When was the last time you followed a spark of curiosity all the way to some distant shoreline?

Kiana Weltzien's ocean adventures began in 2016 when she left her real estate career in Miami for a year of travel. Along the way, she met a mentor and moved onto his boat; a replica Polynesian double-canoe. She sensed that this was her new way of life.

In 2018, Kiana acquired her own boat, Mara Noka, a modern Polynesian double-canoe. Despite her limited sailing knowledge, Kiana navigated challenging passages, often sailing alone to avoid the responsibility of others.

Kiana crossed the Atlantic to North Florida in late 2020, to begin her 14-month boatyard restoration of Mara Noka. In 2022, she captained the Women + the Wind North Atlantic crossing, her first voyage with a crew.

After that, Kiana sailed through Madeira, the Canaries, and Cape Verde, aiming for Brazil. She completed a 43-day solo crossing from Santiago to Ilhabela.

We caught up with Kiana remotely from the cabin of her boat in Brazil (the audio is pretty dodgy at times).

She talked us through the making of her forthcoming documentary Women and the Wind, the work of life at sea, what drew her to Wharram craft and the challenge of addressing plastic pollution.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Who modelled kindness for you? Who showed you how to be kind and curious in the face of difference?

Before he was a Fulbright Scholar, Jamie Brisick surfed on the ASP world tour from 1986 to 1991, and has since documented surf culture extensively.

His writings and photographs have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Guardian.

Jamie hosts the podcast Soundings and is the author of several books, including We Approach Our Martinis With Such High Expectations, and Becoming Westerly: The transformation of surfing champion Peter Drouyn into Westerly Windina – which Jamie adapted for the screen.

Jamie popped by after the World Premiere of his film The Life and Death of Westerly Windina at the Byron Bay International Film Festival -- where it took home top honours as Best Surf Film, as well as the festival’s highest recognition, Best Film.

The Life and Death of Westerly Windina explores Westerly’s upbringing, her years as a surfing titan, and follows her into a new chapter as she searches for acceptance from friends, family, a still-hyper masculine sport, and most importantly – from herself.

We were grateful to sit down with Jamie to chat about the film, the fire that took almost all his earthly possessions, where tech is taking surfing, and the folks in his life who modelled curiosity and compassion.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Longevity in any career begs for reinvention. With more than a decade at the pro surfing game, Josie Prendergast has been navigating new waters in her career - by taking the reins on her own storytelling.

Born in Siargao and raised in both Australia and the Philippines, Josie is a standout surfer on any craft – from 10+ gliders to fishes – and she’s expert at nasal navigation on heavy logs.

We caught up with Josie for her first podcast experience between surfs in Byron – where she talked us through finding early commercial success in the surf industry, finding belonging between two cultures, surviving the Philippines Supertyphoon of 2021 and aiding her community to rebuild after the disaster.

Josie’s latest edit Expressions of Interest is out now. It’s a film she produced with local filmmaker Georde Grigor as a tribute to the simple pleasure of wave riding and the special moments shared with friends in the water.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.