These are the Chronicles of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update: September 17, 2000

ON BOARD THE QUEEN OF THE NORTH

Shoot. Just wrote this whole thing out, and my computer crashed. It's been acting dodgy all day, mostly on DVDs.

I am in one of the big public areas aboard the Queen of the North, watching a Harrison Ford/Kristin Scott Thomas movie. It's 21:35. I've been on the boat since around 6:00 this morning. It's a 15-hour trip, so it should be over in an hour or so. I'll get dumped in Prince Rupert and from there, I don't know where I will go from there. On to Alaska, most likely.

Earlier I was watching Titanic on DVD, a strange choice on a passenger ferry going through the Inside Passage. I've been watching DVD's all day: The Man Who Would be King this morning, then Saving Private Ryan, then Titanic. I also was reading T. E. Lawrence's The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which is the best argument for the nomadic lifestyle the world has ever produced. He's an eloquent so and so, that Lawrence chap.

Most of the day I spent eating and reading and watching DVD's and occasionally looking out the window to see trees and waterfalls and rivers and lots of ocean, with the occasional tugboat and fishing boat passing by. The Inside Passage is monotonously spectacular. It all looks the same, but it all looks good. A lot like Norway.

Once again: A big boat and a sturdy crew would be the way to go through here. If you ever had to disappear, this would be the place to do it.

The day started with a bit of stress. I woke up around 6:15 in the parking lot near the ferry terminal. I was supposed to be in line at 5:30 and I was late, and I was hoping I hadn't blown it. I got into line behind only one other stand-by car, and paid $400 Canadian for a ticket. They asked if it was just me traveling. I was groggy, so I said: "Well, it's me and my best friend, Mr. Walther." They asked who that was, and when I pulled him out, they looked a little stricken and said I didn't have to pay for him. Nice people. A little shaky.

Anyway, as I waited to find out if I was getting on, the CBC played a tribute to Kurt Weill, which made the stress a little less painful. There were a lot of cars in line and I was afraid I was going to be stuck in Port Hardy/Port McNeill for two days. But they did let me on, and the only problem with that was they kicked me out of the car area before the Kurt Weill program ended.

And the rest of the day was eating, reading, watching DVDs and looking out the window. Not too exciting, but I've made some progress north and when I get off I'll be in a different place, several hundred miles north of my last location. Maybe there will be some northern lights.

That's about it for now. Doubt I'll find an Internet hookup on this boat.

SEPTEMBER 18 10:23 JAVADOTCUP INTERNET CAFE, PRINCE RUPERT.

Hello. Drove around Prince Rupert last night after getting off the ferry and the town was jumping. Not.

Found an RV Park which was just a hundred yards from the ferry exit, but how was I to know? Fell asleep listening to Olympics broadcasts on the CBC.

Drove around Prince Rupert again this morning and found another nice Internet cafÈ, where I am now. 17 e-mails waiting for me, but nothing from Hollywood. Damn.

They have CNN playing and T1 lines and it's all so very nice. Except the croissants are stale.

Got a lot of e-mails, thank you. Now I'm going to decide whether to take a ferry out to the Queen Charlotte Islands, or drive to Alaska.

I can't get onto my WellFargo online account to see how much money I have, so I may just drive to Alaska.

Weather is kind of crummy here right now, but that's probably the typical pattern.

Keep those e-mails coming.