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Woman in yacht at sea

Woman in yacht at sea is a crossword clue for which we have 1 possible answer and we have spotted 1 times in our database. This crossword clue was last seen on 19 January 2024 in The Sun Cryptic Crossword puzzle !

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• Women aboard: the most famous female sailors of all time

According to sailing superstition, women were bad luck on board and their mere presence could lead to misfortune. Sailors held the belief that if women were on a ship, it would anger the gods, causing violent storms and waves. According to more prosaic views, women were simply feared as a distraction to sailors that could lead to discord and acts of violence. Yet, even from ancient times, there have always been brave women who took to the seas — whether for sustenance, protection of their country, love or revenge. Let their stories inspire you.

Seafaring professions were officially barred to women until the 20th century, and participating in the operation of merchant ships was only possible through family ties. As a result, some courageous women disguised themselves as men in order to get on board, but their career was often short-lived. Even among pirates, women were not welcome. But this still didn't stop some from choosing to sail under the pirate flag in disguise, even at risk of the death. In order to survive they had to master all the skills of seamanship and get used to the hard life aboard a pirate ship. And many who did survive, went on to leave their mark on maritime history. 

Gradually over time, women began to assert themselves more on the seas — as captains' wives (certainly not just as decoration), others as lighthouse keepers, and eventually gained admission to naval schools.

Voyaging pioneers: from Vikings to Pirates

1. lagertha.

Lagertha, © Morris Meredith Williams

Lagertha, a Viking shield-maiden, ruled in the 9th century AD in what is now Norway, and according to the chronicle Gesta Danorum , was the first wife of Ragnar Lothbrok, King of the Vikings. Despite Ragnar later marrying Thora, he sought Lagertha's assistance when he encountered difficulties later on in life. Offering 120 ships to the man "who had forsaken her", she played a decisive role in the battle: Lagertha, who "had an indomitable spirit, though frail in stature", surprised the enemy from behind, causing panic and assisting Ragnar to victory.

2. Jeanne de Clisson (1300–1359) 

This French noblewoman, also known as the Lioness of Brittany, became a pirate to avenge her husband, who had been executed by the French king for alleged treason. Selling her property and buying three warships (painted black and with red sails), the pirates attacked French merchant ships in the English Channel, always leaving a witness alive from the captured ship to deliver a message to the king. Later on Jeanne de Clisson ended up marrying Walter Bentley, a military representative of King Edward III of Britain. After 1357, when both nations were exhausted and the war had come to a halt, Jeanne and Walter were granted the barony of La Roche-Moisan as compensation.

3. Sayyida al Hurra (1485–1561)

Sayyida al Hurra, meaning "noble lady who is free and independent", was the queen of Tetuan in northern Morocco, known for her pirate activities against Spain and Portugal. Born into a prominent Muslim family of Andalusian nobles, she was forced to flee to Morocco after the conquest of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. Al-Hurra considered this an unforgivable humiliation and formed an alliance with Oruç Reis, the governor of Algiers and corsair, known in the West as Barbarossa. With Barbarossa controlling the eastern sea, Al-Hurra ruled the Mediterranean.

4. Lady Mary Killigrew

The fate of Mary Wolverston (before 1525) or Lady Killigrew (after 1587) was predetermined by her surroundings — she was the daughter of Lord Wolverston, a former pirate, and married Sir Killigrew, also a pirate, who was later appointed Vice-Admiral by Queen Elizabeth I. Supporting her husband's pirate activities, Mary was a tough and unscrupulous trader who coordinated hiding treasure at Arwenack Castle, made deals with smugglers and raided ships. After raiding the Maria of San Sebastian , the nearly 60-year-old Lady Killigrew was sentenced to death, eventually being pardoned by the Queen.

Inspired by these stories of courageous women? How about taking a sailing course?

5. Grace O'Malley (1530–1603)  

Grace O'Malley was an outstanding Irish leader who successfully defended her territories against both the English government and hostile Irish clans. Although she had a brother, after the death of her father, the ruler of Umalla, it was she who took over and went to sea to defend the territory (she even gave birth to her first child on board ship). When the English began to occupy Ireland, O'Malley fortified the coast and offered support to the Irish rebels. In September 1594, she negotiated a truce with Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich Castle in Latin (Grace O'Malley, who refused to bow to the Queen as she did not recognize her as Queen of Ireland, spoke no English, Elizabeth I spoke no Irish).

