How do we ride the ups and downs of a 15 year circumnavigation? The first year was a battle around Africa. Now in our second year, we are licking our wounds, enjoying the gold of Brazil’s calm & beautiful anchorages 😅🏝️
Read our newsletter about the Pirate history in Brazil and how we’re now reaping the rewards of this great cruising coastline… and preparing for the next phase in the Caribbean.
Highlights:
Our latest crew included another set of 4 year old identical twin girls (!), and all types of visitors young and old.
Don’t miss: your chance to win a FREE TRIP: subscribe to Expedition Letters.
The history of colonial Paraty’s wealth, downfall, and revival
While we were sailing through Madagascar last year with our onboard teacher Joelie, we thought:
“Wow how amazing to share with kids all these cool Lemurs & Chameleons & Zebus we are seeing — but geez why does EVERYTHING have to be online these days?? Imagine reading the hand-drawn notes of 18th century naturalists, what a different experience that was!”
Wait…
What if we could re-create that? After all, who doesn’t love receiving letters in the mail, with cool art and inspiration from Nature around the world?
Hence the idea of Expedition Letters was born — hand made, sent to your home every month by snail mail!!
We also want to BRING letters subscribers onboard, to experience actually sailing with us on Nesi!
So we’re giving away one boat trip, along with some fun souvenirs from our travels, available only to Expedition Letter subscribers. Plus, you can increase your odds of winning by purchasing additional raffle tickets for $20 each!
RAFFLE – DEADLINE MAY 15
WANT TO SUBSCRIBE OR LEARN MORE? See here, $10/month or $100/year.
All the proceeds go towards our production costs for the Letters.
The Artist behind the Letters
Joelie spent 4 months with us sailing from Seychelles to Madagascar. Read about her experience aboard Nesi teaching our kids here. She lives in Western Australia. Thanks Joelie for doing a great job with these beautiful creations!
Good luck to everyone ….
and thanks for supporting this Green Coco educational project!
Quick links
RAFFLE – DEADLINE MAY 15
WANT TO SUBSCRIBE OR LEARN MORE? See here, $10/month or $100/year.
We had an amazing crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The total time from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) was 32 days, with 7 days being anchored in islands of St. Helena, Trindade & Martim Vaz). Distance covered was 3500 nautical miles, which equals an average speed of 5.8 kts. Pretty great considering the wind was so light and mellow 🙂
Our arrival in Brazil was really, really special. I’ll have to write more about this soon! 🙂
Now we are preparing for our sail along the coast of Brazil and then onwards to the Caribbean. We’ve had a lot of issues with customs & immigration in Brazil (it’s easy to stay 3 months, hard to stay longer); so we only got 5 months permit for Nesi in the country. As such we had to change our itinerary, and we update it in our newsletter below (or see our schedule here).
Check out the latest newsletter on this link. If you’d like to subscribe to receive our future newsletters, click here.
If you’re interested in joining our trips, check out our schedule here.
During the last 6 months we had a stellar teacher aboard Nesi: Ian Bacon from Chicago (UCSB recent grad- go gauchos!!). He was aboard during the toughest sailing stretch we’re likely to have for a loooong time. We knew this was the case, so we wanted to find a super amazing person for the role… And guess what? We got very lucky 🙂
Here’s the story — and read at bottom for Ian’s impressions of life aboard & his favorite teaching activities with the girls.
Our goal: to SWIM across the Prime Meridian, in the middle of the ocean!! The prime meridian is the imaginary line of 0 degree Longitude, which divides Western and Eastern Hemispheres.
Haha this is admittedly a very random goal, but such things happen a week into a passage, I guess 🙂 There’s plenty of traditions about crossing the Equator, but not for the Prime Meridian… until now!
It deserves credit…. after all, the story of Longitude is fascinating. Longitude was a monumental problem that vexed navigators for centuries.
Latitude was relatively “easy” to calculate using a sextant, which measures the angle between celestial bodies (sun, stars).
However, Longitude calculations were basically guesswork. This caused countless shipwrecks , since vessels found themselves dozens of miles from where they presumed to be.
The invention of chronometer watches in 18th century finally gave navigators the tool to calculate Longitude reliably – by seeing the exact difference between their time and Prime Meridian time. This requires very precise astronomical observations. And guess who was at the forefront of this? The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London.
Hence it was no big surprise when delegates of 25 nations in 1884 agreed to establish the Prime Meridian as Greenwich, which had the most reliable data in the world at the time (the French disagreed and used Paris as the prime meridian until 1911 when they finally joined the rest of the world).
This supremacy in navigation technology helped the British become the largest empire the world has ever seen, and helped English surpass French as the world’s diplomatic & commercial language.
We crossed the Prime Meridian — this deeply important yet curiously arbitrary line — with our swim, in perfectly calm conditions, with Nesi adrift. And of course, followed by a cup of English black tea 🙂
DAY 7. Mahi Mahi transcendence.
The end to an amazing day… the breeze returned, we were cruising all day under spinnaker going 6.5kts, grilled burgers & pineapple in the outdoor BBQ … then at sunset we got a double hook up of mahi mahi…! Jumping and sparkling yellow- green-golden, skittered above the waves, what fighters! What fish! What an honor to land one and make get excited about a fantastic meal.
Day 9. Arriving by Sea: St Helena Island
After 9 days of open ocean & sky it is a delight to see land. Slowly she comes closer into detail. First just rocky shapes , then colors, then trees! This slow unveiling is like a brilliant wine, savored, unhurried. There’s nothing like making landfall by sailboat. St Helena island, mid Atlantic.
Nesi
DAY 10. Jamestown, St. Helena
Known as Napoleon’s final exile & deathbed. But this large island in the middle of the Atlantic is full of surprises.
It was protected tooth and nail by the British, as a critical reprovision station on the clipper route from Europe around Africa to India.
The island’s perimeter is absurdly dry, but the interior valleys are surprisingly lush. Ultra steep volcanic rock everywhere. The few landing places had massive fortifications built of stone into cliffs to ward off enemy ships.
Like a countryside English town plopped into a tropical island. The stone buildings are stout and charming, built into the narrow slots between the steep slopes. British pounds are accepted, no credit cards or ATMs . A feeling of stepping back into time.
DAY 11. Napoleon’s Tomb
Napoleon – the famous Emperor who navigated France out of the post revolution chaos, was wildly successful, then lost it all with one terrible decision – marching into the Russian winter and losing nearly 1/2 million men.
Then he was exiled to St Helena Island, this little mid Atlantic rock we are visiting, under close British supervision until his death.
What a story of hubris, ambition, and over reach. Amazing to walk down history lane and see his tomb and home-in-exile with our own eyes
DAY 12. Freediving St. Helena waters
40ft down in Saint Helena island 🏝️ 🇸🇭 with a wreck of a 1911 ship that was enroute from England to Australia and caught on fire so the captain ran her aground and there she lays to this day in shallow water
DAY 13. Catching a Nice Wahoo
Wahoooooo! Final gift from St Helena. Every day here I feel a kinship to the sailors from clipper ships who used this island to provision in centuries past. We are walking in their footsteps. Provisioning with blessings from the sea, ready to embark on the next leg of the journey… to Brazil 🇧🇷 !!!
Our Expedition Letters are about to ship
Sabrina is in Brazil with the twins getting our Letters project up & running. We hear that they’re going to arrive in mailboxes next week. Support our artist Joelie and support the Green Coco video productions: $10/month for custom hand made awesome educational materials from around the globe, delivered to your home. Learn more here: www.greencoco.org/#letters
Would you like to sail the world, explore beautiful islands, live on an amazing community boat, while helping create an innovative program?
We are a sailing cooperative called Green Coco with catamarans run by sailing families. We have space for a teacher and videographer in Brazil and Caribbean 2025 & 2026 aboard 60ft Nesi (with Kristian & Sabrina) and in French Polynesia aboard 46ft Selavi (with David & Eleanor).
We are looking for:
TEACHER. A passionate & enthusiastic teacher for kids age 4-10, who embraces a whole child approach. Preference for native speakers of French, Portuguese, and English. Duration: 1-6 months.
VIDEOGRAPHER OR SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT. Someone who loves capturing and editing videos, and/or has social media skills. Duration 1-6 months.
Email to expedition@greencoco.org a simple intro video about yourself (casual selfie is fine, 2 min max) and a basic resume (list of your relevant jobs, education, experiences, if you have a career mission statement). Videographers/social media experts: please share a portfolio or similar. We will also need 2 references, which you can supply later, don’t get bottlenecked with this.
Read below for more details on the positions, and check out all the posts from all our previous teachers.
In February 2024, we moved aboard our 60ft catamaran Nesi in the Seychelles with the help of Zoe (read her post here)
We worked non-stop, full-throttle for 2 months, suffering with the summer equatorial heat, running two very eventful “shakedown trips” with co-op members, and doing a million repairs & projects on the boat.
