Latest Update: July 8, 2001 by Ben Marcus

10:50 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2001 BUSINESS CENTER OF GLACIER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MONTANA

MONEY Two, 5-minute sessions in the internet machine: $2

What is that line about ñRelying the kindness of strangers.î ThatÍs me, sort of. IÍm in the Business Center of the Glacier International Airport, taking care of business. They have a modem line and a phone line here, and I am taking care of all the things that were nagging me over the weekend.

Bernhard Ritzer sent me an e-mail that was gratifying. This is it, with my responses:

In a message dated 7/9/2001 4:54:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time, BernhardR68 writes:

Hi Ben, thanks that we can use the story in the mag. We'll have the mag translated in German, French & Italian anyway. We will make the story shorter as it's too long for our mag.

NO PROBLEM. TAKE OUT THE "GORY DETAILS" AS EVAN CALLED THEM.

We might skip the whole detailed story what happened there and more pay tribute to the wonderful person of Jay.

GOOD IDEA.

We have plenty of photos of Jay, but it would be great to get the ones from Mavericks when he was young. I know that the cover shot then was from Bob Barbour.

BOB BARBOUR TOOK THE WIPEOUT SHOT. VERN FISHER TOOK THE OTHER SHOT, FROM THE BOAT, WHICH SHOWS JAY DROPPING IN WITH ABOUT 10 INCHES OF RAIL IN THE WATER. AGAIN, IT'S A GREAT PHOTO FOR THE CATALOGUE OR THE T-SHIRTS OR WHATEVER YOU WANT. VSFISHER@MONTEREYHERALD.COM

Let me know if you hear anything more. I'll keep you updated with the Live Like Jay Project.

THANK YOU. I HOPE IT HAPPENS. THAT ISSUE OF SURFING WILL BE OUT IN A MONTH, AND THERE IS ALSO THE TRADE SHOW IN SEPTEMBER. I REALLY DO THINK IT WOULD RAISE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY

All the best

Bernhard Ritzer O'Neill Europe

I also sent a 1400-word version of the Jay memorial to SurferÍs Path and asked if the angle I took was acceptable.

I contacted Patagonia and got the names of their advertising and media people. I sent these e-mails.

Vickie Achee

Patagonia

July 9, 2001

Ms. Achee

A week or so ago I bumped into Yvon Chouinard at a retailers meeting for fly-fishing products in Last Chance, Idaho. I pestered him for a few minutes about a trip to Kamchatka I was planning to take, and also pitched an advertising idea I'd had in my head for a while.

He was distracted but polite, and probably forgot all about it, but I thought I would pitch the idea to you, just to get it out of my head.

I've been on the road since last October, exploring the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Last August I left San Francisco and drove to Alaska by way of the Yukon. While in the Yukon I got a feel for what the gold rushers of 1896 went through, and I wondered what kind of equipment they had to help them survive the walking and rafting and the cold.

In Dawson, in the Yukon Territory, I met an old miner I called Czech Frank who lived in a cabin with a for-real outhouse in the back. In our conversation, Frank produced a pair of beaver pelt gloves and said that even with all the high-tech materials out there, they were still the best thing for 60 below weather.

That got me thinking about an ad campaign in which you would compare the high tech outdoor-wear materials of the past 200 years to the high-tech materials of 2001.

For example, you could have a classic drawing of Lewis and Clark on the trail, with little arrows pointing to their buck-skin pants and elk-skin shirts and coon-skin caps and whatever they wore on their feet. This was the high tech material of 1806.

Next to that, you could have the same drawing of Lewis and Clark, except they'd be decked out in the very finest Patagonia wear, with little arrows pointing to the various high-tech materials that went into their pants and boots and shirts and outer shells, etc.

This ad campaign could be a bit of a history lesson as well as a materials lesson. You could do a whole series featuring famous explorers of the past who most likely froze their butts off and got bit to death by mosquitos in search of adventure: The Donner Party, the 49ers, the Yukon gold prospectors of 1896, the guys who got lost in the Antarctic (mental block. Chittenden? Chichester?). I heard about a guy who made the first ascent of one of the Grand Tetons wearing football cleats.

Get the picture? I don't know if Patagonia would do a campaign that borders on being so goofy, but I know Yvon has a sense of humor, and it might be a fun thing to do. There is plenty of history and material to draw on, and your art department and copywriters would have fun with it.

There, I've said my piece. Time to go fishing. I'm in Montana, with my Patagonia shell in my lap.

If you are interested, let me know. I like Patagonia and swear by their products, and I'd like to see you guys use this.

Ben Marcus

360-582-0061

TheBenM@AOL.com

What the hell, itÍs worth a try. IÍm going to send the same thing to Columbia Sportswear. I just think itÍs a good idea that someone should use.

I also sent an e-mail to Yvon ChouinardÍs assistant about the interview.

Mike Dunn

Vickie Achee

Christie Kelly

Patagonia, Inc.

July 9, 2001

Ladies and gentleman

About a month ago I called Yvon to ask his opinion on a surf trip I was planning to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Siberia. He called me back within an hour and had good advice. "Bring lots of Marlboros and condoms."