6. & 7. Mary Read (1685–1721) & Anne Bonny

Mary Read and Anne Bonny were two pirates renowned for their ruthlessness. Read was born to the widow of a sea captain who had perished at sea. When Read's older brother died, to continue getting monetary support from her in-laws, Mary’s mother begun dressing her up as a boy. Growing up as a boy, Mary enjoyed it so much that she joined the British military as a man. However, she later married a Flemish soldier, to whom she confessed everything but found herself penniless after his death. So again, in a man's disguise, she was recruited onto a ship bound for the Caribbean. After pirates ambushed Captain Jack Rackham, Mary joined them and fell in love with one of them, who turned out to be another woman in disguise, Anne Bony. Together with Jack Rackham, legend has it, they formed a love triangle, but in 1720 they were all captured. Although Mary and Anne managed to delay their hanging by claiming to be pregnant, Mary fell ill with a fever in prison and died. Anne's wealthy father bailed her out and she changed her name, later getting married and having eight children.

8. Jeanne Baret (1740–1807) 

This French botanist was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. Her lover and well-known botanist, Philibert Commerson, had been chosen to be part of French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville's round-the-world expedition. In order to accompany him as his assistant, they came up with a plan to disguise her as a man. Unfortunately, her identity was found out during the voyage, with her and Commerson eventually remaining in Mauritius. She later returned to France.

9. Zheng Yi Sao (1775–1844) 

The most successful female pirate in history, also known as Ching Shih, was born into humble circumstances. At the age of 26, she married Zheng Yi, commander of the Red Flag Fleet. After her husband's death, the 32-year-old Ching Shih controlled the largest pirate fleet in history: an army of 1,200 men (with a crew of 70,000) that dominated the South China Sea. Notorious for for her harsh punishments for disobedience, she implemented strict rules that women of raided villages must not be harmed, and made rape punishable by death. After being pardoned by the Chinese emperor, Ching Shih remarried and ran a gambling house.

10. Anne Jane Thornton (1817–1877)  

By the age of 15, Anne, from Donegal in Ireland, had fallen in love with Captain Alexander Burke but was heartbroken at his decision to travel to New York. So, disguised as a boy, she set off herself across the ocean, only to learn on arrival that her beloved had died. Again in disguise, in an attempt to get back to London she worked on ships as a cook. Eventually she succeeded in doing this (as Jim Thornton of Donegal), but not before her identity had been discovered. Through reports in the newspaper, her story became a sensation in London and despite being offered large sums of money to perform on stage, she declined. With the help of London's Lord Mayor she returned to her native Donegal and went on to write a book about her adventures.

11. Mary Lacy  (1740–1801) 

No history of seafaring can overlook Mary Lacy — a British sailor, shipwright and memoirist who was the first woman to pass an exam and a receive a pension from the British Admiralty. Born in the county of Kent, she was a self-described wild child and more than a handful for her mother — so at the age of 19 she ran away from home disguised as a boy and boarded the ship Sandwich, adopting the name William Chandler. As the Navy was engaged in the Seven Years War at the time, they didn't ask many questions. On board, Mary suffered a series of hardships, from fistfights to a bout of rheumatic fever which worsened so much that in 1760 she ended up in hospital. After her recovery, she was assigned to the Royal Sovereign , where she remained until the end of the war in 1763. After her discharge from the navy, she obtained a position as a ship's labourer in the Chatham dockyard. Working hard and despite being nearly found out, she went on to pass her exams and become a shipwright in 1770. However, in 1771 rheumatism forced her to stop working and she applied to the Admiralty for a pension under her real name Mary Lacy. Her pension was granted.

Who else was riding the waves?

12. Grace Darling

In 1838, the British steamship Forfarshire was struck by a storm near the Farne Islands, causing it to hit a rock. Lighthouse keeper William Darling and his 23-year-old daughter Grace made two perilous trips to the rocks and were able to rescue nine survivors (sadly, 43 passengers perished). For her efforts, Grace received a Silver Medal for Bravery and several monetary rewards, including one from Queen Victoria herself. Unfortunately she was unable to enjoy her fame for long, dying just four years later.

13. Mary Patten    

In 1856, the Neptune's Car  set sail from New York to San Francisco, commanded by Captain Joshua Patten who was accompanied by his 19-year-old, then pregnant wife Mary. During the voyage, Captain Patten was forced to relieve the First Mate of his duties, due to lack of trust, and so took on the role himself. However, while sailing around Cape Horn, Captain Patten fell ill, losing his eyesight and hearing. Mary, who had been on several voyages before, took on the role of captain while caring for her sick husband. With the help of the Second Mate and crew, the ship arrived safely in San Francisco. Mary's insurance company paid thousands of dollars for saving the ship and the Patterns returned to New York, where Mary gave birth. Unfortunately her husband died shortly afterwards.

Women record-breakers in modern times

14. krystyna chojnowska-liskiewicz (1936–2021 ).

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz became the first woman to sail around the world solo. Setting sail from the Canary Islands in March 1976 and returning there in April 1978, she had covered 31,166 nautical miles (57,719 km) in 401 days. She only narrowly beat New Zealander Naomi James.

