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.
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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 🙂
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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.
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 🙂
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.
