Maritime Madams: Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (1936-2021) was a Polish naval engineer and yacht captain. In 1978, she became the first woman to ever complete a solo voyage around the world. 

For Further Reading: 

• Meet Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz: The First Woman to Sail Around the World Solo | Article | Culture.pl
• Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz: 1936-2021 - Yachting Monthly
• The shunned Polish communist heroine who sailed solo around the world | Poland | The Guardian   

This month, we’re talking about Maritime Madams. Whether through scientific study, aquatic exploration, or legendary prowess, they harnessed the power of the bodies of waters that cover our earth. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello for Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month we're talking about maritime Madams. Whether
through scientific study, aquatic exploration, or legendary prowess, these women
harness the power of the bodies of water that cover
our earth. Today we're telling the story of a daunting
voyage around the world and the Polish woman who undertook

(00:27):
it completely by herself. Let's talk about Kristina honos Kelyiskiyevitch.
Kristena was born on July fifteenth, nineteen thirty six, in Warsaw, Poland.
During her childhood, Germany invaded Poland as World War II
broke out. After the war ended, her family relocated along

(00:48):
the coast of Poland's Great Lakes. It was there that
Christina first fell in love with sailing and became fascinated
with ships. She went on to study naval engineering at
the Kadansk University of Technology. She launched a career in
ship design and construction, still sailing as a hobby. In
nineteen sixty six, she earned her yacht captain license. Christana

(01:10):
had come of age during the post war period, a
time of great social and economic change, especially for women.
The Polish Sailing Association was eager to promote Polish sailing
on the national stage and seized the moment the plan
they would send a Polish woman on a solitary voyage
around the world. The goal that the first woman to

(01:32):
ever circumnavigate the globe on a solo trip would be Polish.
With her years of sailing experience and naval engineering expertise,
Christena was an ideal candidate for the staring mission. Her husband,
a fellowship designer, custom designed a yacht for the journey.
They named it Muzurik, after a traditional style of Polish music.

(01:54):
The boat was equipped with everything Christena would need for
months on end at sea, tools, provisions or radio, teleslephone,
books on navigation, and a shotgun just in case she
needed to fend off pirates or other nefarious actors while
at sea. Christena launched her Fateful voyage from the Canary
Islands on March tenth, nineteen seventy six, and then her

(02:16):
ship experienced a malfunction. She had to head back to shore.
After more than two weeks of waiting, the repairs were
complete and she set off again. Unfortunately, that first mechanical
issue would prove to be an omen of the many
setbacks Christana faced while on her voyage around the world.
After reaching Barbados, she experienced problems with her engine, forcing

(02:38):
her to rely mostly on her sales for propulsion over
the waves. After reaching Panama, it took five weeks to
repair her engine. When she reached Fiji in October of
nineteen seventy six, local authorities grew suspicious of her yacht
and demanded she proved that she wasn't smuggling drugs in
the long stretches. When Kristana was at sea, she faced

(03:00):
a mounting sense of isolation, with nothing on the horizon
but more and more ocean. She occupied herself with a
strict weekly maintenance and cleaning routine, and communicated with her
husband via radio telephone every few days, though sometimes she
couldn't get a strong enough signal to make the call home. Still,
Christana did enjoy her independence at sea. She later explained,

(03:24):
this is what it was like. I only did what
I wanted to do, and sometimes what I was supposed
to do. There were no limitations. At no other place,
and at no other time did I feel so free.
In May of nineteen seventy seven, more than a year
after she'd first launched her voyage, Christana had reached Sydney,
Australia and was beginning the difficult task of navigating the

(03:46):
Great Barrier Reef. At night. It was so hard to
see that Christana had to stop sailing, worried she might
run aground. One day, heavy rains battered her ship, obscuring
her visibility and almost causing her tollied with another boat.
Not long after that, she had to pause her journey again,
this time due to kidney stones. After she recovered from

(04:10):
her hospital's day, she prepared to set off again, only
to discover that her anchor had broken loose and the
Massurich had drifted out to sea. Luckily, the ship was
found by a search team and returned to Christana before
it could sustain serious damage. While sailing near South Africa,
she experienced another mechanical issue, forcing her to steer manually.

(04:31):
This meant she had to be at the helm almost constantly.
She slept about two hours a day. When she reached
Cape Town in January of nineteen seventy eight, she learned
that another woman, New Zealand's Naomi James, was also attempting
solo voyages around the world and making fast progress. If
Christana was going to finish her trip first, she needed

(04:53):
to move much faster. She sailed the next seventy five
days without stopping. Finally, on March twentieth, nineteen seventy eight,
Christana finally completed her loop around the globe. The feat
had taken almost two years. She'd sailed almost thirty thousand miles.
Naomi James completed her rival voyage only thirty nine days later.

(05:16):
Christina returned to her original launch point in the Canary
Islands in April, greeted by loved ones, fans, and press,
all excited to celebrate her completed voyage. Christina earned many
honors and awards for her achievement, and published a nineteen
seventy nine memoir of her solo voyage titled First to
Sail the World. Except there's one technicality we should mention.

(05:40):
Some records recognized Naomi James as the first woman to
circumnavigate the globe, not Christana. In some cases, organizations don't
recognize traversing the Panama Canal as full globe circumnavigation. Plus,
some members of the global community were happy to ignore
Christana's feet and celebrate Naomi's. Both voyages happened during the
Cold War, and since Kristana's voyage was heavily associated with

(06:02):
the Communist Polish government, the connection tainted her reputation both
internationally and back home. She returned to her career in
ship design and construction and became a member of the
Sea Sailing Committee of the Polish Sailing Association. For the
rest of her life, Christana was known for promoting sailing
and encouraging women to enter the sport. Christana died on

(06:23):
June twelfth, twenty twenty one. She was eighty four years old.
All month we're talking about maritime Madams. For more information,
find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast special
thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.
As always, will be taking a break for the weekend.
Talked on Monday.