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Sailing Around the World With AFCEA

Former president of the Tallinn Chapter sets sail to promote the nonprofit.

Jüri Grigorjev takes the AFCEA flag to Vigo, Spain.

Jüri Grigorjev, who retired from leading AFCEA’s Tallinn Chapter three years ago, has embarked on a two-year journey to help AFCEA gain popularity in Estonia.

The Tallinn Chapter was established in 2006 and is part of the Nordic region of chapters. However, Grigorjev said the organization hasn’t gained much recognition in Estonia and has been trying to reach a younger audience for a while.

Even after retiring from seven years of service to the Tallinn Chapter, Grigorjev said he wanted to spread the word about AFCEA. So, when an offer from a friend to sail around the world on the catamaran Breeze arose, Grigorjev saw it as an opportunity to take scenic photos for the chapter’s new website, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

“Exploration has been interesting and inspiring to young people since the beginning of time, hence the idea that when they look at interesting pictures from different parts of the world, they will inevitably browse other articles on the website that relate to the activities of the AFCEA Tallinn chapter,” Grigorjev said.

Maj. Gen. Erich Staudacher, GEAF (Ret.), former AFCEA Europe general manager, donated an AFCEA flag to Grigorjev, and he has been taking photos with the flag at every port he has visited along his route.

The journey officially began on September 12, 2024, from the small Estonian island of Hiiumaa, and the plan is to arrive back at the same port in September 2026.

Grigorjev said the best parts of the trip so far have been the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, 180-degree rainbows and the joy of exploring new places. Even solving problems and learning to work as part of a crew has been enjoyable for Grigorjev.

“Sailing itself is already a calming activity when you are faced with the forces of nature and you manage to use them to achieve your goals,” he said.

His crew has faced a few challenges—storms, a broken crosswind sail, mainsail hoist and damaged engine—so the journey is never boring, Grigorjev said. Each port presents the opportunity to make repairs before setting sail for the open ocean again.

So far, the crew has sailed more than 12,000 nautical miles, stopping at places like Easter Island, the Gambier Islands, Raroia and Toau Atoll. Next up is Tahiti.

Anyone interested in following Breeze’s around-the-world trip in real time can visit this PredictWind website, which features the boat’s location, the weather in the area at that time and updates from Breeze’s captain as they voyage.