15. Naomi James

While Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe solo, Naomi James (born 1949) was the first woman to sail around Cape Horn single-handed. Strangely, she couldn't swim until she was 23 — she had previously worked as a hairdresser before boarding a large ocean liner bound for Europe. After she and her husband Rob James won the 2000-mile Round Britain Race, she ended her career as a sailor in 1982.

16. Nancy Wagner

Nancy Wagner came from a seafaring family, but she never imagined she'd make a living at sea — when she was growing up, women simply weren't in positions like that. Originally majoring in communications, she noticed an ad in the media that the U.S. federal marine academy in Kings Point, New York, was opening to women applicants. Among the first women admitted to the school in 1974, she went on to become the first female ship pilot in the United States, a real pioneer. She served as an advisor to the captains of large cargo ships and tankers, entering and leaving San Francisco Bay — a pilot must know the local tides, currents, wind, weather... Although initially challenging, she managed to earn the respect and trust of others.

17. Jessica Rose Watson

In 2010 and at the age of just 16, Jessica became the youngest person in history to complete an uninterrupted solo circumnavigation of the world. Although her record was not recognised by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC) as she didn't complete the minimum distance necessary, her feat still deserves the greatest of respect.

Tempted to take to the high seas? Take a look at our range of boats. 

• The Sun Cryptic Crossword
• 19 January 2024

Woman in yacht at sea

While searching our database we found 1 possible solution for the: Woman in yacht at sea crossword clue.  This crossword clue was last seen on 19 January 2024 The Sun Cryptic Crossword puzzle . The solution we have for Woman in yacht at sea has a total of 7 letters.

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13 Top female sailors

Here's our pick of some of the most inspiring yachtswomen. Who's your inspiration?

These 13 women have all achieved excellence as sailors, accomplishing astonishing feats of bravery, stamina and skill at the helm.

From single-handed circumnavigations of the globe to Olympic gold medals, these are some of our favourite female trailblazers in the world of sailing. Who would you add to the list of top female sailors? Tweet us on @ybw

Dame Ellen MacArthur “Courage is not having the energy to go on, it’s going on when you do not have the energy.”

Dame Ellen MacArthur broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, completing the 27,354 nautical mile trip in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. She beat the previous record by one day, eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds.

The retired British sailor loved life on the water from a young age and has previously competed in the Mini Transat solo transatlantic race and the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world sailing race.

Since then, Ellen has launched two charities, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation .

Follow EllenMacArthur on Twitter

Shirley Robertson, MBE and OBE

This Scottish sailor made it into the history books when she became the first British woman to win two Olympic gold medals at two consecutive Olympic games, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 competing in the Yngling class. She went on to be named female World Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation and was awarded an MBE in 2000 and an OBE in 2005.

Shirley worked hard to raise the profile of the sport, presenting and producing CNN’s Mainsail programme and as a BBC Olympic sailing commentator in Weymouth during the London 2012 Olympics. She is also the only woman to take the helm on the superyacht circuit steering the stunning 45-metre Salperton in three regattas in the Caribbean and Sardina.

Follow Shirley on Twitter

Dame Naomi James “What I did was completely different. Ellen is a professional racer; I was an adventurer.”

Dame Naomi James was the first woman to sail single-handed around the world via Cape Horn. She left Dartmouth in Devon on 9 September 1977 and returned 272 days later on 8 June 1978.

New Zealand-born Naomi was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 in recognition of her achievements.

Crazy voyages: sailors who took to the sea without any sailing experience

Tracy Edwards

Credit: Tanya Visser/PPL

Tracy Edwards , MBE, entered her first Whitbread Round the World race at the age of 23. She made history by leading the first all-female crew to the finish line of the Whitbread Round the World Race on board Maiden in the 89-90 race. Her 12 crew won two legs and finished second in its class, the best performances in the race by a British boat since 1977. Edwards is currently busy restoring her beloved Maiden to her former glory.

Tracy Edwards’ iconic yacht Maiden is coming home

Clare Francis

Clare Francis, MBE, was working in marketing when she decided to sail singlehandedly across the Atlantic in 1973.  A year later she took part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham, finishing in third place. The high achiever went on to be the first woman to skipper a yacht in the 1977-1978 Whitbread Round the World Race. She and her Swan 65 finished in 5th place. To add to her impressive achievements, the former yachtswoman is now an international bestselling author with 12 fiction novels under her belt and four non fiction. She is also a trustee of the charity Action for M.E., which raises money and awareness for sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Laura Dekker “There were moments where I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing out here?,’ but I never wanted to stop.”

At the age of 13, Laura Dekker announced she wanted to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly, prompting the Guinness World Records to stop recognising records for “youngest” sailors.

The Dutch authorities objected to her plans and she fought a 10-month court battle to follow her dream. She eventually persuaded judges to allow her departure after agreeing to upgrade to a bigger boat with better navigation equipment, undertake training in first aid and learn how to cope with sleep deprivation.

