Opportunity: new captains wanted for the 42ft trimaran Aldebaran!

August 10, 2024 / Kristian Beadle

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 $$.
Inventory of parts available on the Boat listing page.

Why are we selling?

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:

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 Partner* *David & 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.

Details

The sale listing for our 42ft trimaran Aldebaran is 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 🙂*

Zoe: our Boat School teacher from Tahiti to Seychelles

April 30, 2024April 30, 2024 / Kristian Beadle

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.

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.”

Continue reading →

Moving across the world, part 1

February 10, 2024 / Kristian Beadle

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.

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 next* *round 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 🙂

*View from the Papeete Marina*, *night before departure*

GETTING IN FLOW — THE ROLE OF INTERSPIRITUAL MEDITATION

January 13, 2023 / Kristian Beadle / 1 Comment

Staying “in the flow” has helped me navigate the ups and downs of our expeditions. One of the things that has helped me ride these waves and keep it together is my meditation practice — although frankly, it doesn’t look like typical meditation.

*We combine our yoga practice with InterSpiritual meditation aboard Green Coco*. *Phaeton Bay, Taravao, Tahiti.*

Here’s a little back story on how I learned about this practice. I met Dr. Ed Bastian 20 years ago while running conferences about spirituality and environment. Nobody is keeping score… but honestly he’s more interesting than the Dos Equis beer commercial guy. He produced documentaries about India and the Dalai Lama; was saved by his famous Aspen neighbor Hunter Thompson (don’t die, goddamit!), ran cutting edge Smithsonian programs, launched a tech startup in the late 90s; and devoted his profits to start the Spiritual Paths Institute to give people a path to creating their own authentic meditation practice.

Dr. Bastian also lived aboard a 38ft sailboat for years, which is what originally brought us together! In 2013, we buddy-boated to the Channel Islands on a trial run for a meditation adventure retreat. Santa Cruz Island.

By working with other spiritual leaders, Dr. Ed Bastian (who has a PhD in Buddhism and decades of training) found the commonalities in different spiritual traditions and created a common language of contemplation. InterSpiritual Meditation was born.

Although I dabbled for awhile, I began to practice InterSpiritual Meditation in earnest once we embarked on Green Coconut Run, our cooperative sailing adventure from California to Tahiti. Initially, I gravitated to this daily practice as a stabilizing force during the adventures of our trip.

*SCUBA gear, surfboards, solar panels, life on Aldebaran as we launched Green Coconut Run in 2015. Read more about the first leg of our journey in Baja* *here*.

Every expedition has big ups and downs. In our case, being a cooperative trip, we scheduled an entire year at a time, to sail places we’d never been before, across thousands of miles in different countries, to pick up people along the way who didn’t know how to sail… On paper, this was a perfect recipe for disaster.

I love this photo, because it is backlit and could be anyone. What it captures though is the spirit — the fun loving, easy going, hard working attitude of our Co-op crew, that made the trip possible through the ups and downs.

Exploring by sailboat is an enormous joy, however. Waking up at idyllic anchorages, the freedom of sailing with the wind, watching sunsets after surfing and spearfishing with your friends — this incredible stoke fueled us to keep going. The highs were super high. But the lows were potentially very low… I had to manage my emotions from spiraling downhill.

*Squalls and lightning were frying our nervous system by the time we got to El Salvador in July, smack in the middle of the rainy season. In retrospect, bad timing for weather*…

*…but good timing for surf! Besides meditation and yoga, what kept our heads together and let us stay in the flow was doing fun stuff that raised our energy level: harvesting stoke.*

After all as captain, every day I faced a barrage of challenges from boat breakdowns, weather mayhem, bureaucratic dysfunction or crew turmoil. It would have been easy to say, “Enough of people and schedules! Let me enjoy this on my own!” Which a lot of sailors do, literally… even if they start as a couple, sometimes they end up solo, because managing each others’ emotions can be really tough in this wild rollercoaster. They call that “divorce sailing”, which we aimed to avoid at all costs!

Doing everything we could to keep our wonderful partnership in loving harmony. Kristian and Sabrina, Nicaragua in August ’15, where we moored the boat between seasons (read about our unique experience *here*).

The Interspiritual Meditation practice was one of the main tools I credit for helping me “keep it together”, both mentally, and as a community. It helped prevent the crash-and-burn I’ve seen with other sailors; and helped me stay in the flow so I could do a good job as captain.

Here’s how this practice is different, in my own experience. Meditation normally focuses on training the mind — to slow down, to become self-aware through attention and inquiry. InterSpiritual meditation does something slightly different — it elevates the mind. Through its 7 steps, it strengthens our character virtues. This gradually re-programs our idiosyncrasies, and leads to positive states of self-awareness.

Here are the 7 steps:

1. May I be happy & healthy

2. May I be grateful

3. May I be transformed

4. May I be compassionate

5. May I be mindful

6. May I be wise

7. May I be of service

Seems pretty straightforward? But let me offer a contrasting approach. If we focus daily on petty stuff, filling our mind with drama and angry, stressed emotions, that becomes the mindset we are reinforcing. Ever notice that if you’re around people who are constantly on a bummer, we become on a bummer too? Likewise, when my mindset was poor, I noticed I made more mistakes… whether it was fixing stuff on the boat, or dealing with crew members, little problems could spiral into big problems.

*I’m fascinated about how to effectively deal with adversity, or whenever possible, avoid it*… *Here was a big problem that could have turned into a gigantic one. Marquesas Boatyard, 2017. Read more about it* *here*.

When I kept a good mindset, our expedition seems to go better. I could resolve things more smoothly. I was able to follow intuition, and often (sometimes!) avoid problems. I was more in the flow, responding with creative agility and a playful attitude. I had fewer assumptions and judgments — which, in my opinion, are the root causes of mistakes, derived from having crystallized negative mindsets.

Here’s the way I see it: if we focus our intention on stuff we actually want, such as more love in our lives, harmony in relationships, fulfillment in career, that program permeates our state of mind. This is what InterSpiritual Meditation seeks to do; reinforce those universal spiritual expressions in ourselves, whether or not we practice a religious tradition.

A new course on InterSpiritual Meditation is starting next week on January 18, click here for details. I invite you to join Dr. Ed Bastian and co-instructor Alejandra Warden on an 8 week online course that will introduce you to InterSpiritual Meditation and guide you to create and refine your own authentic spiritual path.

I hope you find the same benefits as it brought to me, and the rest of our cooperative adventure!

Green Coconut Run

Adventure Sailing Cooperative

french polynesia