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These are the Chronicles of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update:
September 22, 2000

2:55 (Alaska time) ON BOARD THE MATANUSKA, BETWEEN HAINES AND JUNEAU

The Matanuska left Skagway a few hours ago, around 11:00 and stopped at Haines a little while ago, and is now making way through the very dark Inside Passage to Juneau. I don't know why they run this ferry so late, but I think I'm missing out on some scenery. Right now I'm on a couch in the cocktail lounge which is smoky and claustrophobic, but at least it's warm.

There are people sleeping in plastic chairs in the solarium deck which has much fresher air, but I didn't want to sleep on a plastic chair.

I waited in line for the ferry for about two hours, and finally got on and went upstairs. I had a piece of cherry pie and a cup of coffee, and watched Goodfellas on the DVD. The house where Joe Pesci gets whacked at the end is in Sacramento, not New Jersey. I learned that and many other things on the Internet Movie Database.

Anyway, there's not much to report. I'm sleeping okay except that I can't breathe, but I should be in Juneau by four or five in the morning. There are a lot of people on this ferry who are bailing out on Alaska for the winter. Just about everyone I've talked to shake their heads and make that same noise Lurch makes, when they are discussing winter. Apparently winters really suck in Alaska. Blistering, deadly cold, very little sunlight and expensive heating bills. Not sure I'll stick around for that, but we'll see.

I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow or two days from now, much less a month from now. But it's fun that way, sort of.

9:51 SOAPY'S INTERNET CAFE, JUNEAU ALASKA

The ferry got in around 7:00 this morning, I got off okay and drove into Juneau, and found the cliff-side home of Peter Otsea. Saw Margie-his-wife and their two lovely kids, then he was off to work.

I walked down the hill to this Internet cafÈ, eager to see the response to my whiney "money" dispatch. Some people took the bait, and told me I was bitter, and to stop whining, and to move to Washington.

Truth is, I write those somewhat incendiary e-mails just to get some kind of response, good or bad. I've always been that way, even at SURFER, which is why people love me so much. I don't mind stirring things up, but that's what a media dingaling is supposed to do, right? Only problem is, it gets me in trouble all the time. But I prefer trouble to being a politician and a kiss-ass, no?

Anyway, I'm not all that worried about money or swell.com or anything, really. I'm wandering, and that's the way I wanted it. Sometimes I get cranky, like when I am waiting for a ferry in a tourist trap like Skagway, and I write cranky e-mails. I was just clearing my head with that one.

Again, I write e-mails about Mr. Walther and Dudley Doright and money just to get some kind of response. I put in a lot of work and money to find these internet cafes, so I want something to be waiting for me when I get there.

Keep it coming. I'm not bitter.

I'm watching Norway vs. USA volleyball on TV right now. I'm back in the U.S. of A.

Not sure how long I will stay in Juneau or where I'm going from here. But if the weather stays as gray and gloomy as it is now, I'm outta here.

Today I am going to find a laundromat and clean everything. I wreek of cigarette smoke and everything else. Time to make the inside of the van as fresh as the outside. And me, too.

Peter has taken a job in Yakutat and will be moving there soon. I've been in his ear about establishing a small B and B sort of surf camp out there. Could be a way to pay the mortgage.

 

 

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September 21, 2000
September 21, 2000

September 20, 2000
September 19, 2000
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September 18, 2000
September 17, 2000
September 16, 2000
September 15, 2000
September 15, 2000
September 14, 2000
September 13, 2000
September 12, 2000
September 10, 2000
September 10, 2000
September 8, 2000

September 8, 2000
 

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