In August 2010, she set sail on her epic journey onboard her two-masted ketch and arrived, 5,600 nautical miles later, at Simpson Bay on St Maarten in January 2012 – breaking the world record. She was only 16 years and four months of age.

Jeanne Socrates “I’m not really an armchair and slippers person.”

In 2013, British sailor Jeanne Socrates became the oldest woman to sail solo round the world non-stop. This was the 70-year-old’s third attempt to complete the 25,000-mile circumnavigation on her 38ft yacht Nereida.

After 259 days at sea, Jeanne returned triumphant back to British shores. Earlier this year she was awarded with the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water Medal following her successful voyage.

Read Jeanne Socrate’s blog

Pippa Wilson, MBE

Pippa Wilson continues to be one of the UK’s best female sailors. She won a gold medal in the Yngling sailing class at the 2008 Beijing Olympics along with Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton, gold in two World Championships and gold in one European Championships.

Follow Pippa on Twitter

Sarah Ayton, OBE

Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton is another of the UK’s most successful British female sailors. With two Olympic gold medals under her belt, along with two gold World Championship medals and one gold European Championship medal.

Sarah won an Olympic gold medal alongside Shirley Robertson and Sarah Gosling in the Yngling sailing class in 2004, and again in 2008 with Pippa Wilson and Sarah Gosling.

Follow Sarah on Twitter

Sarah Gosling, OBE

This Olympian is another of Britain’s great female sailors, having won two Olympic gold medals, two gold World Championship medals and one gold European Championship medal.

Sarah won all her medals in the Yngling sailing class alongside Shirley Robertson, Pippa Wilson and Sarah Ayton. Already an MBE, Sarah was awarded an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list.

Denise “Dee” Caffari, MBE

Record-setting Dee Caffari came to sailing relatively late after spending five years as a physical education teacher. In 2006, Caffari became the first woman to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe against prevailing winds and currents after 178 days at sea, having started in late 2005.

Just under three years later, in February 2009, Dee Caffari completed the Vendee Globe race, setting a new record and becoming the first woman to sail around the world in both directions.

Follow Dee on Twitter

Kay Cottee, AO 

Awarded the Order of Australia, Cottee was the first woman to successfully complete a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe. Cottee achieved the feat in 1988 in her 11m yacht Blackmores First Lady, and she did it in just 189 days.

Cottee established the trip that is routinely tried by sailors chasing speed records and completed it alone, without stopping and without assistance. She was even washed overboard when her yacht capsized in 20 foot waves. Her achievement is as impressive as it is daunting to imagine, and fortunately she didn’t celebrate the achievement alone: nearly 100,000 Australians were awaiting her in Sydney Harbour when she returned.

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz

And last, but certainly not least, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe is also a sea captain and shipbuilding engineer. Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz set off on February 28, 1976 from the Canary Islands on her own in her 10m yacht Mazurek, returning 401 days later on April 21, 1978.

The Polish sailor has been called the “First Lady of the Oceans” and was inducted into the elite Explorers Club in New York. She narrowly beat New Zealander Naomi James (above) who completed her own circumnavigation on June 8, 1978.

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Top 5 Female Sailors of the Marine World

Women have taken the world by storm on different occasions, for different reasons.  Sadly that has never stopped the world from judging them as ‘weaker sex.

But that only means women have sought even greater pleasure in proving their mettle time and again. The marine world was a world considered way out of a woman’s domain.

Historically, the marine sector has been a male-dominated industry and the entry of women was restricted due to a number of reasons including socio-cultural obstacles.

However, the notion has changed when woman sailors started arriving fighting against the existing barriers. Making inroads on the sea lanes following their male forebears, the woman seafarers have now made histories by making their way onto the world’s great ships.

Here is a list of few woman sailors who changed history forever.

1.       Grace O’ Malley

Long before women started entering the marine sector as professional crews, some have conquered the high seas as pirates, breaking through the stigma of limited rights and opportunities. Among a number of such brave women pirates, Grace O’ Malley considered being one of the best female sailors of the world as her life presents a tale of heroism, sailing skills, and determination.

Born in Ireland around 1530, O’ Malley took over sailing after her father’s death and went on to become one of the strong leaders and fighters who managed to protect the west Ireland region from the growing threat of the English crown. Putting herself in the role of a sailor, she not only set out to do what she loved but also to prove to the world that she was just as fine as any of her male counterparts when it came to sea life.

Her love for the sea, as the legends say, once made her cut her hair to disguise herself as a boy to board the ship on her own when she came to know that she can’t join her father in his journey to Spain.

Even though history refers to her as the greatest female ‘pirate’ of the world, there is no denying the fact that her sailing skills were better than most of the male sailors at the time, hence making her such an efficient pirate. At the height of power, the Irish pirate queen had hundreds of men soldiers and many ships at her disposal.

