The women
Kiana Weltzien
Captain
Kiana’s journey on the sea began in 2016 after she left her real estate career in Miami. She traded in the busy life for a backpack and a dream of traveling for one year. Within a few months after her departure, she met a man who would become her mentor and moved on to his boat - a replica of an ocean-going Polynesian double-canoe. Very quickly she realized this would no longer be a one-year trip, and that instead she had found the life she wanted to live.
In 2018, Kiana moved aboard her own boat: Mara Noka, a modern version of a Polynesian double-canoe. With hardly any sailing knowledge whatsoever, they tackled some pretty harrowing passages (like going east across the Caribbean…). Kiana decided to sail alone aboard Mara Noka out of fear of being responsible for crew given her inexperience, and also reluctance to give the role of Captain to someone else who might’ve known more. During the first year she sailed mostly in tandem with her mentor and his boat. After making her first Atlantic crossing in 2019, this habit became more seldom until the norm became just Kiana and Mara Noka and no one else around for as far as the eye could see.
Kiana met Lærke in the Canary Islands, and from there ideas for the W&W project started to brew. After being stuck in Spanish COVID lockdown for a few months, Kiana decided to cross the Atlantic again back to the Caribbean, before finally making a nonstop crossing to North Florida at the end of 2020. This would mark the beginning of a long 14-month journey in a boatyard restoring Mara Noka and preparing for the W&W North Atlantic crossing, Kiana’s first real voyage with other people aboard.
After the completion of the 2022 W&W North Atlantic crossing, Kiana continued on sailing through the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira, Canaries, and Cape Verde with a goal to reach Brazil, where much of her family lives. She accomplished this after a 43-day nonstop solo crossing from Santiago to Ilhabela, arriving at the end of 2022. Today, still floating aboard Mara Noka in the bay of Paraty, Kiana spends her time working on the construction of the nonprofit [link to nonprofit page], preparing herself to dive into writing a book about her travels, and giving most of her attention to the finalization of the film.
Lærke Heilmann
First mate
Lærke is an artist, passionate surfer and ocean conservationist. Born and raised in Denmark by a family of sailors, Lærke spent most summer holidays sailing and soon developed a great passion for everything both sea and adventure. Now based in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Lærke works as Project Coordinator for the Clean Ocean Project, a NGO fighting plastic pollution and protecting the sea and local coastlines.
Working with the organization has opened Lærkes eyes to the devastating consequences of plastic pollution and led her to experience first hand what negative effects it has on the ocean and local coastal areas.
When meeting Kiana in the Canary islands Lærkes desire for adventure grew and she knew that the two of them had to do something together. After a year of maintaining contact the dreams and plans had grown into the beginning of Women & the Wind - a female led journey across the Atlantic to raise awareness to the problem of plastic pollution. It all sounded great, the only problem was the still ongoing pandemic and the lack of money. Eventually Lærke decided to ignore those two obstacles, sold her old car and surfboard and made just enough to afford the ticket and go meet Kiana who said they would figure everything else out once she got there. They did, but It took a year longer than expected and included a boatyard and a refit of Mara Noka.
After returning to the Canary Islands Lærke continues her work with the NGO along with being involved in finalizing the documentary. She still combines her passion for the sea and adventure and recently created a project bringing used surfboards to a small surf community in the Cape verde Islands.
Alizé Jireh
Camerawoman
Alizé Jireh is an autodidact photographer and filmmaker born and raised in the Dominican Republic working in both conceptual art and documentary settings.
With a focus on short-format storytelling, her work has taken her to many places around the globe that have allowed her to experience and capture life around her in a variety of different environments.
She seeks to tell stories that evoke emotion, connection, and self-reflection in the world of the viewer, and values humanness and vulnerability above all else in the art she creates and is committed to continuing her growth in being a keen listener, observer, and storyteller in the pursuit of making others feel connected to the whole.
Although she had never gone sailing before this North Atlantic crossing, Alizé had dreamt of sailing since she was a young teenager. So when she saw that Kiana (badass solo sailor) had started following her on social media, she followed back, and on a synchronous September morning in 2021 while on a work trip in Florida, she made a trip down to St. Augustine to meet Kiana and her boat Mara Noka, in a boatyard. Alizé left inspired by Kiana's lifestyle and adventures out at sea, and secretly hoped that one day she would be able to join her on one of these adventures. Lo and behold, 6 months later, Kiana sent her a message asking if she would want to cross the North Atlantic Ocean and make a documentary about it. Even though Alizé had no idea what sailing across an ocean or making a feature-length film would entail, her instant response was "YES. What do I need to bring?" She was attracted to the challenge of pursuing something unknown and sharing that experience through her love of the craft of storytelling and observance. The voyage, the making of the film, and the friendship that she has formed with these two strangers has and continues to shape who she knows herself to be.
Alizé resides in the Midwest when she is not traveling and works as a freelance editor and photographer, although her main focus has been producing the "Women & the Wind" documentary since she got back from the crossing in September 2022.