We are directing and producing the documentary with

Kelsey Pfendler

and her epic solo ocean row from California to Hawaii.

In this true comeback story, one whitewater raft guide sets out to be the first American woman to row alone from California to Hawaii.

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Meet Kelsey

Professional river guide turned ocean rower, Kelsey Pfendler has spent eight seasons guiding in the Grand Canyon and competed for Team USA at the World Rafting Championships.

After completing her first ocean row in 2024, she is returning to the Pacific to be the first American woman, the fastest women, and the youngest to row the 2,500 miles between California and Hawaii.

Film Synopsis

Between California and Hawaii lies one of the most remote and empty expanses of ocean on Earth—an endless blue desert nearly as wide as the Sahara.

Raft guide Kelsey Pfendler has spent her career expertly steering adventure-seekers through whitewater rapids. As Kelsey sets out to break the women’s solo and unsupported record for rowing across this ocean desert, she leaves behind the persistent weight of guiding others and a near-fatal river incident that questioned the very expertise that has defined her adult life.

This is a story of raw reclamation. 

In the vast silence of the open ocean, rowing stroke after stroke in relentless solitude,  Kelsey reclaims the unassailable certainty that she is exactly who she has always lived to be while pursuing the solo journey of a lifetime. 

PRODUCTION TIMELINE

Production (Grand Canyon + Team Row): Summer 2024

Production (Pre/Post Solo Row): Fall 2025–Fall 2026

Ocean Row Production: Summer 2026

Post Production: Fall 2026 / Winter 2027

Final Film: 2027

Meet the Team

  • Michelle Pomeroy

    Co-Director + Producer

  • Jake Winsett

    Producer + Cinematographer

  • Carlos Andina

    Cinematographer + Participant + River Guide + Longtime Kelsey Supporter

  • Ruthie Molitor

    Photographer

  • “You can make all of these really beautiful plans and you can have these ideas, but if you're not actively pursuing them you can essentially just write it off because we don't get the time we want. We never get as long as we want.

    —Kelsey Pfendler

  • “ If you stop interacting with nature with that humility, that's when problems happen. That's when consequences are real."

    —Kelsey Pfendler

  • “There's moments where I'm anxious about it. And then I just, I feel like so much relief. The only person you have to carry is you. And that's fine. You've done that for your whole life. You can carry yourself.”

    —Kelsey Pfendler

  • “I know I can be afraid and still be capable and still be strong. Those things don't exist separately. When I'm alone I don't have to pretend I'm not afraid. I can just be like, ‘I'm afraid. Now what do I do?” ”

    —Kelsey Pfendler

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