En route to Alaska to catch the flight from Anchorage I went the long way around through Montana and Idaho. Just by chance, I was in Last Chance, Idaho the same day Yvon was there for a retailers' meeting for fly-fishing products. I sat in on the meeting and listened to Yvon talk about fly-fishing and giving one per cent of profits. He had a good story about being confronted by a lumberjack on the Bulkley River. Instead of getting his ass kicked, he ended up helping to save a big chunk of virgin B.C. rainforest.

It was a good talk, and after it I cornered Yvon as he was coming out of the bathroom with my 1943 Kamchatka map. He was distracted but pointed out a few places and then went and fished the Henry's Fork.

I pushed on to Sun Valley where I bought every fishing magazine I could find and pitched all the editors on an interview or profile of Yvon, basically covering everything he had talked about in Last Chance. I called it The One Per Cent Solution, a play on a movie title.

The editor of Gray's Sporting Journal expressed an interest. I have forwarded our correspondence. Now I am wondering if Yvon would have the time and inclination to do this interview, most likely over the phone. I would fire questions and tape his answers and organize the interview and send it back to him for fact-checking and approval, if he wants.

We did something like this at SURFER many years back when he was introducing the indestructible surfboards. It was a good interview that caused a little bit of trouble, but I like trouble.

So, Gray's Sporting Journal is interested in an interview with Yvon. I wonder if the reverse is true.

I am on the road right now, currently in Hungry Horse, Montana and heading for the border. The Kamchatka trip is off because the airline that flew there from Anchorage last year no longer flies there this year, and I don't want to risk my friends' lives going the long way around on AeroFright.

I can be contacted by e-mail. I am ready and willing to do a good interview with Yvon at his convenience.

Thank you for your time.

Ben Marcus

360-582-0061 (Mom's number in Sequim, WA)

Again, itÍs worth a try and it will give me something to do.

Ike is currently charming the three ladies in the National Car Rental back office. He was yowling to get out when I pulled up at the airport, so I let him out, figuring all the cars would scare him. They didnÍt. He ran into the first open door, but he found a good audience. IÍd better got get him soon and get the van before I get towed.

I managed to scrape together $2 in change from under the bed and spent it on an Internet machine they have in the terminal. One dollar buys five minutes of Internet time, but both times it ran out before I was finished. Very frustrating.

So IÍm taking care of business, but still have no money. Now the situation is getting dire. IÍm going to run out of gas pretty soon, but I think I have enough to get back to the camp site at the Flathead River. Not sure whatÍs going to happen, but at least IÍm taking care of business.

19:50 MONDAY JULY 9, 2001 ALONG THE FLATHEAD, NEAR THE RIFFLE

MONEY Still none, but improving soon, maybe.

Hmmm, what did I accomplish today? I sent off a lot of e-mails which may or may not bear fruit. I drove from Hungry Horse to the airport and back, and now the fuel needle is just above the red. Time to conserve, conserve, conserve. I found out that my check from Surfing wonÍt be ready until this Friday, and I was tempted to pawn my shotgun at 20 to 25 per cent, just to have some money to buy some cherries, and other goodies. I caught a nice fish in the afternoon, and IÍm thinking of going back down to the river after I type this. Ike is wandering somewhere, having escaped the clutches of the nice women at the National Car Rental place who wanted to keep him. Looks like Evan is going to pull $500 out of savings to loan me tomorrow, and IÍm just hoping that all those $30 overdraft charges donÍt eat it all up. Money, money, money. Lewis and Clark had to worry about mosquitos and Indians and mud and cold, but they had plenty of money. IÍm in a van with about $10,000 in high-quality computer and camera and fishing equipment. IÍm just cash poor.

A guy just came by and asked if I had a cell phone. I donÍt, or IÍd really be poor.

Anyway, I spent quite a while in the Business Center of the Glacier International Airport, working furiously and dealing with bad phone lines and going out to check on the van and Ike every half an hour or so. The woman in the Business Center wondered what airline I was waiting for. I made up a story that I was waiting for my weird brother who was crazy in the head and I didnÍt know where he was. She fell for it I think. But she finally kicked me out of there to prepare for a meeting.

I finally found Scott Liska of Alaska Surf Adventures and got the scoop. He has a 43-foot boat that can sleep as many as six. He motors out of Seward and has a bunch of different places he can go, depending on tide and wind and weather. September is probably the best time to go, if we can handle some cold water. I told him we could indeed. He also said that if the surf was bad there would be salmon running and halibut and deer hunting, if we wanted. I said that we would wanted, most likely, although I wonÍt be shooting any more deer in this life. Did it once, 10 years ago, and still feel bad about it. Live and Let Live, I say, although I could see a Brock Little or a Chris Malloy going and stalking with a rifle.

All in all, that sounds like a fun trip. Having driven through Alaska with my finger in my nose last year, I know that going by boat is the way to go. Last year I stood on the ferry pier at Valdez and looked out into Prince William Sound and wondered what was out there. If we go on this trip, IÍll know. It is a spectacular place, with mountains in the five-digits running straight up from the water.