Joelie arrived in April 2024, just as we frenetically prepared to leave the protected waters of Seychelles. No time to waste… when she arrived, I gave her a drill and screwdriver and we started installing solar panels.
Catch our daily updates on our Community site (free enrollment required) or on @greencocosailing
Preparation: Kids depart, Last Minute Repairs, Provisions
We had 3 weeks in Walvis Bay, Namibia to prepare for the Atlantic Crossing but it just is never enough. The girls & Sabrina said farewell to Nesi and flew back to Brasil with Grandma & sister Sammy — we had an awesome road trip which we’ll share later.
Upon my return, it was non-stop hustle to do repairs on the boat. The diesel fuel tank had a leak; major job. The starboard engine was still giving us alignment issues; major job. The new lithium battery banks needed more protection; major job. And endless minor jobs.
Our deckhand & electrician Dophaise played a key role, as he has done in the last 4 months. He has been a massive help, but we had to say good-bye as his time with us came to an end. He got a work-exchange job at a local farm near Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. His journey to find work abroad continues!
Provisioning is a HUGELY time consuming. This is a task that Sabrina does so well, and without her, our steward & first mate Ian Bacon and I would now have to figure it out. It took us multiple days to shop & pack the boat with multiple shopping carts worth of food, for 5 people aboard 33 days across the Atlantic (assuming we won’t provision in St. Helena Island, in the mid-ocean).
DAY 1: Our Atlantic Crossing begins!!!
Such a frenzy to prepare the boat this last week- repairs, provisions, documents.
Yet we managed to leave on the 13th of Jan with our co-op guests Kim and friend Shawn, plus my dad Bob and our first mate Ian.
Riding a South wind into the SE trade winds, heading to St Helena island, 1200nm (9 days) to arrival.
We’ve been FLYING ever since leaving Walvis Bay, averaging 8kts.
DAY 2: Towards the horizon
I won’t lie – heading into 3000nm of ocean is intimidating and scary… takes some trust and faith in all our hard work on the boat & experience.
I thank these dolphins for leading us into the big sea with their playful joy 🙂
We did 200nm on the first 24hrs- over 8kt average. Nesi is flying. 1000nm left for St Helena island.
Night watches were 3 hrs each. Captain K sleeping in the cockpit close at hand, as we wove between some cargo ships and fishing vessels, showing up on radar and AIS.
Full moon popped up thru the clouds to illuminate the ocean.
We are so HERE !
DAY 3: This is what trade wind dreams are made of!
Gentle downwind sailing. Perfection all around. 15kts breeze from ESE. Sailing WNW.
Yesterday was a little nuts with wind shifts and spinnaker tear; gotta pay the dues. Today repaired the small rip (caught on spreaders while furling).
I’d like to report to my land-bound wife @sabby_sirena that although our cabin is still utter mess from our departure chaos, we did clean the bathrooms and galley and are keeping a hawk’s eye on food spoiling. Make you proud honey.
We’ve already gone 1/3 of the way to St Helena— less than 800nm to go. yeww!!
Day 4: Flipping eggs!
This is how we keep 360 eggs unrefrigerated during our trip 🙂
Managing food is a major part of a passage or expedition. Try making wholesome healthy food for 5 people for 34 days without going to the grocery store! Here’s how we’re trying do it:
Fresh Food. In Walvis Bay Namibia, we filled 4 shopping carts worth of fruits & vegetables, meats & cheeses, dairy & eggs. Divided this into 10 baskets, 3 fridges, and 3 freezers. Produce is ideally fresh from a farmer’s market, unrefrigerated, which lasts much longer. However, the Namibian desert isn’t exactly a farmer’s paradise, a lot is imported from S. Africa, so we had an extra challenge with that.
Provisioning. There’s the equivalent of about 15 shopping carts of food packed into Nesi’s cupboards & bilges; these require shelves and plastic bins with labels and easy access. About 3 months worth of food. There’s stuff from every country in there: Seychelles, Madagascar, South Africa, Namibia. Try to keep track!
Food Management. The worst is to let food go bad. Each food category needs careful attention. Heard of the saying “one bad apple spoils the bunch”? The superstition that bananas are bad luck aboard? Nope, it’s not true, but there’s a reason for all of this!
How to deal with each of these food categories is in itself a fascinating story. Ever since our first days on Aldebaran crossing the Pacific from Galapagos to Pitcairn (21 days, 4 people, with just 1 mini fridge!) we’ve learned a lot.
In our modern world of refrigeration and ready access to groceries 24/7, we’ve lost the knowledge of food storage & preservation needed for off-grid living. We like bringing it back little by little, because it’s super cool, and hey, might be good to know someday.
Day 5… Broken Oven, Slow Spinnaker
We are going so slow its like we are walking across the ocean … it’s very relaxing haha .
3-4kt boat speed today with spinnaker just barely staying in the air. With zero wind yesterday we even stopped the motor for a quick swim which was delightful, the water is getting warmer, entering the tropics properly!!
Our power is ample with 2.5kw of solar ☀️ and new 800ah lithium batteries 🪫. This is fortunate because the gas burner in the oven is malfunctioning, so we are using the electric backup (which mows thru power. The oven thermocouple disconnected from the wire, i fixed it, not sure why it still is broken.)
No surprises here, everyday something breaks, usually small things… it almost seems like a law of boating. We are bobbing along. We had a massive egg & bacon breakfast to keep the crew morale up 🙂
Catch our daily updates on our Community site (free enrollment required for Public Updates; co-op membership required for Private Member site) or on @greencocosailing
Don’t forget!
Deadline for our Expedition Letters Launch is January 20, 2025 — you’ll receive a raffle ticket for a FREE boat trip (if you’re one of the 50 first subscribers); and option to nominate a teacher to receive the letters. These our monthly delivered by snail mail to your house, ideal for families, kids, and schools.
Greetings from the mid Atlantic!! We left Walvis Bay, Namibia, and we’re heading to St. Helena Island then Brazil.. It’s going to be a 30+ day trip. Hard to believe we are plunging into this vast ocean with 3000 miles ahead. More news on this tomorrow, stay posted 🙂
But first — we’ve been working hard to bring the NEW Expedition Letters to share with kids & families. Please subscribe and spread the word (deadline January 20th), read more & sign up on this link.
Just $10/month for awesome handmade 4 page letters full of beautiful art, delivered by snail mail to your home!! Digital PDF only version also available. Subscribe here.
BIG BONUS: the first 50 subscribers get a free raffle ticket for a chance to win a boat trip 🙂
REFER YOUR FRIENDS: you’ll get an extra raffle ticket for each person you refer who signs up. So spread the word and boost your chances of winning.
PLUS: sign up by January 20, and you can nominate a teacher to get a FREE subscription for 1 year. Stoke out school kids with adventure travel stories they can touch and feel.
Read more about the artist behind the Expedition Letters – Joelie Russel from Western Australia. How did this come about? Learn here. Your subscription helps support her art & work.
Be sure to subscribe to our channel, and if you’re a family with kids, sign up for Expedition Letters here. These are awesome (screen-free) complements to our video series, you’ll love ’em. If you sign up by January 20, you’ll get a chance to nominate a teacher to receive our monthly Letters for free! Plus a chance to win a free boat trip.
We’re passionate about our kids getting their hands & feet dirty (or wet) and experiencing life for themselves. To LOVE learning because that’s what makes life fun !!
What fools ever launched a youtube channel and simultaneously promoted a ‘screen-free’ alternative?? We just did. Last weekend was Episode 1 and this coming Sunday January 5 is Episode 2 on our channel. One every week!
We’re super proud of our videos, but heck, we really wanted to get something REAL in kids hands that they can get excited to receive by snail-mail every month. Something outside of digital screens, something they can hold and allow their imagination to wander.
So we created Expedition Letters as a complement to our videos. Every month, they’ll be delivered to your house or school, a beautiful 4 page handmade, custom work of art! Exploring cool new countries that Green Coco visits, educational nuggets, naturalist drawings, fun maps.
We’re only charging $10/month — losing money for awhile, then hopefully barely covering costs… But we wanted to make it accessible for everyone. Ontop of that we’re doing 2 promotions to launch the Letters, deadline January 20, 2025:
First 50 subscribers: get a chance to win a FREE boat trip with bonus raffle tickets !!
Get 1 , Give 1 : sign up and nominate an awesome teacher to receive a FREE year subscription of the Letters.
Read more info about Expedition Letters and subscribe here: www.GreenCoco.org
On a personal note: thank you for the support in this crazy new endeavor of ours. We run boats, not monthly subscriptions, it is pretty daunting!! We don’t know if it’ll make financial sense, but we believe it’s the right thing to do, so we’re trying to make it work… fingers crossed we reach enough people to make it fully sustainable.
