SAN DIEGO — Christi and Eric Grab’s two-year voyage around the world caused many an eyebrow to raise, once other Southern California mariners discovered the San Diego couple’s longest previous cruises had lasted a mere three days. The thought of the pair traveling more than 30,000 miles was too crazy, too ambitious and just not possible, some said.

The married couple proved them wrong when they completed their cruise around the world in May 2009. The Grabs have reams of journal entries documenting what it took to accomplish their goal — and 10 months ago, Christi Grab decided to turn their adventure into a book: “The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People, Part 1: San Diego to Australia.”

The first of a four-part series, their account is written with the public in mind — allowing boaters and nonboaters alike to be captivated by the couple’s journey, Christi Grab explained.

“I wrote it to be the book that I wished I had when I was first thinking of doing this trip,” she said. “You read a lot of boating literature that talks about the highs and lows of cruising, but they don’t really explain what they are.”

Starting from the beginning, the author describes how a dream to travel around the world by plane progressed to cruising around the world by boat, at Eric’s suggestion. All the essential pieces came together over a four-year period: the purchase of Kosmos, a Nordhavn 43; enrolling in boat training courses and seminars; reading handbooks and cruising guides; and poring over nautical charts. But the couple lacked one important commodity: long-range cruising experience.

Not to be deterred, the Grabs launched their cruiser, prepared for anything and everything. Or so they thought.

The couple describes how they managed to deal with the seemingly never-ending first leg of the trip from San Diego to the Marquesas Islands — and how they adjusted to life at sea, learned to quickly retrieve refrigerated items during confused seas and mastered the art of “balancing” while in the head.

Over time, the couple overcame seasickness, adjusted to standing watches, learned how to Med moor and came to each other’s aid when normally simple tasks, such as warming up a can of beans, became more complicated while under way. On shore, they enjoyed sunsets in Moorea, French Polynesia; got acquainted with local customs; climbed up to the rim of an active volcano in Tanna, Vanuatu; and climbed to the pharaoh’s chamber in the Great Pyramid at Giza, in Egypt.

Readers hooked by the tales told in the first edition can follow the couple on their lengthy expedition and later stops in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean/Latin America. The couple’s route included a first passage from San Diego to Nuka Hiva in French Polynesia. They continued cruising the South Pacific to Southeast Asia, plied the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, traversed the Mediterranean, crossed the Atlantic, explored the Caribbean and cruised onward to the Eastern Pacific and Central America, before heading back home.

To purchase a book or find out more about Christi and Eric Grab’s world circumnavigation, visit kosmos.liveflux.net.