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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