… our weekly video series ! Starting in Tahiti, moving aboard Nesi in Seychelles, and sailing down the Indian Ocean. During the premiere you’ll have a chance to win raffle tickets that might earn you a FREE boat trip, don’t miss it !
The idea for the Green Coco Expedition came from the same question all parents have to grapple with: what is the best education and family lifestyle I can offer my kids as they grow up?
After seeing other kids growing up on sailboat, and having 10 years experience running advnenture sailing trips with all ages, we decided to try a bold concept: a world-schooling circumnavigation on a 60 foot catamaran with onboard teachers and visiting families.
We believe that learning from nature and the environment around is the BEST, both for kids and adults. So this is a journey of education, growth, and adventure.
Why this video series? We wanted to share the voyage and inspire everyone learn from nature, chase their dreams, and build community. We worked hard to make these videos and hope you enjoy them.
Instead of snow we have sand dunes nearly 1000 feet
Like incredible airbrush paintings so soft and so sweet
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It’s a white christmas in Namibia this year
It’s so cold the equator doesnt feel at all near.
The benguela current makes humpbacks gather and leap
And thousands of sea lions go beep beep beep.
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Its a white christmas in Namibia this year
Nesi again hit a sandbar, need to play it by ear!
The diesel tank leak got a bad seap
We must repair it so the fuel we can keep.
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It’s a white Christmas in Namibia this year
We arrive in Walvis Bay our final place for beer
Before heading in January across the Atlantic
Bound for Brazil’s Carnaval for the dancing romantics.
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It’s a white christmas in Namibia this year
We travelled from Seychelles all the way here.
Down Madagascar and South Africa we got gales galore
We’re excited for what’s next in store!!
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Sending you and your loved ones love, health, stoke, and adventure for this coming year!
Big Hugs, K+S
Dunes at Sandwich HarborNesi near the dunesNearly 1000 foot tall dunesXmas with Beadle family & friendsFlamingos at Sandwich HarborSea lion colony, Pelican Point, Walvis Bay. Nesi is in the background 🙂Near Spencer Bay & Mercury Island, enroute from Luderitz to Walvis Bay
Some Background…
Wondering how we got to Namibia?? Apologies about the epic delay, our last blog posts were from the Seychelles! Well, it’s been an intense year, sailing 4 months in Madagascar, 3 months in South Africa, and now we’re working our way north, preparing to cross the Atlantic in mid January.
You can catch up on news from the trip in our community site, and watch our new video series to follow the journey. Don’t miss the premiere on December 29, 6pm PT (with a chance to win a trip on the boat) Click here to get on the watch party waitlist.
Have you dreamed of cruising on a sailboat in tropical paradises, hosting friends & guests, and living a healthy awesome life at sea? The Green Coco cooperative makes this possible for aspiring captains with amazing hosting skills, who may not have enough funds to jump into multi-hull ownership, but really want to do this now while young!
Aldebaran in Tikehau, western Tuamotus (French Polynesia)
Our world-cruising trimaran Aldebaran is ready for new owners. We’re looking for an awesome couple with these skills:
experienced seamanship – prior boat ownership a big plus
love to host guests – positive energy is a must
culinary arts – you love to cook wholesome food for groups and are creative with ingredients
holistic health – like yoga, meditation, and similar
business acumen – you’ll be running your own business, with the co-op’s support
boat work – carpentry & fiberglass skills are essential, plus normal boatwork
French language and/or European citizen are a big plus.
Please see the sale listing for the 42ft trimaran Aldebaran including prices.
The Green Coco cooperative can offer seller financing to the right applicants — which means you may only need money for the deposit (~30% of boat price). You’ll own the boat outright, run a sailing cooperative business with adventurous guests, and live the cruising life in the South Seas.
If this is your dream and you fulfill most of that list above, we welcome you to apply! Please review the information here and see “How to Apply” at bottom.
Aldebaran in Ahe, northern Tuamotus (French Polynesia)
Quick info about Aldebaran:
42 foot trimaran built in 1968 in Hawaii with mahogany and polyester resin
Accommodation: Sleeps 6-8. Includes:
sleeps 2: 1 private aft cabin with 1 double bed, deck access behind cockpit. Usually the couple who owns the boat sleeps here.
sleeps 4: 2 double beds in the open plan salon
sleeps 2: 2 single benches in the cockpit (all-weather enclosure) for short term extra capacity
The boat has been imported into French Polynesia — the boat never has to leave! This is worth several thousand $$.
Hi! We are Billy & Kimber. We’ve had amazing adventures on Aldebaran in the Society Islands (Tahiti to Bora-Bora) and around the Tuamotus (Tikehau to Tahanea), while running Green Coco trips in the past 4 years. She is a fantastic liveaboard, we’ve spent weeks aboard the boat in remote atolls, which are total paradise. We’ll able to stay off-grid thanks to her 900w of solar panels, new AGM battery bank, and watermaker.
We also love that Aldebaran is super stable and spacious which helps a lot with comfort at anchor and underway. The guests love Aldebaran’s stability and wide deck / nets. She sails well on all points of sail, although she doesn’t go upwind very well in rough seas. We try to wait for good conditions which is viable in the tropics.
The boat’s greatest downside is that she’s very maintenance intensive (err… I guess all boats are??). Aldebaran in particular constantly needs love with woodwork and fiberglass repairs. We’ve been keeping up with the maintenance & repairs. The boat is in overall good shape, but needs work & funds and could use a fiberglass overhaul in the next few years.
Aldebaran is scheduled for a haul out in Sep 2024 so she will have a fresh coat of bottom paint and be ready to continue the adventure. If interested in seeing her out of water (very recommended) we can suggest flying down to Tahiti and taking the ferry to Raiatea to meet us.
After the last 4 years sailing Aldebaran in French Polynesia and participating in the Green Coco cooperative, we’re now planning a different project back in the East Coast of US, so we are selling the boat.
Recent adventures of Billy & Kimber on Aldebaran
Aldebaran’s history
Prior to Billy & Kimber, Aldebaran crossed the Pacific with Kristian & Sabrina, the founders of the Green Coco sailing cooperative. They launched the co-op by running trips in the Channel Islands of Santa Barbara aboard this trimaran, which is nostalgically beloved by many of our members 🙂 Over the course of 4 years, they sailed down the coast of Mexico and Central America to Galapagos, then 21 days across to Pitcairn, and finally up to French Polynesia, where the boat has been since. Under their ownership, they hauled out Aldebaran in Ventura (2009, 2011, 2013); in Marquesas (2017); and in Tahiti (2020). They sold the boat to Billy & Kimber when they upgraded to their 46ft catamaran Selavi in 2020, as they began expanding the cooperative.
This video gives you a great idea of life on Aldebaran in 2018 (Huahine, French Polynesia)and also our fun-loving co-op ! 🙂
Pictures from our first year in 2015:
in mexico near Mazuntein Panama near Isla Coibain Costa Rica near Murcielagos
About the Green Coco sailing cooperative
Green Coco is a community organization that offers authentic sailing adventures in French Polynesia and around the world, which are family-friendly and off-the-beaten path. Our boats are owner-operated, offering a real taste of the cruising life at sea. Guests participate in boat activities to feel truly part of the journey. We create transformative, learning voyages with a wellness focus: offering workshops in breathwork, yoga, sailing, cooking, and more, which contribute meaningfully to visitor’s daily life back at home. The majority of trips include members who come back regularly over the years; everyone lends a hand on the boat. As a result, our trips and interactions with guests are like family & friends, very different to conventional charter trips.
The co-op was born out of the question: how do can we live the cruising dream together with our friends, without waiting until retirement? Normally this is financially out of reach for younger people. We came up with a system for everyone to share resources: to pitch in funds and/or work exchange to be able to get time aboard.
Co-op members are like micro-partners who have access to the boats, having a say in where the boats go, creating schedules that accommodate their plans, etc. Member contributions are designed to cover costs of operation and overall basic life needs — not generate substantial business profits. If you’re looking to make plenty of money running charters, this isn’t for you! This is about the best lifestyle possible, covering all our costs of life, where you look forward to hosting people because they’ll become great new friends.
The co-op’s service to the community is to offer affordable, authentic sailing experiences which are invigorating and strengthen our connection with Nature and ourselves. The co-op makes this possible by enabling & supporting young couples who want to live this dream but may not have the funds to do it on their own. We offer several programs to help finance the boat and your ongoing expenses.
Currently the co-op has 3 boats: Aldebaran and Selavi (46ft Bahia catamaran) both in French Polynesia and Nesi (60ft Eleuthera catamaran) currently in the Indian Ocean. Nesi is leading the Green Coco Expedition, an innovative world schooling project. Read more about the Expedition and our co-op. We are growing the co-op which will bring more resources to all the Partner Boats.
Why not just sell Aldebaran?
That is an option! If we don’t find a perfect candidate, we may sell the boat outright. But we want to make it available via seller financing including the co-op business, because we believe in this model and we think it’ll make the pie bigger for everyone.