2.       Skipper Thuridur

Born in 1777, Skipper Thuridur is one of the world’s earliest woman sailors and a celebrated fishing captain in Iceland who conquered the dangerous North Atlantic waters. Thuridur, who is known to have sailed for years without losing a single crew of her, is regarded as a brilliant captain capable of sailing in all sea conditions.  Her skills, in all aspects of sailing especially rowing and steering of heavy wooden open boats, made her one of the most efficient fishing captains in the world.

Skipper Thuridur started her sailing career at the young age of eleven years when she first joined her father’s fishing crew, never to leave it again. It was then that she discovered the true love of her life and paved the way for many more female sailors to come in the future. Thuridur, who died at the age of 86, is now considered one of the prominent figures in Icelandic history.  A replica of her ship’s cabin that was built at her birthplace now signifies her role in paving way for the entry of women into the maritime sector.

3.       Krystyna Chojnowska- Liskiewicz  

On 21st April 1978, world history changed for the better and forever. A young woman sailor docked her ship ‘Mazurek’, a Conrad built in Poland, after becoming the first female sailor of the world to have single-handedly circumnavigated the earth. Krystyna Chojnowska- Liskiewicz was completed her voyage in a span of 401 days without any break. Her trip was eventful and though the journey was difficult, the ultimate reward was sweeter than the entire toil.

Krystyna Chojnowska- Liskiewicz, who was born in Poland, in 1937, was trained in shipbuilding engineering and had started sailing while she was in school. In 1966, Krystyna received a captain’s certificate and after a decade she was ready to repeat the achievement of Joshua Slocum, the first man who sailed around the world single-handedly.

In February 1976, she started her journey from the harbour of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to reach back there in April 1978 after finishing a circumnavigation of 57,719 km (31,166 nautical miles).

During her voyage, Krystyna crossed the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the famous Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. While Naomi James and Kay Cottee repeat her achievement later, Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz was the woman who broke the barriers that prevented women from such expeditions.

4.       Naomi James

While Krystyna Chojnowska- Liskiewicz remains the first women sailor to have single-handedly circumnavigated the earth, the world remembers Naomi James as the first woman to sail solo around the world via Cape Horn within 272 days. The young sea ‘fearing’ but determined woman set out to test waters of the world’s oceans on 9 September 1977 and returned on 8th June 1978. Completing a circumnavigation of the earth in 272 days, this young woman sailor broke the earlier record for the same held by Sir Francs Chichester by two days.

Born in March 1949, in New Zealand, Naomi James interestingly didn’t learn to swim until the age of 23 and was working as a hairdresser until she boarded a passenger boat for Europe. She later learned swimming from her husband Rob James, a skipper. Naomi was an active sailor until 1982 when she gave up sailing after winning the 2000 mile Round Britain Race with Rob James. Recognizing her achievement, Naomi James was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 and was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

5.       Kay Cottee

This Australian sailor made the world sit and notice her presence when she completed a single-handed voyage around the world in a span of 189 days. Most importantly, that was an unassisted, non-stop voyage around the world. In 1988, at an age of 34 years, Kay Cottee set out from Watsons Bay to travel across the globe in her yacht named ‘Blackmore’s first lady. And, 189 days later, she made an entry into the Sydney Harbor and the world history forever. During the voyage that covered 22,000 nautical miles, Kay Cottee crossed five great capes while passing through the Pacific Ocean, the North Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the Great Southern Ocean.

Born into a yachting family in January 1954, in Sydney, Kay Cottee made her first voyage when only a few weeks old. Kay must have begun her relationship with the sea on that day when she boarded her father’s boat. Securing her name in the list of top female sailors of the world, she became an inspiration for many more like her. Narrating her life, Kay has written two books named First Lady (1989) and All at Sea on Land(1998).

While these are only five women who made remarkable changes in the history of the marine world, there are numerous such women who have contributed to the marine world by breaking the norms and just going for what their hearts desired.

Do you think there are more fabulous female sailors that are worth mentioning? If yes, we would love to hear about them.

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Women and the Wind: Crossing the Atlantic in a 50-Year-Old Catamaran

In 2022 three women crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a wooden catamaran to document plastic pollution and find adventure, here's how

Ellen Eberhardt

Photographer

Alizé Jireh, Lærke Heilmann

In June 2022, Alizé Jireh and Lærke Heilmann were at Red Beard Farm in Wilmington, North Carolina buying 15 pounds of sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and other sea-worthy produce. They even got to pull some vegetables straight from the earth, a memory that brought Heilmann comfort when cooking with them in a tight galley kitchen a month later, miles away from land, with nothing green in sight.

At the farm, Heilmann and Jireh were completing one task in a long line of chores to prepare for a voyage like neither had embarked on in their lives. Instead of taking the veggies home to a refrigerator, they brought them back to a 50-year-old catamaran called Mara Noka , and the boat's owner and captain, Kiana Weltzien . The three women had been living on the vessel for a month, preparing the ship—and themselves—to sail across the Atlantic Ocean from Beaufort, North Carolina, to Flores, Portugal for a project called Women and the Wind. But they had to wait for the right conditions.

