With both boats magically anchored in 1500m of ocean depth, Mark is going to go “below the surface of the water.”  I think we call that “underwater,” but no worries…  I guess we will see what there is to see.  Given that we see pelicans and gulls, maybe they are closer to shore than I suppose…

Is that a microscope in panel one?  Part of the “special equipment” that Mark brought to use in this investigation?  CSI Trail?  So what’s Doc going to think?  “I don’t know Mark, looks like blood to me…  maybe shark blood.”

Anchored?  Really?  Not so sure about that…  the Gulf of Mexico is shallow along the rim, but gets deep fast – average depth of 1,500 meters. That’s the approximate depth of the Deepwater Horizon site… and where it lies at the bottom of the ocean now after exploding and sinking…  That’s a lot of anchor line…

“Any Ideas, Mark?”  “I don’t know , Ken…”  Of course he doesn’t know.  What credentials did Mark bring?  What earthly good was he going to add to this situation?  Apparently this is NOT something that has “Mark Trail’s name written all over it…”

You know who we need here?  Jacques Cousteau!  Or at least Steve Zissou, made (in)famous by Bill Murray in The Life Aquatic…

Samples?  of what?  Just looks at this poor creature!  Lesions all over its body, the once proud apex predator lies in state, soon to be poked an prodded in the name of… science?  Mark, you are journalist…  a nature writer…

Funny how Kelly is being totally ignored so far…  is she still on the boat?  napping?

Ponytail and facial hair aside, I am now convinced that Ken is not a bad guy…  despite that fact that those are traditional markers in the Trail-verse…

And, Ken, dude, that’s the same t-shirt you have had on for days now…  I’m guessing it’s a might rank by now.  And e-mailing the results to doc…  that sets you free Mark…  proof of your landing…  but where;s the signal?  You have satellite technology?  Does the Shur Ketch3 have wi-fi?    My, how far we have come!!

Words like “beautiful” and phrases like “a little fishing” are not consistent with that twin-engined, floating phallic symbol that you are piloting there, Mark…

So as Mark plays (hopefully) one round of “mine is bigger than yours,” we can (also hopefully) move this story along…

But why do we call them that?  Because back in the day, they were used to smuggle cigars and cigarettes in to the US…   and cigarette manufacturers were the main sponsors of the races that involved these over-sized, over-powered craft…  True Cigarette boats took a crew to run them- a throttle man or men, someone to steer, working the throttle up and down as the boat careened along, going in and out of the water.   Wiki honors this boat as the “Go-Fast Boat” preferred boat of smugglers…

Yup, that’s Ol’ Ken, shouting insults across the water.  Mark is back in his element- away from Cherry, Doc, and the young one that always wants to go fishing..  what’s his name again??  oh yea… Rusty.

OK, let’s get on with the story here.

Funny how things with remind you of things…  the binocular view in panel three reminds me of two shows- Flipper and Gentle Ben.  Both involved fathers who were in government jobs doing game-warden-type work…  I found that fascinating even as a young tad.  The camera was forever “peering through binoculars” in order to sneak up on the bad guys!

Do we have to refer to him by his qualifying sobriquet?  Reminds me of the old joke (grade school) “How do you spell Mississippi with one ‘i’?”  Answer:  (While holding a hand over one eye) M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I… Did Ken make his way from Itasca to the Gulf, thereby earning the nick name?  Is he a former pro wrestler so that there is no need for an explanation?

And thank you Mark for all this information- you are a regular floating wiki…  Of course I underestimate the depth of Mark’s knowledge on any given topic and his ability to reason while being catapulted through the seas by heavy horses…

Nice whale.  But do Humpback Whales ply the gulf waters?  It would seem that they do, depending on the season…  Summer feeding in polar waters and coming south to breed…

He’s really working it, Ladies and Gentlemen.  But really, what does Bill Ellis’ opinion matter at this juncture?  He never leaves the city unless it’s in comfort and only then to get kidnapped by rogue islanders…  And besides, if a “chemical spill” happened, it wold be impacting all life, not just sharks…

”

I am glad that Mark has not forsaken his wardrobe of khaki shirt and denim pant in favor of a Tommy Bahama floral print shirt and board shorts…  Of course we haven’t seen his bottom half, but one has to assume…  and it looks like he has applied extra Brylcreem to his coiffure in order that no hair be out of place…

Sounds like Ken and Kelly have been on a shark stake-out, waiting for Mark Trail to get permission from Bill and Cherry, and then for Mark to board a plane and motor out to the “middle of the Gulf of Mexico…”  I guess we now know why Mark needed a boat.  Ken wasn’t coming back to port and he shur couldn’t swim out to the site…

Thanks for all the thought bubbles… if Mark were to talk aloud to himself under these circumstances, he would have to yell…  which would certainly be awkward to witness…

…is the size and price of their toys…

Or is it Mark Trail meets Miami Vice??

Northwest Florida Beaches international Airport?  Serving Panama City / Panhandle Florida…  and Laguna Beach where Cigarette boats are apparently stacked up like cord-wood and ready for hire…  compensating for something, Mark??  He leaves Cherry in a puddle of tears, yet has no problem letting out a “Woo-hoo!”  How do you really feel, Mark?