The value to us? Our co-op members continue to have access to a great boat in the South Pacific, and another awesome new couple gets to enjoy this lifestyle. We get to “pay it forward”, and see the co-op grow.
What does the co-op do for Partner Boats?
For folks who want to participate in the co-op (running trips for members and new guests) we offer seller financing and reduced interest rates (muuuuuuch lower than banks!). Green Coco also provides ways to raise funds to pay off some of the boat loan and have money for your boat expenses — it is very important to be well capitalized with boat ownership.
This is Selavi, the Green Coco 46ft catamaran shown in Bora-Bora. The boat was sold last year to new Co-op PartnerDavid & Eleanor (@designedtoexplore) who are learning the ropes and will start running trips next year.
Partner boats operate like independent businesses that collaborate through the co-op. Green Coco offers several aspects to help you with back-end of business — pre trip documents, protocols for hosting guests, accounting systems. We are building a co-op website for trips and schedules so you don’t have to. Running a boat is already a lot of work, so the co-op tries to make the rest of life easier for everyone by joining forces with different partner boats.
What about sales and marketing? The co-op does general marketing and sales for all boats. Although Green Coco makes no guarantees on sales or revenues, we create alignment of interest so we can bring you business. That said, you’ll be running your own business and it’s on you to succeed.
If interested in learning more, send in your application and we’ll send you an deeper financial overview of the Co-op and the relationship with Partner Boats.
Who are the ideal candidates?
The ideal candidates are a captain & first mate/chef couple. They are exceptional hosts, very adept sailors, able to fix most things aboard a sailboat. For Aldebaran, they need to be able to do regular wood work and fiberglass repairs (which is always in need of love). They enjoy cooking delicious wholesome food, practice wellness like yoga & meditation, excel at communication, are natural at teaching (sailing, freediving, etc) and are endlessly patient, hard-working.. and of course are an avid waterman/woman who love ocean sports like surfing, kiting, diving, long distance swimming, etc.
This position is for a couple with entrepreneurial spirit who always dreamed of owning their own boat and business, and are very community oriented and sociable. You’ll be part of the Green Coco cooperative, a sailing organization that creates unique, participatory adventures at sea. We aren’t a regular charter company… we are a private group of ocean lovers and adventurers who also offer public trips. Read our testimonials.
Requirements for applicants (see “How to Apply” at bottom):
a captain with experience navigating in complex environments under pressure keeping 100% cool and good attitude
an enthusiastic first mate/chef with passion for wholesome, nutritious food
knowledge and enjoyment of wellness practices such as yoga, breathwork, meditation, non-violent communication, and similar
experience in freediving, scuba diving, surfing, kitesurfing, and other water sports
loves to teach others and has patience with guests and kids
you have some savings or access to financing — both for the deposit and have capital for ongoing improvements until the boat has cashflow.
Co-op crew in Bora Bora
Details
The sale listing for our 42ft trimaran Aldebaranis here. She is available for purchasing outright if we don’t receive qualified applicants.
What you’ll get exactly:
full ownership of a classic 42 foot catamaran with 3 double beds + 2 surplus bunks (sleeps 6-8). Includes French Polynesia importation duties.
business partnership in Green Coco, with a revenue stream that is fun and satisfying.
if needed, seller financing with very competitive terms — extremely tough to get these days
As a business partner / boat owner, you’ll be in charge of your own future and gain profits according to your work, backed by the Green Coco cooperative to reduce your risk.
Through our co-op investment program, we may be able to help you secure a part of the downpayment with pre-sales, and reduce your total debt.
We’re really proud to be able to offer this to someone. We consider ourselves super lucky we pulled off the best sailing lifestyle imaginable (at least for us!). Now we get to help someone else launch their dream too. Honestly, it is all thanks to our cooperative, who continues to make this epic Green Coco adventure possible. We are harvesting some serious collective stoke 🙂
Timeline
Billy & Kimber can offer sea trials on Aldebaran in August 10-30, 2024 (transiting from Tuamotus to Raiatea), just pay our normal co-op rates. They will haul out in Raiatea for bottom paint and maintenance in early September, then the boat is available for transferring ownership after mid-September.
HOW TO APPLY:
If you’d like to become the next Aldebaran captains in French Polynesia, please apply by sending the following 3 items to captain@greencoco.org:
VIDEO: a 2 minute video introducing yourselves. A casual selfie is fine! Don’t overthink it, it’s just an opportunity to say hi and introduce who you are.
RESUMES: please send your resume (nothing fancy needed.. please don’t spend too much time on making this perfect, we don’t judge editing mistakes…). Important: send us a short addendum about your experience with sailing, cooking, hospitality, holistic health, boat work & repairs. In your email, please mention anything that wasn’t covered in your video and resume.
FINANCING: How much downpayment can you make? We recommend minimum 30% of boat value and equal amount in savings for the year 1 costs.
Please send the above 3 items to captain@greencoco.org.
THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!
Aldebaran was on the cover of Multi-hull magazine back in the day — her 15 minutes of fame 🙂
“These rocks are fake. It’s just a Hollywood set for a movie,” Ian said, after we anchored next to the St. Pierre islet. “They are actually styrofoam cutouts with spray paint.” We laughed. They simply don’t look real.
We were now in the area around Praslin & La Digue islands, the most famous cruising ground in the Seychelles. We were halfway through our 12 day shakedown cruise testing Nesi‘s systems.
After three weeks of intense work we cast off the lines for our first sailing trip aboard Nesi, our new-to-us 60 ft catamaran.
We hustled for 3 weeks until the very last second to wrap up projects. We needed help, but struggled with the labor force… Luckily we had amazing co-op members coming: both to help us prepare the boat, and do a “shake down” of the boat with us.
Zoe was our second pre-school teacher to come aboard Green Coco — she is from Corsica (a territory of France), and recently finished her teaching credential. She wanted to experience alternative forms of education for kids. She was onboard starting in French Polynesia, and helped us fly to California and then to Seychelles, and make the transition across the world to our new boat.
Zoe & Naiyah in Mahe, Seychelles
Have you ever seen people so excited to make something happen, you just know they’ll be great for the job? That was Zoe. As I picked her up with the dinghy at the dock in Bora-Bora, she said, “Only seeing you now, do I believe you guys are real. I mean, teaching kids on a cruising sailboat? This is my dream.”
Aside from the jet lag — 7am in California is 7pm here! — we felt a surreal sensation to be aboard Nesi .
While sailing in the Tuamotus, one year ago, we envisioned this distant, unlikely possibility. I sent an investment proposal to our community for a 15 year sailing circumnavigation, took the chance to fly across the world to visit 2 boats in the Seychelles, leaving Sabrina in command of Selavi with the kids in Fakarava (and guests that arrived before my return!) and spent the next several months in a whirlwind: fund-raising, hosting trips, Burning “Muddy” Man, never-ending boat repairs, a complicated boat sale, growing our co-op, squeezing in a snow vacation, and finally moving across the globe with 2 kids and 18 bags.
This 12 month tornado somehow deposited us back onboard Nesi, at the dock in Mahé island where I’d last seen her, except now, with the whole family together. The whole thing felt like a strange and beautiful dream.
My greatest pleasure is that Sabrina and the kids loved the boat from the first moment, which I was wondering about! After all, Sabrina wasn’t the hugest fan of the boat (AquatikiII in Fakarava) that inspired our hunt for this specific model around the world (a Fountaine Pajot Eleuthera 60ft catamaran). That boat was running dive charters and was quite beat up and messy. When I saw Aquatiki II, I knew she was the right model, the right foundation for our next phase. Nesi is the exact same model boat, yet she feels palatial and elegant, well-cared for and delightful in all her spaces. All the videos of the boat weren’t nearly as convincing as the moment that Sabrina stepped aboard and said, “Ok, now I get it. This is amazing!” How satisfying and relieving!
Takamaka plantation houseGirls are happy about their port holes
After arriving, we had 3 weeks to prepare the boat for our first Shakedown Cruise with two co-op members, our rigger Ian, and my mom. This was much too little time, yet I figured it would push us to act quickly. Push us it did!
The basic problem is that Nesi is a “marina boat”, and we need to convert her into an “off-grid cruising boat”.
To understand this task, imagine that a huge flood caused your suburban house to suddenly lose all its utilities: water, power, gas. The huge flood also caused the main hardware store to close, leaving only the mini-stores open; and all the good handy workers (electricians, carpenters, etc) simply can’t reach you, only an array of inexperienced workers. Worse yet, the mail delivery stopped, so you have no access to online purchases.
In such a huge symbolic “flood”, we suddenly must turn to complete self-reliance and independence. This is a challenging shift to make.