When the right winds did strike, Weltzien, Heilmann, and Jireh planned to make the crossing in 30 days. They would document the journey in order to study and highlight plastic pollution throughout the Gulf Stream and to inspire others, especially women, to undertake momentous journeys of their own.

The first roots of the idea came up in 2017, when Weltzien discovered Mara Noka floating in a Panamanian bay. She bought the boat on a whim, upending plans for a solo backpacking trip through South America. She'd already been traveling the world by boat for more than two years after quitting a career in real estate; she had been exposed to life at sea first by a family she worked as an au pair for and then again as a crew member on a 70-foot-long Polynesian voyaging canoe. Growing up between Brazil and Florida exposed her to various water sports, but it was only after those formative years as an adult that Weltzien embraced a dream of becoming a fortified, professional sailor. Buying Mara Noka was another dream realized—now she was the captain of her own ship.

Weltzien was living and sailing on Mara Noka in January 2020 when she arrived in the Canary Islands, where she met Heilmann at a party. Beyond a shared passion for the ocean and its care, both women spoke Portuguese, and both had a fake tooth; coincidences that cemented a fast bond. Heilmann was born and raised in a hippie commune in Denmark, where she spent summers sailing with family. While she wasn't particularly interested in the sport, she grew passionate about the ocean, and eventually, she moved to the Canary Islands after falling in love with the surf and the slower way of life. At the time of their meeting, Heilmann was working as a Project Coordinator for the Clean Ocean Project , an organization dedicated to beach clean-ups and ocean conservation education worldwide.

It wasn't long after that first meeting that they began dreaming of a transatlantic voyage drawn from a desire to shine a light on plastic pollution in the ocean and, of course, a natural call toward adventure. The first step would be to repair Mara Noka —the old boat required lots of TLC after years at sea.

"I thought I was going to die on this trip. I was very certain of that."

When the pandemic hit, dreams of going anywhere came to a screeching halt worldwide, but it gave Weltzien and Heilmann more time to plan. Finally, in February of 2021, Weltzien took Mara Noka out of the water and into a boatyard in St. Augustine, Florida, where her grandmother lives. Heilmann joined her four months later, and they planned to repair Mara Noka and set sail in a few weeks.

In actuality, the repairs took a full year. With no prior experience in shipbuilding besides Weltzien's knowledge of mixing epoxy, the pair trialed and errored their way through the process, documenting it through photos and reels on the Women and the Wind Instagram page . Friends and family visited to help and offer advice, and one experienced shipbuilder shared his expertise, making occasional appearances to offer advice, sometimes sage, like "listen to the boat." As they deconstructed the boat, they began to understand its structure, and rebuilt from there.

After a year of sanding, sawing, painting, and gluing in the hot Florida sun, in May 2022, Mara Noka was finally ready for the water, complete with a fresh coat of paint and a hand-carved nameplate on a repurposed blank of original Panamanian sour cedar decking. At the end of the month, Mara Noka , Weltzien, and Heilmann sailed from St. Augustine to Beaufort, North Carolina, to prepare for their final departure and to pick up their third crew member, photographer and filmmaker Alizé Jireh.

All while Weltzien and Heilmann were remaking Mara Noka , Jireh was keeping up over Instagram, and she became enchanted by the two women restoring a 50-year-old catamaran by hand. Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, she too had spent her childhood around the water and had vivid dreams of sailing. At 16, she started shooting documentary photo work and started traveling with it, eventually connecting with Weltzien while working at a production company in South Africa. The two stayed in contact, and during a trip to St. Augustine in 2021, Weltzien invited her to the boatyard to check out the progress on Mara Noka . Jireh was smitten with the whole operation. Half a year later, Weltzien sent her a message asking if she'd not only like to come along for the voyage, but also capture the experience for a planned documentary. With no prior sailing experience save those childhood dreams, Jireh responded with a resounding yes. "For me, it was no question about it," she says.

With Mara Noka repaired and Jireh on board, the small crew spent most of the early summer waiting to set sail and growing accustomed to the boat, and each other. For Weltzien, who had been happily sailing solo on Mara Noka for years, adjusting to traveling with others would be one of the most challenging aspects of the journey ahead. "I'm a solo sailor," Weltzien explains. "So to sail with people, I needed a purpose. And the purpose is to spread this message of 'if we can do anything, you can do anything.'" Although Heilmann and Jireh were equally dedicated to spreading their intended message, simply surviving the trip proved the tallest hurdle. "I thought that it would be my last time on earth," Jireh says. "I thought I was going to die on this trip. I was very certain of that."

"To sail with people, I needed a purpose. And the purpose is to spread this message of 'if we can do anything, you can do anything.'"

