2009-05-18-1618Z


The agave beer I started on the 7th finally started showing some signs of yeast activity yesterday, but since I'm leaving today or tomorrow I canceled the experiment. The yucca blooms I started in a 3.6% (2 tbsp salt in 1 quart of water) brine solution on the 14th is souring nicely. It should be fine; I topped off the brine a few minutes ago.

Reading Karl Bushby's account of crossing the Bering Strait I'm having second thoughts about attempting it myself. My plan to island-hop the Aleutians by windsurfing or kiteboarding may be better in some respects, but that last jump across the border has one 300-mile run between islands. Even worse will be the political problems if I actually make it, if I get caught anywhere but in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. Karl went to the village of Uelen, and promptly got arrested. The only two ports of entry in Chukotka are Provideniya and Anadyr, neither of which are easily reachable directly, and require a special permit (propusk) for that region. By taking the more southerly route, I'm avoiding a lot of ice and a lot of beaurocratic hassles; with a good North wind, I'll be only days from Japan via the Kuril islands. A 30-day dual-entry tourist visa ought to do the trick, though it will leave me only two or three weeks to enjoy Japan, and I'll need a boat ride to Petropavlovsk afterwards; not sure those are even available. Tacking against the wind is of course possible, but slow going. 90-day "guest" or "visitor" visas are available too, but they're only single-entry.

Back to blog or home page

last updated 2009-05-26 19:36:56. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com