The good news is that Nesi is a well cared for boat and all her systems were functional; the foundation is excellent. The bad news is that Nesi is still aboat , and all her systems needed tons of attention, and major upgrades to transition her from “marina boat” to “off-grid cruising boat” status.
First item on the agenda: figure out how to run this big 60ft boat.
In general everything is similar to our old 46ft catamaran, but massively sized, and much more complicated. The mainsail is gigantic and runs on multiple electric winches. The windlass is enormous with 14mm (unmarked) chain. There are twin 110HP turbo engines (which were misaligned), a 12kW electronic Generator, and a complex series of battery chargers and inverters. The electrical system is the most complicated & non-intuitive part of the boat, featuring both 24v and 12v, and three different 220v circuits. There is an air conditioning system with 3 compressors that cools all five cabins plus the large salon. There is a high output 65 Gallon per hour watermaker (which was not 100% well-maintained)
We also had to figure out how to live aboard the boat… how to keep food in the fridges (which were icing over and dripping wet), to cook properly (the oven needed a new burner), and store belongings (this boat strangely has less storage space our 46ft catamaran). Meanwhile we had to entertain and teach our kids, who were thriving with our onboard teacher Zoe from Corsica, who helped us in the epic journey from Tahiti.
Lest we forget, we are in East Africa. It’s easy to overlook this since Seychelles is the most affluent African country, and everything costs a fortune, so you’d hope this would translate to good quality. Alas, this was optimistic thinking.
Seychelles is a fascinating and beautiful place, but efficiency is not her forte. She has plenty of character, being a melting pot of Middle Eastern, Indian, and European cultures. Seychelles’ history is unique. When the French first claimed Seychelles in 1756, there were no permanent inhabitants, only transient Arabic sailors.
This is surprising because Seychelles are large islands with relative proximity to many populated areas. To get a sense, some of the closest places are Madagascar is 550nm SW, then Somalia is 700nm NW, then Tanzania is 900nm W. In the other direction, India is 1500nm NE.
Do you know another archipelago (near the equator) that was uninhabited when Europeans arrived, just 500nm from a continent? Galapagos. It’s probably no coincidence that the only two places on Earth with wild-roaming Giant Tortoises are Galapagos and Seychelles (as far as I know). Those species were prolific around the world, but they were exterminated by hunters, except in these two island groups that remained largely uninhabited until the mid 1700s.
Just 40 years after the French colonized Seychelles, they gave it up to the British in 1796. Unfortunately, this means the baguettes and croissants aren’t nearly as good as those in Tahiti. On the plus side, English is the lingua franca. Seychellois, the creole language spoken by all the locals, is essentially like French with an extremely heavy African-style accent, which survives from that first era of French control. We can’t understand it, but if we speak French, the locals can understand.
The Seychelles feels like a Caribbean island — with its relaxed “island time” vibe and Rasta influences — yet with African edginess. Many people are gentle and chill. Yet we are constantly caught off guard by the proud, head strong approach of many locals that can be mistaken for unfriendliness and even bitter spitefulness.
The fact that tourism is the primary economy in Seychelles causes a well-known distortion in culture. Places like Costa Rica and Mediterranean villages also reflect this issue: when flamboyantly rich visitors contrasts with a humble community, it can be a ripe breeding ground for resentment and local self-entitlement.
Megayachts in the Marina
Like the Caribbean, the Seychelles has the added karmic load of dealing with absurdly affluent yachts. This ranges from the fleets of charter cats that rake in $20K per week, to dealing with several multi-million dollar mega-yachts owned by Arabic sultans and Russian oligarchs which flaunt their shores. An incredible number of foreign-owned mansions also dot the islands.
All these factors lead to a community of boating professional that is generally, ahem… difficult to work with. The golden goose (rich yachties) is constantly being squeezed of its fat. What’s left is a mishmash of boat workers who range from too busy, to utter incompetence. The default situation here is to over-charge wildly for mediocre work.
In fact, we’ve been struggling with these issues ever since we purchased the boat last July. The charter manager that was going to run the boat on a few ten day charters, to cover the costs of our boat sitting at the marina hemorrhaging money, failed abysmally. Not only did we not cover our costs, we lost a pile of money.
Screenshotwhat’s wrong with this picture? driving on the left side of the road!
The issue of having reliable help continued in the first 3 weeks we were aboard. People were charging us for services we didn’t ask for. People were charging us steep fees for “using their own tools” ontop of their regular wages. Ridiculous stuff. Yet as a newbie just trying to get stuff done, I was stuck between a rock and hard place. Worse even than incompetence, people responded to critique with verbal attacks. I got into more fights with people in those 3 weeks than I have in 3 years. Granted, I was stressed, but I was not proud of this, nor was it conducive to my mental wellbeing.
As the weeks passed and the repair / improvement list was ticked slowly, I became increasingly anxious. Just to get a straight price or quote from anyone was like pulling teeth. To get them to show up was an exercise in incessant phone calls and perseverance. Eventually, the generator was serviced, we bought a brand new dinghy & outboard, fixed various leaks. But as we approached the start of our Shakedown cruise, the boat still felt in pieces.
A few people were redeeming forces: our boat manager & surveyor Vincent Leon is an honest, incorruptible & super helpful guy. The previous owner of the boat, Stephane is responsive to any questions and spends time so I can understand systems. The old captain of the boat Patrick is a delightful hard worker, and straight with his word. Sadly he injured his knee and had to stop working but his very presence gave me hope. Eventually he connected us with a deckhand Kenneth that had those same virtues, which I appreciated greatly, amidst the chaos of everything else.
The best money we spent was flying our friend and rigger Ian Weedman to Seychelles. He is an absolute joy to be around and a total master of his craft. His plan was to join us for a week of boatwork, the 12 day Shakedown Cruise, then 2 weeks of re-rigging Nesi with the mast laying on the ground. A huge job to do in a foreign country, and simply irreplicable, because the one rigger on the island can’t keep up with the work demand of all the charter boats. More on this essential piece of our sailing preparations later.
Finally I felt grateful and re-charged to see my mother Susie, who arrived at the end of this 3 week period. Our current teacher Zoe was departing and we had a gap of a month before the next teacher arrived. So my mom took over the duties of being with the kids, which was simply a joy to watch and be around.
During those 3 weeks, we managed to cast the dock lines twice. We spent one night each time at a nearby islet 20 minutes from the harbor, to test the battery systems. One time we managed to lose our brand new dinghy due to a pathetic slippery line, and we came way too close to the reef in our effort to recuperate the dinghy (Sabrina eventually got it back by swimming!) The second time was better, so this was re-assuring, but we still didn’t really understand how to manage the boat’s electrical system. Furthermore, one of the engines still had charging / alignment problems.
With some things going our way, and many things not, we hustled to prepare our first Shakedown Cruise with our co-op members Judy and Matt. They signed up for this knowingly, ie. the unknown of our preparations. Yet, we personally didn’t anticipate being in such a state of disarray.
Breathe, I reminded myself. It’s all gonna be ok. In this process of keeping faith, and moving forward, we remembered a simple truth: We don’t belong in the marina. Within a few days of leaving, and being offshore again, everything seemed to fall into place….
Interested? See our schedule of trips here — we only have one cruising trip still open this year (plus a few passages available).
Our family’s global migration to a new boat made me wonder: Why do some things work out so smoothly and easily, and other things are sodifficult and tough?
After all, our first trip from Tahiti to California (which should be easy) was so crazy difficult; and then the next 3 legs across the world to the Seychelles (which should be super tough) was actually piece of cake.
What gives? Why are we in flow sometimes; and totally not other times? Is it luck of the draw, alignment of the stars, or some sort of skill/mindset??
The start of a great , lucky trip… checking in for SF-NY-Dubai-SeychellesContinue reading →
I won’t lie, the coordination involved to pull this off was formidable. I mean, skiing is a gear/resource intensive activity and we are tropical sailors, on a layover with no winter weather gear. zilch! So this post helps share how we made it happen.
The bus shuttle at Bear Valley — skiing for over a week, without ever using a car. Best ever.
What motivated this whole trip was the girls’ 4th birthday: their bday present was to see the snow for the first time. So during our two week stint in California (in transit from Tahiti to Seychelles) we planned a 9 day trip to the Sierras, to the relatively unknown resort town of Bear Valley, just south of Tahoe.
There was an ominous cloud hanging over this trip. Our mission was to stay healthy, especially the girls. During our previous visits to California, they got sick. This created severe problems including cancellation of travel plans. So we isolated during this time, as there was too much on the line with the big trip to Seychelles with our mountain of luggage and pile of logistical travel coordination. We were sad to miss seeing lots of our friends during this time.
Here’s a snippet from our time in San Francisco, where we landed.
