For Father's Day, we reflect on the fathers, sons, daughters, and grandchildren who have helped shape Trilogy's story for more than fifty years.

Jim and Randy Coon with all of their children and grandchildren

Father's Day often brings us back to the people who shaped us.

Some fathers teach us how to work with our hands. Others teach us how to treat people. The lessons often look small at the time, but they have a way of lasting for generations. Sometimes the greatest things a father leaves behind aren't things at all. They're experiences and a way of seeing the world.

For the Coon family, those lessons have traveled a long way.

Long before Trilogy became Maui's first sailing company, before the catamarans, before the cinnamon rolls, before more than fifty years of welcoming guests aboard, there was simply a father and his family trying to rebuild after losing nearly everything.

Today, five generations later, that same spirit continues to shape Trilogy. It lives in the captains who guide guests across the channels of Maui Nui, in the children growing up around docks and boats, and in the values passed from one generation to the next.

This Father's Day, we're reflecting on the fathers, sons, daughters, grandchildren, and extended ʻOhana who continue to carry that legacy forward.

Before there was trilogy

The story of Trilogy doesn't begin on Maui. It begins in Alaska.

Capt. Eldon Coon spent years operating a successful charter boat business in Southeast Alaska. The ocean was already woven into the fabric of family life. But in 1969, everything changed when his vessel, the Mañana, was lost in a shipwreck.

For many families, that might have marked the end of a dream. For Eldon, it became the beginning of a new chapter.

Together with his wife Jeannette, sons Jim and Rand, and daughter Pattie, the family sold their home, moved to Seattle, and began building a boat with their own hands. The project would take years of work, determination, and more than a little faith. Eventually, the 50-foot trimaran would be launched under a fitting name: Trilogy.

Looking back decades later, Jim reflected on those early years and the uncertainty that surrounded them.

"We didn't have a clue what the future held, but our wanderlust and faith kept propelling us forward."

That willingness to embrace the unknown became one of the defining traits of the family Eldon was building. It's a legacy that still resonates today. As Denver Coon reflects on fatherhood and the generations that have followed, he sees that same thread connecting past and present.

“Being a father in a family business means getting to pass on more than just a livelihood—it’s passing on values, traditions, and a way of seeing the world”

— Denver Coon

Long before there was a company to inherit, Eldon was passing down exactly those things. Not a business plan. Not a fleet. Not a brand. A belief that challenges could be met with hard work. A love of the ocean. A willingness to take risks together as a family. Years later, Randy would often recall one lesson his father repeated throughout their lives:

That lesson would help guide the family through an ambitious journey that few could have imagined. Because once the trimaran was complete, the Coon family didn't simply launch a boat. They set sail into the unknown.

Sailing Toward the Unknown

When the trimaran Trilogy was finally launched, the Coon family wasn't setting out to build a tour company. They were setting out on an adventure.

With Eldon and Jeannette at the helm, and Jim, Rand, and Pattie aboard, the family began what would become an extraordinary two-year voyage across the Pacific. Their route carried them through Mexico, Central America, South America, the Galápagos Islands, and countless anchorages throughout the South Pacific before eventually bringing them to Hawaiʻi.

What makes the story remarkable isn't just the distance they traveled.

It's the uncertainty. There was no detailed business plan waiting at the end of the journey. No guarantee of success. No certainty about where they would eventually settle. The family simply followed the opportunities that appeared before them, trusting in their skills, each other, and the boat they had built together.

Every day, Trilogy's captains navigate the same channels between Maui, Lānaʻi, and Molokaʻi that have connected people for generations. While the boats have changed and the company has grown, the sense of wonder that first inspired Eldon and his family to set sail remains very much alive.

For Riley Coon, that connection runs even deeper.

"It's cool to think that every group from my family heritage originally sailed to these islands—Hawaiian/Polynesian, Chinese plantation workers, and my paternal grandparents building the original Trilogy boat sailed to these shores."

As a captain, Riley spends his days reading the winds, clouds, currents, and changing conditions of the ocean. In many ways, it's a continuation of traditions that stretch far beyond any one generation.

"Being out on the water every day, in the same channels and waters my Hawaiian ancestors navigated, reading the same winds and clouds—it's hard to put into words, but it means a lot."

For the Coon family, the voyage that began aboard the original Trilogy didn't end when they reached Hawaiʻi—it simply found its home.

Finding Home on Maui

When the Coon family first arrived in Hawaiʻi, Maui wasn't meant to be the final destination. The original plan had been simple: replenish their cruising funds and continue sailing around the world. But sometimes life has other plans. Something about Maui felt different.

The beauty of the island certainly played a role, but what truly captured the family's heart was something much deeper—the people. Years later, Jim Coon would recall that feeling immediately. "When we arrived on Maui, it instantly felt like home." What began as a temporary stop slowly became something more permanent. The family built relationships, put down roots, and found themselves drawn not only to the island itself but to the community that welcomed them.

Before long, Eldon, Jeannette, Jim, and Randy found a way to combine the things they loved most: sailing, hospitality, and sharing the places that had become meaningful to them.

