in one corner of his cockpit, that is filled with people, chatting, laughing, talking in a stakkato of overlapping voices. It´s a friendly crew, nice guys – and in this, this crowded cockpit is such a beautiful contrast to what BIBI is actually all about. Solo. Alone.
Well, and that is exactly what I do a couple of beers later. I thank Andrea for this first hand experience of being part of the preparations. He will cast off with BIBI in a few days, lay in a course to cross the already rough Biscay to sail along te Portuguese coastline, passing through the Canary islands, boosted by the wind accelleration zones to leave the „normal“ sailing areas – tackle new oceans and take on this once-in-a-lifetime sailing adventure.
A breathtaking adventure
I am so happy for him. Having worked so hard and with such a dedication, that he will now start to harvest the first big fruits. 50 to 60 days at sea alone, crossing the Equator, maybe catching a tasty Tuna. Admiring the unfamiliar starry sky of the southern hemisphere and just enjoy the seemingly endless process of sailing. „The change in the perception of time“, Andrea once disclosed to me, is what drives him in his core. At sea, this much I know from my own humble sailing experiences, time goes by very differently.
As I walk home to my hotel room, I come past some nicely beached old fishing boats. Mere wrecks which are there as photo-motives for the tourists. I think to myself that this backdrop kind of looks like how I would imagine the islands to be found there too: Old whaling ship wrecks, left aground a long time ago, telling their story from other men, generations of seafarers, who went to this remote island. Safe passage, Andrea – fair winds for you and following seas!
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