The girls gardening in SFFavorite activity in SF: playing in sand dunes
You can’t win sometimes. Despite our best efforts one of the girls still got an ear infection from the Tahiti flight. Papa had a truly miserable couple of days in San Francisco solo without mama (who was visiting our friend Heidy giving birth in San Diego..!) and without our help from Zoe, who had gotten stuck in Tahiti due to visa issues. Meanwhile managing our ~20 bags and planning complex travels ahead. We were glad to have a 2 week layover to recover from all this chaos. Having buffers like this is essential for weathering the storms that inevitably hit…
In the end, all the effort was all worth it — thanks to our unbelievable time in Bear Valley!!!
Caroline & Ryan, our hosts in Bear ValleyTheir company is All Good, best healthy sunscreen out there! Hey honey, do you remember how to ski??the glorious living room at Casa SidetrackIt snowed. Oh yes.
How did us tropical sailors coordinate a ski trip without any gear and somehow make it affordable? It was logistically intense, here’s how we pulled it off:
ACCOMMODATION: our co-op members Caroline & Ryan have a cabin in Bear Valley, called Casa Sidetrack, which we rented as part-trade. We love co-op exchanges 🙂
WINTER CLOTHING: Sabrina borrowed several sets of winter clothes for our twins by going on FB and asking in twin groups. Super sweet people lent us their gear. This is where FB really shines.
HOME BASE: As a homebase for our arrival & departure from SFO, our dear friends Kendra and Adam let us use their downstairs studio in SF and lent us winter clothes. After hosting them on 3 amazing sailing trips (Costa Rica, Marquesas, Tuamotus) it was really cool to be hosted by them this time. Thank you friends!
RENTAL CAR: We used our credit card points to rent a 4×4 SUV to take us to the mountains with the 5 of us (now that Zoe had finally arrived). Also did that for the flights to Seychelles, but that’s another story.
GEAR RENTAL: We rented snowboards & boots at Sports Basement for the week, which wow, that was a great deal.
SKI PASSES: Being an independent mountain, the season pass at Bear Valley is reasonably priced, and pays for itself after 5 days. We could enjoy the luxury of a season pass, with no pressure to ride all day ever 🙂
Fortunately, the weather cooperated perfectly. We got 5 days of spring-time conditions with clear skies and really warm weather; followed by 4 days of snowy powder. A perfect combination.
Here’s a video of Captain K, bringing back his old skills from college days on the slopes:
The real highlight was the place: Bear Valley was magical on SO many levels! Here are our Top 5 reasons we loved it:
There’s nobody there — this tiny village has fewer than 200 residents. The ski lifts were empty, even during the weekend we got fresh powder tracks at 11am.
Ski in / ski out — the majority of the village is designed around the ability to ski from your doorstep to the shuttle, and ski from the mountain straight back to your front door. Until you experience this, it’s hard to express how amazing it is. To us, it felt like kitesurfing off the back of our boat, just the best ever! We didn’t touch our car the ENTIRE time we were there, and we could happily go ski for 2 hours and come back home for a quick break. Ultimate flexibility.
Ideal Family Space — since we could ski in / ski out of the house, the kids could stay at home and we’d take turns with them. No coordinating with lodges or baby sitting or whatever. This was just perfect for a family.
Super friendly — everyone we met was epic. We were treated royally by Aaron at the Bear Valley Adventure Park which has tubing, cross country, strap on skis for the kids. The girls even got to go inside the snow cat! They are obsessed with tractors so their eyes were huge. Unforgettable.
Fantastic skiing — the snow terrain was amazing too. We had a blast all week in so many conditions. The only downside is that the advanced part of the mountain wasn’t yet open. It’s the lower part, and the previous month had a dry spell in California.
the snowcatinside the snowcat! stoked!Aaron the ambassador of Bear Valley, runs the fantastic cross country adventure areaThe sweet library at Bear Valley — we borrowed loads of books & games for the kids for the week
We are happy to publicize this place because everyone asked us to — they want more visitors to make sure the resort can make ends meet! They had a rough patch for the last 20 years. Now that it’s under new ownership, I’m sure they’ll be successful.
Although our ski in / ski out cabin was beyond wonderful, there were also challenges.
First off, you can’t drive to the house… So you need to put all your belongings in sleds and shlep them up the hill in the snowy (hard packed) street on foot… or hire a snowmobile to take your stuff, which we elected to do on the way up the hill. Frankly, this was just like being on our sailboat, where we shlep monstrous amounts of stuff by hand/ dinghy. Very strenuous but we’re used to it 🙂
Second, there is no supermarket in Bear Valley, only 30+ minutes away. We decided to bring loads of groceries (which was a lot to carry up the hill!) There is a tiny general store in the village with basic staples, and 3 restaurants, and that’s it. So you have to be a bit self-sufficient. But hey, this was also just like home..
This makes it ideal for adventurous folks in the winter, and anyone in the summer (which is supposedly incredible in this area… we can’t wait to come back to see).
loading the snowmobile to go uphill with our bags & groceriesCaroline demonstrating the virtues of skiing back home the downside of snow life : shoveling!The girls lived in their puffy jackets, some borrowed, some gifted. Thanks to all the kind souls out there!
Most importantly, this trip left us feeling inspired, invigorated, and recharged. It was a much needed reset. We were ready for the Seychelles, ready for the hot tropics, ready to embark on the mission ahead, which we knew would take tons of effort.
We were lucky to get this perfect break from boat ownership and tropical sun. Coordinating all the gear and logistics was a monumental effort, but it sure was worth it.
Interested in renting Casa Sidetrack for a long weekend or week in Bear Valley, just 3 hour drive from SF? It is epic in both the winter and summer. Truly the perfect family getaway. We highly highly recommend it for adventurous folks. Write us at info at greencoco dot org .
Chronicling our journey from our last boat in Tahiti, to our new boat in Seychelles, preparing for the around-the-world expedition.
As we boarded our plane in Tahiti for San Francisco, I wondered, “Perhaps we should have just purchased a new boat in French Polynesia! That would have made life much simpler!”
Why leave? We’ve asked ourselves a few times.
We had a nightmarish experience at Papeete airport, and now I was having second thoughts about flying to the other side of the world with the entire family in tow.
In mid-2023, we signed the purchase of our new catamaran Nesi in the Seychelles — a 60ft Fountaine Pajot Eleuthera, perfect for our world schooling expedition — because there’s not many of this type of boat available in the whole world.
Soaking up our final sunsets over Moorea
There were Eleuthera models in the Caribbean and Europe, but the one in Seychelles was a much better price… I figured, if we have to fly part way across, might as well go to the other side of the world, right??
Our trip from Tahiti to San Francisco was presumably the easiest leg. Non-stop 8hrs, with two well known airports, what’s the big deal? We prepared reasonably:
– We picked a French Bee daytime flight (7am-5pm) to avoid United’s red eye flight (10pm-6am) which was really challenging for the kids and us last time.
– We packed our 15 bags (gulp!) and arranged 3:30am pickup by a huge Tahitian guy with a gigantic van, plus a separate taxi for the kids, Sabrina and Zoe (our onboard teacher-nanny). Granted this was an exhausting way to wake up, carrying heavy bags across the marina with very upset kids, but it seemed better than the red-eye flight.
Mountain of bags, Tahiti edition
Why so many bags, you wonder? These are nearly all our portable belongings in the world! We also shipped 8 boxes to Seychelles, but together with these 15 bags, it’s all we got that’s portable in the material world 🙂
We arrived at the airport 3 hours before the flight, everything looked good… but we made two consequential mistakes. I share these lessons as they caused us grief and stress we hope others can avoid.
Zoe, shortly before she was “left behind”
ISSUE #1: Don’t miss the VISA fine print!
Zoe was flying on a French passport. I asked her, is there a Visa to enter the US? She had flown to US many times, but just in case, I asked google. The top lines of the search engine said, “There is no visa for French citizens…” “There is a visa-waiver program…” I assumed we were golden! Had I actually clicked on the link, I would have read further, and discovered that although there was no VISA per se, there was an entry permit application called ETSA. A small detail that messed us up royally!
Due to this glitch, the French Bee check-in counter wouldn’t let Zoe through. I asked them multiple times to let Zoe go to the gate on standby status, which is fully in their power to do so. Had they done so, she would have got on the flight! Her ETSA approval came precisely 45 seconds after the check-in counter closed, leaving Zoe stranded in Tahiti with 3 of our bags. Imagine being left behind! She broke down crying, but no matter, the ticket counter wouldn’t help her. Lame!
Meanwhile, I was on the phone with French Bee trying to change her flight, which had to occur before the plane took off, otherwise she would be considered a no-show. They refused to do so — Zoe had to call herself. I explained her phone wasn’t working, and furthermore I had purchased the ticket, so I should be able to change it!
This went on until all passengers had boarded and the flight attendants insisted I enter the plane, turn off my phone… which I promptly snapped back at them, “I’m talking to your own company!” As the plane was about to start taxiing, I punched credit card numbers into an email authorization they sent me, to pay $30 for the change fee. Got it done with no time to spare.