On July 5, 1973, Trilogy carried its first six guests across the channel to Lānaʻi. Looking back, it's easy to see that day as the beginning of a company. At the time, it was simply a family sharing an experience they loved.

Guests weren't greeted by a polished tourism operation. They were welcomed by the Coon family. Jeannette prepared food for guests. Eldon worked the grill. Jim and Randy helped guide visitors through places that had quickly become special to them. Long before Trilogy became known for sailing adventures on Maui, it became known for something much simpler: treating guests like family.

That spirit remains part of Trilogy today. Many guests still start their day with Mom Coon's famous cinnamon rolls, a tradition that has continued through generations of the family.

More than five decades after those first sails, that same sense of connection continues to shape the company. Not because it was written into a business plan. Because it was modeled by parents who showed their children the importance of hard work, hospitality, and caring for the people around them.

Looking back, the greatest thing Eldon and Jeannette built on Maui wasn't a sailing company. It was a foundation strong enough for future generations to build upon.

What Fathers Pass Down

Three Generations of Coon Men: Randy Coon with his son, Denver Coon, and his grandson.

More than fifty years have passed since Eldon Coon and his family first arrived on Maui.

The trimaran they built in Seattle is no longer sailing these waters. The small family operation they started has grown into a company that has welcomed generations of guests aboard.

Yet some things have remained remarkably consistent. For Riley Coon, fatherhood has given him a new perspective on the legacy he inherited:

"Being a Dad in a multi-generational local family business is something I think about a lot. It's not just about continuing something—it's about shaping what it becomes for my kids."

Like his father and grandfather before him, Riley spends his days on the ocean. As a captain, he helps guests experience the same waters that have shaped generations of his family. As a father, he's focused on something even bigger.

"Raising them around the ocean and on boats feels like a continuation of something bigger than us."

Today, Denver and Riley are raising children of their own around the same ocean that shaped the generations before them.

Sons of a Son of a Son of a Sailor

For all the ways Trilogy has changed over the past five decades, one thing remains remarkably familiar. There are still children growing up around boats. There are still family dinners filled with stories from the ocean. There are still lessons being passed from one generation to the next—not in a classroom, but on the water. Today, that legacy continues through the fifth generation of the Coon family.

The next generation isn't learning about the ocean from old photographs or family legends. They're experiencing it firsthand.

They're growing up around docks, boats, and family gatherings. They're learning from parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. They're building their own connection to the ocean and to the traditions that have shaped their family for decades. The legacy being passed down isn't reserved for sons alone.

Today's daughters are growing up on the docks, aboard boats, and around the ocean just as generations before them did. They are learning the same values, hearing the same stories, and building their own connection to the waters that have shaped this family for decades. After all, daughters become stewards of family traditions too—and many fathers first discover the meaning of fatherhood because of the daughters who changed their lives.

For Denver, those experiences are what matter most.

"Through sailing and working alongside family, they get to inherit knowledge, experiences, and a deep respect for the ocean and the people who depend on it."

As Riley reflects on raising his own children, he sees those same values taking root in the next generation. "Having my kids at Kamehameha Schools deepens that even more. It reminds me that what we're doing isn't just a business—it's about staying connected to culture and values, and passing that on."

The boats may be larger today. The company may have grown beyond anything Eldon could have imagined. But the heart of the story remains remarkably unchanged: families spending time together on the ocean and creating memories that will one day become stories of their own.

Perhaps that's why Father's Day feels especially meaningful in a family like this. The boats may change. The generations may change. But the moments that matter most remain the same: time spent together, lessons shared along the way, and memories that one day become family stories of their own.

The Trilogy ʻOhana

While this story begins with the Coon family, it has never belonged solely to them.

For more than five decades, Trilogy has been shaped by the people who have stepped aboard—not just as employees, but as part of an extended ʻOhana.

Today, fathers can be found throughout the company. They are captains navigating the channels between Maui and Lānaʻi. They are crew members teaching guests how to snorkel. They are mechanics keeping boats running safely. They are managers, reservation agents, and dock staff balancing work with the responsibilities of raising families at home.

For Riley, that's one of the things he appreciates most about Trilogy today.

"It's pretty special to have multiple generations and direct family members working side by side, building this together."
Family legacies are rarely carried forward by fathers alone.
Behind every generation of sailors, captains, sons, and grandsons are mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, and grandmothers whose love and support make the journey possible. From Jeannette Coon helping shape Trilogy's earliest days to the women raising the next generation today, their contributions are woven into every chapter of this story.
As Riley puts it:

This Father's Day, we're grateful not only for the fathers in the Coon family, but for all the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and families throughout the Trilogy ʻohana who help make this community what it is.

What We Leave Behind

More than fifty years after Eldon Coon first sailed into Maui with his family, children are still growing up around the docks, listening to sea stories, learning to respect the ocean, and creating memories with the people they love.

Some things change with time. Thankfully, some things don't.

From our Trilogy ʻOhana to yours, Happy Father's Day.

More Than a Business: Five Generations of Family, Fathers, and the Ocean