On June 27, 2022, Mara Noka officially set sail. For the next 30 days, the women went without technology, the only connection to the outside world via a satellite phone and a friend, who posted updates to Instagram on behalf of the crew. Even Jireh, who kept her camera rolling for the better part of the voyage, waited until landfall to review more than 100 hours of footage captured during the trip. For 30 days, it was just Weltzien, Heilmann, Jireh, Mara Noka , and the sea.

In the beginning, the ocean welcomed them with calm conditions, but still, each crew member battled personal challenges. Jireh fell seasick almost immediately and remained so for two weeks. Heilmann tested positive for COVID just a few days in. And Weltzien was navigating living with two inexperienced sailors on a boat and in an ocean that had previously brought her seclusion and peace.

The women adjusted to their new reality slowly. "I feel like we didn't talk much for those first two weeks," Heilmann says. "We were all in our little zone." They remained distant throughout the beginning of the journey, in part as a natural reaction to a new lifestyle, and then later they were forced to due to two weeks of bad weather. But there were moments of connection, too. They shared all their meals, a ritual that remained with them through the duration of the voyage. "One thing I think we always did together—except for during the peak of the storm when [Heilmann and Jireh] were my prisoners locked below in the dungeon—was eat together," Weltzien explains.

On the seventh day, the winds started to pick up and were followed by weeks of rain, 10-20 foot waves, torn sails, and gear tossed overboard. The three women rotated between sleepless nights in water-soaked beds, sticky and wet from the constant saltwater leaking through the ½-inch plywood into their sleeping quarters. Weltzien was often busy manning the boat in the swell, while Heilmann and Jireh rotated between helping with tasks on board and taking shelter in the cabin below, intimated by the full force of the weather.

Throughout it all, Jireh kept her Panasonic GH 5 camera rolling in 4K (between taking breaks to throw up). Her equipment survived the trip, but barely. "That shit dropped so many times," she says. "The screen stopped working." Both Weltzien and Heilmann were impressed with Jireh's abilities to create in an environment that was literally shifting below her feet. "It's so impressive having seen the other side," Heilmann says. "Seeing her with her camera, throwing up." To the crew, the camera started to develop a personality of its own, an electronic Wilson to their collective Tom Hanks.

"Being a tiny little speck of a boat in the middle of the ocean, seeing trash every day makes you realize that the trash is absolutely everywhere."

Another constant was the trash they saw in the water. Even out to sea, pieces of plastic would float by every day. Between collecting what they could and their own gear lost during storms, it was hard not to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount going into and coming out of the sea. "Being a tiny little speck of a boat in the middle of the ocean, seeing trash every day makes you realize that the trash is absolutely everywhere," Weltzien says. They did what they could before, during, and after the voyage, fishing trash out of the ocean and participating in beach clean-ups when on land. "You just have to focus on one solution to the problem at a time," says Heilmann.

On their 19th day at sea, just over halfway through the voyage, the sun reappeared with a small swell and light winds. To celebrate, the crew broke out a bottle of red and their lingerie, a ritual they had planned before setting sail. Buoyed by the shifting seas, amidst clothing and blankets hung to dry, they looked ahead to the remainder of the voyage in good spirits.

And the ocean seemed to reward them for surviving those initial trials; the remaining 10 days held with good weather, and after surviving the turbulent seas together, they experienced its bounty. They talked more, slept on the deck under the night skies, listened to music, read, journaled, and above all else, indulged in the vastness of their surroundings and the lessons of life on the water. Dolphins, whales, and seabirds paid visits. Heilmann caught her first fish, a mahi-mahi, and spent two days crafting a pirate flag emblazoned with a skeleton mermaid . Weltzien moved back to her normal sleeping quarters from the 12-inch wide bench in the galley she'd been using, and Jireh finally managed to keep food down.

One day out from landfall, all three women anticipated their arrival with a flood of emotions. "I hate arriving," Weltzien says. "It's exciting. It's great, it's beautiful, but it's just like it's your bubble bursting. It's your reality that you thought was real for so long. Just poof." During their month at sea, the boat and their life aboard it had been a departure from the burdens of modern living, a gateway to complete symbiosis with nature.

Yes, certain parts of the voyage had been extremely challenging, but they had all consciously agreed to the perils the Atlantic might present. Life at sea was expansive and vast, and their lifestyle reflected the same. Reaching land, where rigid thoughts, schedules, and structures rule life suddenly seemed more daunting than 15-foot waves. "Everything has to be explained in words that are somehow not enough to explain what you felt," Heilmann shares. "It's very overwhelming."

On the night of July 25, 2022, cell phones buzzing with incoming messages from the past month, Mara Noka cruised past other moored boats and dropped anchor in a harbor off Flores, an island in Portugal's Azores archipelago. The voyage was complete.

