What happens when you step away from the pace of modern life and surrender to the rhythms of nature? In this episode of the podcast, we sit down with filmmaker, author, and adventurer Dianne Whelan , whose deeply moving and award-winning film 500 Days in the Wild chronicles her six-year journey along the entire 24,000 km Trans Canada Trail — from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up to the Arctic Ocean. But this isn’t your average endurance story. Yes, she paddled vast stretches of water by canoe, hiked thousands of kilometers, and endured some of the most remote and wild landscapes on Earth. But the real story is about listening . Listening to the land. To Indigenous elders. To her own shifting sense of purpose. It’s a story of reconnection — with the Earth, with others, and with herself. In our conversation, Dianne shares: How she discovered canoeing — and how it became central to her connection with nature Her shift from seeing the journey as an athletic expedition to a s...
If you enjoyed Part 1 of our conversation with legendary boat designer John Welsford , you’re going to love what’s in store for Part 2. In this episode, John takes us further into his world of small boat innovation and adventure. We kick things off with a look at the new 7-meter ocean-going boat he’s currently designing—something he hasn’t talked much about publicly until now. It’s a boat meant to cross oceans with confidence, while still staying true to Welsford’s core design philosophy: safety, practicality, simplicity, and real-world performance. From there, we dig into the story behind his new design “Scallywag,” which was born out of a desire for a microcruiser like the SCAMP—but with accommodations for longer journeys and sleep-aboard comfort. It’s a design many have been waiting for, and it reflects the continued evolution of small cruising sailboats. John also shares some fantastic anecdotes about his designs out in the wild. We hear about a SCAMP in Tierra del Fuego , and...