Kiana Weltzien: More with Less
05/17/25 • 62 min
1 Listener
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.
...
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.
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.
...
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.
Previous Episode
Putting Tech in its Place with Helena Norberg-Hodge + friends
What's lost when we hand over skills or experiences to technology ?
We sat down with localisation pioneer Helena Norberg-Hodge to learn more about the waves of radical economic and social changes she has experienced first hand.
In 1975, as a student of linguistics amongst the glacial melt of the Himalayas, Helena witnessed the rapid erosion of traditional culture that followed the introduction of Western ideas and economics to the isolated territory of Ladakh, or "Little Tibet."
As an economist, linguist and filmmaker, Helena has worked to popularise an economics of happiness for more than 30 years.
Our first episode with Helena aired back in April 2020. Her organisation Local Futures offers practical solutions for changing the systems that aren't serving us best; for coping and deepening connection – what they see as key to unlocking healthier futures for people and planet.
We wanted to have Helena back on to address a topic that’s been coming up a lot in our house – about technology and whether mechanistic tech is always the best or healthiest solution.
More specifically – what's lost when tech takes over our skills or experiences ?
We also hear from two listeners on the topic of tech: Surfers for Climate board member Courtney Miller and Nick Hounsfield, founder of The Wave wavepark in the UK.
We’d love to hear from your lived experience on this topic, too.
If you’d like the chance to be featured in a forthcoming episode – please email over a voice memo to [email protected] .
...
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.
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