For the next month, the crew debriefed while sailing around the Azores together, and waited for the right conditions to deliver Heilmann and Jireh to their departing flights. After goodbyes, Weltzien sailed by herself to Brazil, a crossing that lasted 43 days, realizing along the way that she missed their company.

Today, the three women are spread between Brazil, the Canary Islands, and the US, but led by Jireh, they're editing and producing the Women and the Wind documentary . They plan to overlay Jireh's ethereal footage with journal entries from the trip, and they've also set up a Kickstarter to help meet production costs .

Weltzien, Heilmann, and Jireh are still processing the voyage. They share what they can put into words about how it changed them. "I feel a lot of little things that maybe mattered before, I really don't think they matter at all," Heilmann explains "I think I've never done anything that long with so many uncertainties and so many reasons that you shouldn't. And it feels really powerful."

SUPPORT THE KICKSTARTER

For another ocean-lover making waves, read our Q&A with surfer and photo-journalist Gabriella Angotti-Jones on her new book 'I just Wanna Surf' .

Published 02-28-2023

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Crossings continue day after 12 migrants die in Channel tragedy

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More migrants embarked on the perilous Channel crossing a day after 12 people died attempting the journey but 300 made it to UK shores.

A pregnant woman and six children were among those who lost their lives in what is being described as the deadliest Channel crossings tragedy of the year so far when their boat was “ripped apart” and sank off the northern French coast of Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday.

Dozens of migrants continued to make the journey on Wednesday, with more people pictured being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, amid calm weather conditions at sea.

At the same time, a Calais charity told how around 200 migrants were spotted trying to embark on the crossing from the French coast earlier that morning – but were stopped by police.

Home Office figures show 317 migrants made the journey in five boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of around 63 people per boat.

This takes the provisional total number of migrants who have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel to 21,720 – 3% higher than this time last year (21,086) but 19% lower than at the same point in 2022 (26,692), PA news agency analysis of government data shows.

The latest tally means more than 8,000 arrivals have been recorded since Labour won the general election and Sir Keir Starmer walked into Number 10 (8,146).

Up to 65 people were rescued in Tuesday’s incident, which the Prime Minister branded “shocking and deeply tragic”, telling MPs in the Commons: “We must have a renewed determination to end this.”

His comments came after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “vital” efforts to dismantle “dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs” and to boost border security “must proceed apace”.

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin reportedly called for a UK-EU migration treaty to curb crossings in the wake of the tragedy.

But Downing Street rejected this, with a spokesman saying: “We have no plans to be part of an EU scheme on asylum, but we will continue to work with European partners to shut down smuggling routes and smash those criminal gangs.”

A vigil to remember those who died is due to take place in Calais on Wednesday evening.

More than 30 people have now died in Channel crossings so far this year, compared to 12 who are thought to have died or were recorded as missing in 2023, according to the French coastguard.

Politicians and police have expressed fears over how people smugglers are cramming more and more migrants into small boats, increasing the likelihood of fatalities when they risk the dangerous crossing.

Earlier on Wednesday, reporters on a beach in Wimereux – near the site of Tuesday’s incident – described how a large group of migrants were crammed into a small dinghy, many with their legs dangling over the sides.

The boat, filmed by media for more than an hour as it slowly made its journey out to sea as passers-by walking dogs strolled on the beach, is said to have been approached by a patrol boat flying a French flag with a crew member seen tossing more life jackets to the migrants.

Meanwhile, a larger French patrol boat shadowed the dinghy from a distance.

Fishermen who recovered some of the dead on Tuesday said they were moved to tears seeing the bodies of two young women.

Axel Baheu, a crew member of Murex, one of two fishing boats that assisted the French rescue effort, said the body of one young woman – he guessed she was between 15 and 20 – had a telephone in a waterproof pouch around her neck.

It started to ring as he was pulling her out of the water and checking for a pulse, he said.

“That was hard because you know full well that no-one will ever answer,” Mr Baheu said.

We see it every month... every death at the border, the people don’t stop crossing

Angele Vettorello, Utopia 56

Angele Vettorello, from Utopia 56 – which supports displaced and homeless migrants in France, told PA: “The crossings, it’s not going to stop.

“Even this morning we saw more than 200 people trying to cross and have been stopped (by police).

“We see it every month… every death at the border, the people don’t stop crossing.”

She said a lot of police were at the shoreline, with officers intervening overnight and in the morning.

Last week was “really busy” for crossings and there had been a “huge increase” in the number of people dying in the Channel this summer, Ms Vettorello said, adding: “We know a lot of people who were stopped to cross and were back to shore during those seven days.

“We received calls from people in distress in boats in the Channel, we received for example eight calls from eight different boats on Friday.”

The living conditions at the French shore are “really awful” she said, adding: “They just want to be in England.”

Claiming the deaths are “kind of expected because of the politics” amid “repression and securitisation of the coast”, she called for safe passage for migrants trying to reach the UK, adding: “If the politics changes here this could stop.”

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