Suffice to say, this situation was very stressful for everyone. Thankfully, David and Eleanor (new owners of Selavi) took Zoe under their wing. She went back to the boat and waited 4 days until the next flight .
The fateful carry on bags… they looked ok in the official dimensions but in real life they were too floppy and gave us crazy problems with the officials at the airport.
ISSUE #2: Don’t get the wrong carry-on bags
The long story here is that shipping boxes from Tahiti to Seychelles was WAY more expensive than I presumed. Ocean freight was unavailable for less than $10,000. We didn’t have enough stuff to fill half a container. Air freight was absurd. Typically, if you’re a passenger on the flight, airlines charge $200-300 per extra bag weighing 50lbs. Guess what? Those same airplanes charge 2-4x if they’re taking your boxes as freight! This was wholly unexpected.
However, we simply couldn’t physically carry SO many bags ourselves. We caved in, and decided to ship 8 boxes to Seychelles, and carry the rest on our flights.
Prepping 8 boxes for shipping to Seychelles
This was a moving target… as we packed up our belongings on Selavi, we had to consider each item carefully, asking ourselves: is it valuable and hard to replace? is it heavy? is it essential for the next few months? This process took weeks.
In the meantime, we were running trips and also fixing the boat as we prepared for the sale. It was madness to pack in this chaotic environment, but we had too much to do.
In a last minute decision, I asked our friend Ian to bring extra bags from the US. Ian was doing our rigging survey on Selavi over New Years. Based on the website listing, the bag dimensions should work as carry-ons. Or so I thought…
This was the second drama at the airport in Papeete, at 5am that fine morning. While we fumbled with Zoe’s ETSA application, the French Bee check-in counter said my carry ons were too large. I put them each individually into the box that says “Your Carry On bags must fit here”. The ticketing agents said I wasn’t allowed to squish them in like I was doing (the bags were cheap and floppy). I told them to get a measuring tape, and read their own website policy! I couldn’t believe this debacle.
Our patient but exhausted 4yr old kids were slowly losing it. I was also losing it. When we were finally allowed to proceed, we experienced “insult ontop of injury”. Every step of the way — from the security check point, to the gate, to the airline stewards themselves — stopped us for having carry on bags that were ‘too large’. This annoyed me to no end, as I was also on the phone with French Bee trying to change Zoe’s flight. I was starting to snap.
The entire experience just felt like a bloody battle. From carrying 15 bags across the marina at 3:30am to fighting French Bee at every step of the way until we took off at 7:15am… I was spent. The worst part is we had lost Zoe for a few days, which derailed our plans upon arrival in SF.
Exhaustion central… noting how the kids legs flop over the seat uncomfortably, preventing continuous sleep. For the nextround of flights, we fixed this problem, see next post…
Reflecting on this experience, we could have prepared better to avoid these two issues. French Bee also could have done better by us. This is a lesson in customer service.
The French Bee agents were trying to “follow the rules”. Fair enough. The question is, when should we follow the rules precisely, and when should we accommodate customers and small discrepancies, in the name of making it work? Airlines get a bad rap because of this exact issue.
Fortunately, on our super difficult journey with United from San Francisco to Seychelles — which included 3 flights over 24hrs — we had a very different experience. This shows us that it’s possible for a company to provide amazing service in challenging situations, and also, for us to learn our lessons and prepare better 🙂
Good bye tahiti! View from the Papeete Marina, night before departure
Our very first Green Coco expedition teacher was Libby. She’s originally from Texas, has worked in Montessori school, and has been recently traveling the world.
She was aboard Selavi, our 46ft catamaran, for 3 months in French Polynesia. This was our last stretch of time aboard Selavi, before smoving onto our new 60ft Expedition catamaran, Nesi. We had been living in Polynesia for 7 years, ever since arriving here on the Green Coconut Run, our first community expedition (read more about iton Nat Geo, NPR, and Seven Seas magazine)
Libby helped us launch our boat-school program during this time. These 3 months were a preparation for our upcoming world schooling expedition which begins aboard Nesi in March 2024 in Seychelles. (read moreabout it in our blog posts)
We’ve done some crazy things over the years. Like sneaking into a prison island to surf, or that time we moved onto a new boat mid pandemic with 6month old twins to start a family-friendly charter business (!) It’s exhilarating to do risky things that can bring lots joy to us and others! We made this reel to celebrate some of these moments:
And now… we are selling Selaví to the most unlikely buyers! What makes this so crazy?
Well, we passed up on full cash offers for our boat, and instead we’re taking a much bigger risk — partnering with a family with young children who we don’t know, and who are still learning how to sail, to keep running Green Coco trips. And we’re loaning them the money ourselves!
It doesn’t make sense right? But it feels right.
Our co-op has empowered us to do things we thought were impossible. Now is our time to help this family live their dream too… and keep expanding the dream to others. That’s what this is all about.
Realizing more & more dreams — this is our co-op’s goal!
Here’s the nuts and bolts of how we went through it.
People wrote us from Caribbean, Greece, Mauritius, California, Australia, and Phillippines. We were fielding video chats on all time zones to interview candidates.
Video introductions from our Green Coco captain applicants. Thanks to all of you for being a part of this process 🙏
Amazing couples wrote us, with experience ranging from mega-yachts, delivery yachts, racing yachts, and all mechanical skills.
Most of these applicants were experienced sailors. Since they didn’t own a boat themselves, they recognized and appreciated the opportunity to leap frog the hurdles of bank financing, which is super tough, to gain ownership of an amazing off-grid catamaran, AND immediately have a private revenue earning potential from the co-op, which at the very least would cover their costs.
But we’re not just handing the dream on a silver platter to them.
Selavi in Moorea
Although the Green Coco sailing co-op provides a revenue stream, it is not guaranteed. Partners run their own business independently, and we help each other to succeed.
Our goal is to run a cooperative that empowers others to live this lifestyle — not to manage employees running boats. That’s not our approach. Green Coco needs to be run by real sailing families. This is what makes it authentic, unique, and cost effective too.
Kristian & Sabrina & little ones in Huahine
So yeah, there are risks involved in running an expensive boat. As such, many applicants felt they weren’t in a solid place financially to launch this project. They got cold feet because they were unsure they could pay their loan. Others felt they weren’t quite ready to move to French Polynesia and jump into full-time boat ownership so far from home.
Although living the dream is appealing, it is actually a bit scary once you start considering all the factors!
It takes courage and faith in ourselves to do this… luckily, we found a couple with these very qualities.
Sea trial with the new owners
When the dust settled, only one couple had many of the prerequisites for co-op partnership.
David & Eleanor were in the Philippines looking at eco-lodges to run when they came across our opportunity for Green Coco partnership. A year before they had researched catamarans to purchase, but hadn’t seen a way to make it financially viable in the near future. Thanks to Green Coco, that far-away dream was possible, now.
They had the right timing, the right personality, a burning desire, and decent financial backing. Only one prerequisite was missing. They are learning how to sail!! Oh… details.
At first we thought that was a deal-breaker. How can you run a sailing business, live aboard the boat, without have lots of experience sailing?? Yet, once we read their remarkable resumé, we were intrigued.
They are tough adventurers: bike touring in dozens of countries around the world, and most recently with their 3 year old in Baja over 2 months, offroad in through dust & rain.
They are mechanical all-rounders: they restored an old house and custom-built a camper van to explore with their newborn.
They are business-savvy professionals: they were partners in an international architecture firm for years before choosing a life of adventure.
Most importantly, they are supremely even-keeled: they are calm, collected, and fun, under all kinds of stressful situations.
Plus, we thought: isn’t this what Green Coco is all about? Make impossible dreams possible? As long as people have the right fundamentals, we believe skills are learn-able. Having the right attitude is harder to teach. These guys obviously have that:
To get around any handicap of sailing skills, David & Eleanor outlined an audacious plan: to hire captains for the first year to run the boat while they slowly began to host guests. They laid out a thoughtful approach, backed with enough resources to ride out the ups & downs. From the level of planning detail in their proposal, it was clear to us: these are people who will succeed at what they do. We are totally confident that within a year they’ll be competent sailors and great hosts. We’re honored they are entrusting the Green Coco cooperative to this phase of their livelihood and family wellbeing.
Green Coco continues to evolve as a private way to connect people who love sailing. By keeping it private, we can bypass the problems of conventional charter boat offerings — outrageous prices and inauthentic, floating hotel experience. Green Coco is about the magical lifestyle of sailing, and keeping it real so our guests can be part of it.
After a month of discussion (and lots of nail-biting I’m sure!) David & Eleanor signed a purchase agreement and put down a deposit through our maritime attorneys’ escrow. Then another month passed as the holiday whirlwind passed, dialing in questions of insurance, financing, and launch operations. A lot of heady stuff! We really appreciated their communication & openness through it all.
