Many professional athletes struggle to transition from their sport-as-career. The highs are often out of reach for pedestrian life - especially for pro surfers who spend their years in whirlwinds of hedonistic wave chasing.

For Puerto Rican tube connoisseur Otto Flores, the key to transition was community.

After many national titles and a spell on the World Qualify Series, Otto veered away from competitive surfing and toward chasing perfect waves of consequence, a decision that landed him on the covers of all the mainstream surf mags through the early 2000s.

Today, Otto is based on his home island with family, where he's held in the highest regard for a community minded spirit and commitment to protecting Puerto Rico’s coastlines.

In 2017, he lead a team with Waves for Water in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, helping set a course for recovery with an emphasis on sustainability.

More recently, Otto was instrumental in working with Save the Waves Coalition to secure 8 kilometres of Puerto Rico’s northwest as its 11th recognised World Surf Reserve. The World Surfing Reserves is a program of Save the Waves Coalition, which is a nonprofit focused exclusively on conservation of surfing coastlines on an international scale.

We caught up with Otto to talk about stepping into leadership, and the juggle of carrying many responsibilities – while managing an abundant watery life.

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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

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We’re getting tangential. This episode is part of a three episode slip slide behind the scenes of a project that Dave’s been working on for the better part of 2024: The Electric Acid Surfboard test.

It's a series that explores “alternative” surfboard design. Basically, iconic surfers on left-field, experimental surf craft.

Our very own aquatic wombat, renowned question repeater, one David Rastovich, is this year’s test pilot.

It's no secret: the stuff we use to go surfing is pretty toxic. Neoprene, wax, swimwear, surfboards. Most are petroleum products in one form or another. Most are built with planned obsolesce in mind.

So, what do we do about it?

Dave agreed to do the series with a catch: all the boards had to be wrapped in flax cloth instead of fiberglass; a prod to the makers and riders of surfboards that cleaner, or at least more durable, options for surfboard construction are already available.

Dave mostly signed on to the project because of its' mastermind: Danny Johnson. His skillful storytelling and brilliant editing, hilarious musical moments make the episodes fun to watch - even if you aren’t that into surfboards.

Today we’re in conversation with Danny – he’s Head of Films at Stab, and has been writing, producing and directing for years with the best sense of humour in the surf space.

We recorded behind the scenes episodes with two other influential characters in the series: flax master Gary McNeill and Puerto Rican tube connoisseur Otto Flores.

You can watch the whole thing over at Stabmag.com

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Did sailing have more to do with early human locomotion than the wheel? Hanneke Boon, head of James Wharram Designs, suggests that may be so.

Born in the Netherlands, Hanneke grew up in a sailing family. She was building and sailing Polynesian Catamarans at the age of fourteen and joined the James Wharram team at the age of 20.

A gifted artist / graphic designer / craftworker, she became James Wharram's co-designer. For half a century, all Wharram Designs have been marked with her signature.

According to Yachting World, “Despite this unique pencil stroke, she has remained in the shadow of Wharram’s mythology for 50 years. Since 1970, Boon has drawn the majority of the construction plans by hand. They’re works of art and the best way to imagine yourself aboard a Wharram. Without her, JW Designs would not be what it is.”

Of the Polynesian double canoe inspired designs - once called ‘dangerous and eccentric,’ James Wharram said:

“A philosophic attitude behind the Wharram designs is that 'urban man' can, with a little financial saving and some handcraft work, create an object of beauty. This object of beauty can then, for a period of hours, days, weeks or months, carry him/her out of the urban world into a natural never-never land; the seas and oceans; to a time when the world was young; when Mankind was directly and intimately interacting with the beauty and power of nature. There are hundreds/thousands of Wharram builders or, as I prefer to call them, "Sea People", who have done or are now doing that!"

Hanneke has built, or taken part in building, more than sixteen Wharram designs, including developing many prototypes and the 63ft Spirit of Gaia - and is an expert epoxy worker.

She talked us through the simple joys of life at sea, the central role that sailing has played in human evolution and the near death revelation that set her a new course.

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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

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Over the last half century, Bob McTavish has shaped thousands of custom surfboards.

Always an innovator in surfboard design and technology, Bob pioneered cutting edge changes to the basic concept of a surfboard.

In 1965, he started tinkering with rail and bottom design to maximise performance. This was part of the movement that would become known as the shortboard revolution, in which Bob’s role was pivotal, but only part of his ongoing contribution to the evolution of the surfboard.

Now in his eighth decade, Bob continues to push the limits of surfboard design across the full range of wave-riding vehicles, including the shape that we focus on in this conversation – the 10 foot plus glider.

After 5 years dormant, Bob brought his objective surf contest concept - The McTavish Trim - to our local surf festival with three rules:

Rule #1 - Board must be 10ft+
Rule #2 - Furthest up the beach wins -- must hit the sand (paddle around the very wide buoy)
Rule #3 - Must stay on your feet

Surfing is full of old men who calcify and only speak of the good 'ole days. Bob is not one of those guys -- he's still full of wonder and has made a career out of his wave riding curiosity.

We were lucky enough to sit down with Bob in front of a live audience at the 2024 Byron Bay Surf Festival in the parking lot of the McTavish factory - to talk all things glider, the surf/life balance, and how he has stayed perpetually stoked.

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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

...

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Did you feel safe in your childhood home? If not, were you able to leave, or did you have to stay?

Ruby Southwell hit the road, travelling solo for years, searching for guidance. What she found was a deep and clear inner well - and a renewed love for riding waves.

At age 22, Ruby moved to Indonesia’s remote Mentawai Islands, where she surf guided, taught herself how to tube ride, and lived offgrid with a local family for just over two years.

Ruby is known as a wildly talented navigator of weighty situations – both on land and in the water. Clips of her have been shared readily on social media – where you’ve probably seen her riding twinnes, pulling into big barrels, and displacing water in a distinctly feminine way.

When "Big Surfing" came knocking about sponsorship, Ruby took the deal, but she also took the reins. With her content budget, Ruby defied the norms and made a short film about the Mentawai’s pioneering female surfer Siska.

Parallel to wave riding, and now back in Australia, Ruby works to support at risk youth, with her sights on exploring the best of what her big island home has to offer.

She shares generously about the joys and adversities that have shaped and are shaping her path forward: the life changing joy of a magic board, travelling humbly, keeping an eye out for gurus in the Himalayas, and the only core surfer she's ever met.

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.

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