As the mainsail's boom swung violently from port to starboard inches above his skull, Justin Grinstead started to think that a sailboat had not been the best choice of transport from New Zealand to Australia. After two days at sea, he found himself sailing into a bay filled with islands, at night, during a thunderstorm, covered in his own seasick vomit. Only two other people were on board, and one had just staged a mutiny. Sure, Justin could have flown to Australia and avoided boom-induced concussions, but that would have broken the rules. Half a year earlier, Justin decided that going on an adventure would be better than his established routine of waiting for more job application rejection letters. So, with less than $7500, he set off from Toronto and headed west with the goal of circumnavigating the world without flying. Over the next year, Justin travelled across five continents and two oceans without ever leaving the earth's surface. In addition to foolishly attempting to sail across the Tasman Sea, he took a container ship across the Pacific, stood at the base of Mt. Everest, had his life threatened by a bloody-handed Mongolian acrobat, rode the rails of the Trans-Siberian railway, and hitch-hiked through Baltic rainstorms. Skimming the Surface follows this cheapskate as he stumbles towards completing his global challenge.