Then it was time to meet, shortly after the new year. Outside the ferry terminal in Moorea, it felt like a strange dream! Here we are, two families about to embark on radical life changes. They are taking over a superb catamaran in Tahiti; we are heading to Seychelles on our world schooling expedition. After all those video chats, it was uncanny to see each other in real life. In this moment we realized, whoa, this is happening!
Our meeting in Moorea — two families crossing paths
We spent the last several days cruising around Moorea, sailing in good wind (we even hit 9 kts of boat speed!) and showed them what the Selaví can do. Theory and reality are now in alignment.
How is this all going to shake out for our co-op members and investors? Those with Green Coco credit will be able to use their credit in many ways — aboard Nesi in our world-schooling expedition, or aboard Selavi in French Poly, or Aldebaran (which has been run by Billy & Kimber). Each of us brings a special community, and together we’re able to offer more amazing experiences to more people.
Finally, it’s time to move forward and sign the papers. We welcome our new Green Coco partners: David and Eleanor, with their kids Adie (“Ay-Dee”) & Julian. It’s going to be a super fun ride — let’s go!
Eight months ago, I took a wild chance and flew 3 nights to East Africa to look at a 60ft cataraman, motivated by an idea for a world schooling expedition.
Guess what? Our maiden voyage aboard on that new boat in the Seychelles is in less than two months, yowwzaa!! Hard to believe it is happening.
the plan for our maiden voyage in the Seychelles
The Green Coco Sailing community rallied like a tidal wave of interest, with over 90 families signed up as investors in the voyage, helping us purchase the boat.
our first Expedition investor call
Last several months we’ve been keeping our “heads just barely afloat” with our transition: creating the new educational program for the expedition, a video series in the works, and you know, just figure out how to sail through East Africa safely with kids…
route map for 2024
Throughout it, we’ve been hosting a packed schedule here in French Poly, and managing some massive pivots to deal with unforeseen issues… all while getting our existing 46ft cat Selaví ready to sell.
oh the good life in Hirifa… why did we leave you??
This has been an epic endeavor, as we neglected her for several months while launching our new program. Yeah, that ties in with my New Years intention for following intuition and doing what lights us up with the now and future in mind 😉 Lots of lessons learned the hard way.
After too many marathon work sessions, our catamaran Selaví is back in great shape, with all the surveys green-lighted. Feels like a miracle!
We’re ready for this monumental leap. Our girls are almost 4. They said they are “ready to say good bye and move onto the new boat.”
our new boat, Nesi
Selling our floating home, moving our life across the world to Seychelles, and starting a partnership program to expand our co-op with Selaví is next in our list.
Huge credit is due: If it wasn’t for our co-op members and families — their willingness to help, be incredily flexible, and supportive in so many ways — we wouldn’t be in as great a position as we are now. We aren’t anything without all the loved ones that shine around us!
here’s a little sampling of all the people visiting us the last few months that have helped keep our spark alive — from people visiting for 2 hrs for quick layovers, to others doing a 3 week cruise, the smiles have kept us going.
Sarah Fretwell & Jamie came for a quick visit. They went to the Marquesas festival, we were supposed to be there too! that was one of our big pivots. Sarah is a professional videographer who does amazing storytelling around renewable energy and humanitarian aid.
Bill Barclay & Cathy & sister + friends had a super memorable 3 week cruise of the Societies. This was our 3rd trip together here in French Poly — always super fun, they have great stories to share, Bill used to work for GreenPeace and Rainforest Alliance for years.
Ian Weedman did our rigging inspections and rig work to prep Selavi for sale, over new years, while enjoying sailing to Moorea 🙂 he’s an owner of the renown Brion Toss Yacht Riggers shop in Port Townsend, big blessing to have someone so experienced watching over our rig!
Frank Hurd came by for a short visit after his fisheries project with Nature Conservancy in Rangiroa was finished. We had just arrived in Moorea, after a bumpy 16 hour upwind bash from huahine in 20-30kts. Nothing broke, incredible! It was great to get in the ocean for a quick surf together with Frank and reset my stress levels.
Chelsea came with Elric for Xmas, we last spent time with them at burning man; in fact Elric is a founder of the Heart Collective. It was a sweet holiday visit along with Sabby’s mom.
We’ve also had new guests coming aboard that really embrace the co-op spirit, like Lia & Nathan who brought their 8 month old son; and Alisa who brought her two kids. Hosting awesome people has re-affirmed our confidence and vision in the next expedition plan, where we plan to host lots of families and adventurous couples along the way.
Couldn’t have done this without our awesome onboard teachers Libby & Zoe. The girls have been thriving under their care and gentle instruction. And our life has become much more sane :) They’ve both been aboard as they’re overlapping during this transition period, Zoe is coming with us to Seychelles to help with the move.
On a final note: my dad Bob, his friend Hans, and Lauren came to help me sail the boat to Marquesas back in October – and then we pivoted big time and went west to Tahiti. This was a crazy time and needs to be discussed again. The boat was in need of major repairs and Hans in particular gave me a gigantic assistance as we single handedly rebuilt the engine /cylinder head.
We’re super appreciative of everyone coming to help us navigate Selavi and Green Coco through this transition. It helps re-energize us to keep this going: thank you!!
We just sailed into Moorea to spend New Years. During the last 2 months, the weather has been breezy and unseasonably “wintery” but now the heat is sweltering in the southern hemisphere summertime. It took energy to escape the lethargy but I’m glad we motivated!
Entering the reef pass in Moorea’s SW corner
In the next few weeks, we hope to transition our catamaran Selaví to new owners, start a Green Coco partnership program, and move our life to the Seychelles islands.
We’re happy to unwind and reflect today, amidst all the furor of sorting stuff, packing boxes & duffle bags, repairing the all little things in the boat, and preparing to move onto our new boat in February…
Packing up boxes to ship across the world
Moorea is one of our favorite islands in Polynesia. It’s just so beautiful. This anchorage has epic snorkeling and great waves, a perfectly calm lagoon, and insane scenery. I ask myself, “why are we leaving?? It would be so easy to stay forever…”
nice view from the work desk
It’s a good question — why change? I think it ties into the heart of why people make New Years Resolutions. It ties into our philosophy on life, which can be boiled down to:
“Follow the stoke. Do what lights you up”.
On the surface, this may sound like hedonism. But actually, it is disciplined joy!
Resolutions are typically things you think you should do — what you imagine will likely bring you joy in the future. Like stop smoking and going to the gym. It is an investment in your future health and happiness.
Kaiana is packing her box for the move— herself included!
Honestly, if we didn’t have kids, we probably wouldn’t be starting this Expedition. We would probably be happy to just stick around French Polynesia, showing people around, surfing, kiting, and sailing. Why change a winning game? That’s a great question.
The motivation to give our kids a fantastic education got us on this track. We’re launching a world-schooling circumnavigation. Starting with this crazy move to the Seychelles, sailing around East Africa, and crossing the Atlantic. We sometimes feel swamped with this transition. We feel a bit sad to leave. But we know it’s the right thing to do for our family and community.
Sharing life together as community : we love it
This transition takes a lot of discipline… We are hustling and struggling to get it all done; we are bypassing some big-time enjoyment now, for the name of wellbeing later. What will light us up in the future.
New Years Resolutions are an exercise of this muscle of discipline. We are investing into what will light us up in the future. Right now it feels hard and unnatural. But it makes the foundation for a better life. Discipline is a tough skill to master though.
Luckily, sailing gives us a ton of practice with discipline. As captains we’re constantly confronted with a million decisions while sailing. Lines are chafing. Squalls approaching. Is the mainsail going to tear? Will we arrive before sunset? The answers are not always clear. To make the right decision takes a lot of energy. Sometime literally, with 45 minutes of hard effort for seemingly no gain. Yet inaction may have significant consequences. It takes a lot of discipline to make the right choices.
working on the mastworking on the hull
Making the right choices lies at the heart of seamanship. The goal is to reach the next anchorage in one piece! Preserving the integrity of the boat and crew morale are paramount. Not only to keep the boat from breaking down; so we can reach dreamy anchorages like Moorea and enjoy sunset with a nice cold drink.. that’s what it’s all about.
If the boat is weakened by issues, we may never arrive at that lovely anchorage… or if we do, we might be terribly stressed out. If we are vulnerable to breakdown, problems can spiral out of control. I consider this a low energy state. Boat and crew can be compromised. Bad news.
Over time (with lots of mistakes under our belt!), we learned the value of fixing things ahead of time. Those are the little things that nag us in the back of our minds. Discipline comes from following this intuition time and time again. To make the boat seaworthy and resilient; to increase the energy of each system, so the boat can always deal with ups and downs. To get us to those new anchorages and enjoy them fully.
In 2024 our resolution is : doing what lights us up, for the present moment AND for the future. This is such a dance. Let’s keep evolving, following the stoke and enjoying the dance!