And what about the carbon footprint (not to mention cost) of a boat that burns probably 20-40 gallons of fuel every hour at cruising speed?  Oh, all right, let him have his fun…  Won’t Mississippi Ken and Foxy Locks Kelly be surprised when Mark pulls up in this baby?!?

Cherry, that’s right, and there always will be, otherwise there’s nothing to write about…

It’s not like he’s going off of Afghanistan or something.  He’s going to the freakin’ Gulf of Mexico, for crying out loud…  if anything I would be worried about Mark coming face to face with a bevy of bikini-clad double-breasted bed thrashers…

Speaking of which, check out today’s installment on Billfish, Sailfish in particular.  Where would one buy a tiger-print bikini these days??

Holy Crap!  Enough already!  Remember, Cherry that Mark doesn’t age (or you for that matter…) no harm will come to him and that he will always return because his public (small as it might be…) demands it…

“Other people… people who are not good and virtuous like us…  have it out for you, Mark.  Even if they don’t know you right now, they will get to know you and want to do you harm…”  Good-byes were never this long or arduous in the past…  more like Jon Lovitz in A league of Their Own…  he made no bones about how he handled his life on the road as a professional baseball scout…

Mark, you really are Bill’s Bitch aren’t you?  Can’t make a move without his approval.  But really it’s more like you can’t make a move without his bankrolling you…

Boats? Really?  What Cherry really doesn’t feel good about are all the apex predators that roam Lost Forest 100 feet outside the front door…  Mama Griz is probably done digesting Rusty and is back for more!

Phew!  for a minute there It looked like Mark was going to be trapped in Lost Forest, his usual ticket out appeared to have lost faith in him… But let’s be clear, it would seem that Bill Ellis has him on a short leash, despite the fact that Mark is being given permission to rent a boat!

Mark is so pleased with this result that he has gone back to his old, “I don’ know how to hold a cell phone” ways…  So with the blessing and the funding of what is clearly the only profitable print publication left on the planet, Mark will now have to break the news to the Fam- he’s out of there!

What High Tech Equipment?  Mark, you are out of your league, here, buddy-boy…  and when’s the last time Doc examined a shark?  Ever?  OK, let’s just go with this…  anything to get this story moving.  But high tech equipment?  Email?  What? Is Doc house-bound?  Couldn’t make the trip with you?  Cramp your style?  Afraid he might report back to Cherry what’s really happening here?

So as Bill Ellis offers a supporting thought- “Good thinking Mark” – we look at the tall buildings of Manhattan and wonder whether the I.M. Pei creation to the right of the Woods and Wildlife Tower is going to accordion down like a giant origami sculpture…

… or more politely, “taking the mickey…” out of someone.  American version/response- “Hey there, Bill, you really had me going there for a minute…”

“Look Bill,” Mark would seem to be saying, “I know this ulcerated Shark lead is flimsy as Hell, but you have got to get me out of Lost Forest!  I really don’t even need a boat, I just need an excuse to hit the road!!”

Whatever Bill was drinking in that nice crystal glass is either meant to keep his right hand from going into a palsy, or is maybe causing it to… hard to tell…

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sure that Mark can’t quite believe his ears…  it’s almost a conspiracy, against which a chorus of “not my fault” is building in his head…  like Han Solo or Lando Calrissian from Star Wars…  he simply can’t believe that he is being held to account,  implicated in the blowing up of the SWAN, when it’s clear that he was on the side of GOOD, not EVIL…

Not unlike the “Trail” of lawsuits that followed Mr. Incredible… for all the good he did, there was a “Trail” of destruction and reprisal that followed, until he had to go into what amounts to Witness Protection… moving all the time, under a new identity, being forced to work a 9-5 desk job, getting bossed around by a Napoleon-like figure…

Well, let’s see if Mark has to actually rely on his own pluck, here, and not on some would-be limitless cornucopia of corporate advance money!  This is actually pretty entertaining!!

…but it looks like the magazine business is treating you well… have you been promoted to publisher or have you jumped ship and turned into an investment banker??  No more walnut paneling, mahogany desk, heavy drapes and overstuffed chairs…  Now it’s new office, Manhattan, veranda, million dollar view, cocktail in hand… it would seem that life is good!

As far as getting to the Gulf, Mark’s as good as there… Bill will never be able to resist his feature writer’s request!

Not my FAULT!  NOT my fault… Just keep saying that.  Not Mark’s fault that trouble follows him wherever he goes…  But seriously, KEN has a boat…  Remember the Shur Ketch3?  Why won’t you use that?  Why do you need your own?  C’mon, Cherry you have a least one more argument to offer…

But Mark is determined to get the hell out of Lost Forest, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to get that done.  Enough goodbyes!  Time to hit the road and see what ‘Mississippi’ and ‘Foxylocks’ have going on- certainly more that what is the reality at Lost forest!

Remember, Cherry, it’s just (repeat after me) part of his job…