Long before hashtags, sponsorships, and satellite trackers, Sharon Sites Adams set out alone across the Pacific Ocean.
No audience. No spotlight. Just wind, salt, isolation—and an unshakeable belief that she could do it.
Pacific Lady, directed by Zada Clarke, brings her story back into focus for a new generation. For the Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour audience, it feels less like a history lesson and more like a rediscovery—of a woman who quietly did something extraordinary, long before the world was ready to recognise it.
Zada didn’t stumble into this story by accident. Years earlier, a friend had given her Sharon’s book, and something about it stayed with her. It lingered in the background, unresolved but persistent, until she picked it up again and everything clicked into place. Archival 16mm footage surfaced, and she realised Sharon was still alive. The decision came quickly—she booked a flight the next day.
“Good stories stick with you,” she says.
And Sharon’s story had been waiting patiently.
It’s easy, now, to look at a solo Pacific crossing and see it as romantic or cinematic. But Pacific Lady gently strips that illusion away. Through Zada’s lens, we’re reminded that what Sharon undertook was not just adventurous—it was relentlessly physical and deeply isolating. Days blurred together without proper sleep. The constant exposure to wind and salt wore down both body and mind. And beneath it all sat the weight of solitude, the kind that can’t be softened or shared.
Zada is careful not to let the story become too polished. She points out how easily we can underestimate feats like this when they’re paired with a beautiful soundtrack or neat storytelling. The reality, she says, is far harsher.
“It’s draining on your body… the loneliness—it’s hard.”
And yet, Sharon kept going.
What’s perhaps most striking is that, at the time, her achievement wasn’t universally celebrated. In the 1960s, her journey was often dismissed as a gimmick. Even her return to the United States in 1969 was overshadowed by the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. While the world looked skyward, her story quietly slipped out of the spotlight.
But it didn’t disappear entirely.
Within the sailing community—especially among women—Sharon became something else: a quiet pioneer. The kind of figure whose impact is felt more than it is widely acknowledged. Today, women building boats, sailing solo, and carving out their own paths across oceans still name her as an inspiration.
Bringing her story to life decades later came with its own challenges. Some of the most valuable pieces of Sharon’s journey were lost over time, including audio recordings she had made at sea. For Zada, that absence was deeply felt. But what remained—the footage, the photographs, the handwritten logbooks—held a different kind of power.
Seeing Sharon’s original footage for the first time, Zada describes it as “like peering back in time with salt and wind in your face.”
It was these tangible pieces of history that ultimately shaped the film. Early interviews felt too rehearsed, too polished. So Zada shifted her approach, asking Sharon to simply sit with her logbooks and photo albums and talk through her memories. The result is something far more intimate—moments that feel spontaneous, reflective, and deeply human.
Because Pacific Lady isn’t just about in Sharon as “the first woman to sail solo across the Pacific.” It’s dives into the depths of the person behind that title.
Pieces from Sharon’s personal album and her logbook whilst on the voyage
And that life didn’t slow down after her crossing.
Sharon went on to start a coffee company, run a hot dog cart, mine for gold in Oregon, and even skydive at 80 years old—just for the thrill of it. It paints a picture of someone who didn’t see her ocean crossing as a peak, but simply as one part of a much larger, more adventurous life.
There’s something fitting, too, about how the film itself came together. It wasn’t a smooth or linear process. At one point, Zada thought she didn’t have a film at all. She struggled through edits, doubted the material, and even stepped away from the project for a time. Then life intervened—she became pregnant, the editor became pregnant, and the project paused.
But instead of falling apart, it found its rhythm.
“This process has taught me that slow isn’t bad,” she reflects.
That sentiment echoes Sharon’s journey in a way. Not everything needs to happen quickly or perfectly. Sometimes persistence, patience, and a willingness to adapt are what carry you through.
For a Gutsy Girls audience, Pacific Lady feels especially resonant. It’s not just about a groundbreaking achievement—it’s about recognising the women who came before us, whose stories didn’t always make headlines but shaped what’s possible today. It’s a reminder to look beyond the label of “first woman to…” and dig into the full, rich, complicated lives behind those words.
At the end of the film, Sharon offers a simple piece of advice:
“Whatever it is, you’ve got to just do it.”
It might sound familiar, even a little cliché—but coming from her, it lands differently. It carries the weight of experience, of risk, of a life spent saying yes to the unknown.
And maybe that’s what Pacific Lady leaves us with most.
Not just admiration for what she did—but a quiet nudge towards whatever it is we’ve been putting off.
Just begin.
See this incredible film at Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour this August- get in early to secure seats for you and your crew
Grab your tickets now – https://gutsygirlsadventurefilmtour.com.au/tickets/
Thanks to filmmaker Zada Clarke for her time chatting with us about the making of this amazing film!
