Author Archives: Eric

America’s Cup Racing in San Diego

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We were invited to attend an event centered around America’s Cup Racing on Sunday, November 20th. It took place at the Navy Pier in downtown San Diego, in a tent that was set up next to the Midway Museum. In this photo, you can see the tents to the left on the Navy Pier. To the right is the cruise ship terminal. In the foreground of the cove between the piers is the New Zealand vessel. In the background you can clearly see a French and an American vessel. Farther in the background a few more vessels are not as clearly visible.

At 1000, the event started. A speaker explained the history of the event. The 1851 World Exposition was hosted by Queen Victoria in England. As part of the festivities, there was a sailing race around the Isle of Wight (a 53-nautical-mile course). 14 British ships and one American ship, named America, competed. America won. The prize was a silver trophy, now named after that ship, the America’s Cup. A few years later, the America crew donated the trophy into a trust to be used as a perpetual challenge trophy to promote friendly competition among nations.

Over the years, the rules changed and the racing event slowly evolved (there were even several court cases to help determine what were fair rules). In the last few years, the sport has changed dramatically. It used to be that, Continue reading →

Reviews of the Unexpected Circumnavigation Part 1

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More Info About The Book:

The book is quite different from the blog in many ways, making it a more enjoyable story.

Jeff Merrill did an extensive book review on the Nordhavn site.

In March, April and May of 2010, it was Number 1 on Lulu in the Travel category! It was also the third top seller of all categories in March 2010.

Read an excerpt printed in Shelf Unbound Magazine’s October/November 2012 edition.

So what are people saying about the book?

“The author did such a good job describing the scenery, food, atmosphere and people, that I felt like I got to experience it too…The amazing and inspirational is in the book as well as the difficult and scary. It was a gripping tale and I can’t wait to read about the next leg of their journey.” Michael Floyd

“In a frank and friendly writing “voice”… Christi Grab does a terrific job of describing the joys and miseries of traveling the obscure South Pacific in a boat less than 50 feet long. This first leg of the Grabs’ bold round-the-world-in-two-years adventure is every bit as exciting and exotic as it sounds…I couldn’t put this one down!” Daniel P. Sniderman “Froggy”

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Passage from Oakland to San Diego

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When we initially arrived in the Bay Area, we stayed in South Beach Harbor marina, next to the AT&T ballpark in the heart of San Francisco.

As much as we loved being in the city, we didn’t enjoy the slip we were in at the marina. There was no Internet, it was a long walk to shore and it was so rolly we felt like we were at sea, particularly in the afternoons when the wind picked up. Christi would find any and every excuse to get off the boat, so she didn’t get much work done on the books.

After a month, we moved across the bay to Jack London Square in Oakland.

We enjoyed our time in Oakland. Not only was the marina good, we were in a great location. We had easy access to the Continue reading →

More About Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation

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Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People covering Australia to Oman is now on sale! Read the first few pages on Lulu’s “preview” feature and read an excerpt from Chapter 1 here (starts on page 18)!

Jeff Merrill wrote an extensive book review for the Nordhavn.com site.

Many people have asked us why they should buy our book if they can read our blog for free. Just like Part 1, the book is very different from the blog. Here are a few of the differences between the two:

  • Prologue: Picks up where the Prologue of Part 1 left off. It focuses primarily on the research we did as we planned for our journey and addresses the majority of the questions we were most frequently asked.
  • Several new stories from the journey – And there are some really good ones!
  • Many details have been added that were best left undisclosed while we were still on the journey (sometimes we didn’t want our parents worrying about us; sometimes we didn’t want to incriminate ourselves!)
  • In Retrospect sections with great insights — so you can see the situation through the eyes of a newbie as we learn, while simultaneously seeing the same situation through the eyes of experience.
  • Streamlined stories – some complained our posts were too long and detailed, the book is a condensed version they will enjoy more.
  • Formatting is first person, through Christi’s eyes – Some complained they didn’t like the third person format, so they will enjoy the book more.
  • Actual dates on each post. On the blog, the dates are not real time, which is a significant piece of information for anyone hoping to follow in our footsteps.
  • All profits will go to our cruising fund. The more books we sell, the sooner you can start reading about our next journey! So, buy one and get all your friends to buy one, too!

People have also asked us why we broke the series up into four books instead of only three. We had very different experiences in each of the four world regions, so it was best for each region to have its own volume.

  • In the South Pacific, Part 1, we spent most of our time in sparsely populated areas communing with nature. And we did a lot of rough sea time, learning about boating the hard way.
  •  In Asia, Part 2, we were mostly in densely populated areas building cultural bridges. Our sea experiences were also different from the Pacific, with both our best and worst passages occurring in this region.

November 2011 Update — Big News!

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We have a lot to update everyone on:

As we have already announced, Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation is completed. It will officially go on sale on November 11th, 2001 at Lulu.com. However, we are accepting pre-orders at a discounted rate. We have the book in hand and ready to ship.

We are working on a workbook entitled  Recipe for Success: What My Cruising Cruising Will Cost Me that will be premiered at Trawlerfest next weekend. It will be released for sale shortly thereafter.

We are teaching two classes at Trawlerfest, both on Saturday, November 12th, both open to the public:

“Recipe for Success: What My Cruising Will Cost Me”
A workbook detailing all the costs involved with blanks so people can fill in numbers as appropriate for them. As a class, we will go through the workbook and talk about what numbers are realistic to put in those blanks.

San Diego to Panama:
An overview of places to stop along the way, from marinas to anchorages, as well as some sights and attractions onshore. While going south is easy, coming back north can be hard! Some pointers on strategies to use coming back up, as well as information on Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama check in, rules and operating procedures.

And finally, the most exciting news of all! Christi is 4 1/2 months pregnant with a baby boy, due March 12th.