ItÍs going to cost $100 a day plus food, which means we have to buy our own drinks and groceries, but thatÍs no problem. IÍm definitely going to bring my salmon kit of lite soy sauce, ginger, garlic and orange juice, to make that concoction that Brooke Johnson makes, which makes salmon so fricking good you want to run home and slap your grandma.

ThereÍs another recipe from the naked chef I read in which you wrap the salmon in beer-soaked newspaper and smoke it as you cook it. There are few things in the world as good as barbequed salmon a few hours out of the ocean. Looking forward to it, and the halibut, too. Yum.

That is, if I can find people to go. I havenÍt talked to Brock in a while, and I need to resend e-mails to the Malloys. I called Colin Brown and asked if he wanted to go, and I should call Ruffo again.

George Nikitin might not go as the photographer, because he wants to go to Yellowstone with his friend the F.B.I. agent. I have an air ticket on United that I could use, and I might just fly down to Yellowstone from Alaska to join the m, although that would be a bit of waste, and what would I do with Ike?

Anyway, I took care of all that but left the airport penniless. I thanked the women for taking care of Ike, who didnÍt want to leave the air conditioning. I drove around the airport checking out one of the celebrated ñblack helicoptersî that all the government conspiracy theorists worry about. This one belonged to U.S. Customs, and made me wonder what they were looking for.

IÍd seen a beautiful P 51 come rolling through earlier and wanted to get up close to it, but couldnÍt find it. There were a couple of private jets and one of those strange, rear-propeller lanes IÍd seen in Hailey. There is a lot of private money in the airports up here and it makes me wonder who and what it comes from. It canÍt all be Ted Turner.

Then I drove back through Columbia Falls, stopping at a pawn shop to satisfy a weird fetish thatÍs been bugging me: sniper rifles. Not sure what sparked this, maybe that scene in Saving Private Ryan where Jackson gets that Nazi sniper right through the scope. Or maybe itÍs from this fantasy I have of picking off a certain Hawaiian scumball from up on ComSat hill while he paddles out at Kammieland. I donÍt know, but I went into the pawn shop which advertised all kinds of exotic guns outside, and got into a conversation with the lady behind the counter.

She knew an awful lot about guns. MontanaÍs gun laws are considerably looser than in California, and you can buy things in Montana that would get neighborhoods cordoned off in Los Angeles.

While I was there a bunch of Puerto Ricans came in and looked at Mac 10s and other automatic weapons. One of them ordered a 10-round clip for his Chinese SKS rifle. They made me nervous, but the lady handled it all coolly.

I asked about sniper rifles and she suggested a website. I flipped through one of her many gun catalogues and found a Rumanian sniper rifle for only $800 dollars. That satisfied my fetish for now, I guess. I donÍt know why I have this gun thing, but itÍs even stronger in Montana. IÍll never shoot an animal again, but thereÍs just something about guns. Last night while fishing I heard someone off in the hill rattling off some kind of automatic weapon, the same noise I heard while fishing the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

I left the store wondering if they might buy that 7 mil OÍNeill dive suit IÍve been carrying around for months. I donÍt need it and I got it for wholesale and I thought it might be a semi-honorable way to raise some dough until the other dough came in. WhatÍs driving me crazy around here are all the stands offering ñFresh Flathead Lake cherries.î You know theyÍre good and IÍd love to have some on my oatmeal. But I have no dough. Boo hoo.

Got back to Hungry Horse with not much gas, and dropped off Ike first thing because he was yowling. My car is starting to reek of cat pee and thatÍs not good. IÍll have to give it a good cleaning soon, but that takes quarters and I donÍt haveƒ.

I made more phone calls up at Hungry Horse and with nothing else to do I came down to the river. I spent the afternoon reading Undaunted Courage, writing my Montana fishing story and fishing the riffle I caught one really nice rainbow this afternoon, again by a fluke. I cast out and got a rise right away, and then let the fly drift all the way to the end. I figured nothing had happened so I started retrieving and there was a fish on the end. I assume all these fish are rainbows, although they could be cutthroats or bull trout. I donÍt know the difference yet.

I also put on the mask and snorkel and went diving, but didnÍt see much. The current here is pretty fast, and after all the time IÍve spent in the ocean, I wonder why I get spooked diving in a river in Montana.

In Undaunted Courage IÍve skipped ahead to the Montana parts because I need to find one descriptive sentence form Meriwhether Lewis in which he complains about the skeeters and gets all gooey about the scenery. This is for the Montana fishing story, in which I say, ñHere was a place that lived up to everything IÍd heard about it, from Meriwhether Lewis to the dying wish of that Russian nuclear sub officer played by Sam Neill on the Hunt for Red October, ïI should have liked to have seen Montana.Íî

So now itÍs 20:21 and the sun is going down and IÍm listening to NPR and my stomach growl. I havenÍt eaten much all day but maybe thatÍs good. The light is nice right now so IÍm going to head down to the riffle and see if thereÍs another hatch and try to catch another trout or two. I need to replace that bad leader. I think itÍs old and IÍve lost about half a dozen flies with it. And flies cost money.

Money. Crud. Wish I had some beads to trade or something. Yeah for Evan, heÍs going to deposit $500 for me tomorrow.