In Search Of Captain Zero: My Chance Encounter with Allan Weisbecker

Two years ago I took a vacation.  I mean a real vacation. Sailing around the palm tree islands looking for secret surf spots and drinking a bottle of rum every night kind of vacation.   Luckily for those hammock moments a friend had suggested reading Allan Weisbecker's amazing tale, In Search of Captain Zero.  It was truly one of those "I dare you to pry this thing out of my hands and make me look at the bikinis and beach breaks" kind of reads.  If you are looking for Hunter S. T's  and Kerouac's long lost cousin, look no further. In terms of brass balls and lunatic schemes filled with desperadoes, delusions and dirt roads, Weisbecker goes toe to toe with Neal Cassady/ Dean Moriarty any day.  In general I am a fan of borderline madmen, the kind who aren't the life of the party but the party incarnate, not because they are overtly comical but because they hum on a different frequency and teem with barely contained vitality.  I was so captured by the story that I devoured his website CHECK THIS OUT!!!and pre-ordered his next book, Can't You Get Along With Anyone (A Writer's Memoir and a Tale of a Lost Surfer's Paradise) which was basically a true story about the ensuing rise and subsequent fall out of the success of Captain Zero and his uncovering a murder while writing a magazine article for an well known magazine.  Here's the kicker, the book is about as raw and truthful as I have ever read in regards to being a soul being chewed up after writing something successful, however due to his wrenching honesty and condemning reporting he is being sued by several  well funded people in order to keep this book off the shelves.  It's so Kafka meets Rushdie that I wouldn't be surprised if someone else writes a book about this book (CYGAWA) which is about his other book (Cpt. Zero) all why dodging VERY real death threats from the various people that are trying to kill Weisbecker. Believe me this is not a man trying to build bullshit hype...  I know because I had the strange opportunity to spend a few hours with the man in a remote corner of our country.

It goes something like this, having devoured CYGAWA over a long weekend in Montana (long story) I found myself at a friend of my wife's wedding in Montauk, NY.  In case you are not familiar with Montauk, find a map of Long Island and go to the Eastern most edge, on a tiny point of land sits this funky little hamlet.  It's the hood where Jackson Pollack found his style, lived and is buried. Anyway, since I didn't really know anyone at the wedding I spent the morning surfing a nice left off an old submerged jetty. Being an outsider with out of state plates I am always wary of surfer "localism" (if you have never surfed but you've seen the cinematic masterpiece Point Break you understand the term) However, since there were very few people in the water I tried to saddle up to some of the older crew setting up a bit further outside the short board break.  I didn't get too close but I could have sworn one looked pretty close to the picture of Weisbecker's dust cover, not to mention his riding style which I checked out many times on his website.  From his books I knew that he originally hailed from Montauk which I figure aided my hyped imagination. After getting some stare backs that made my feel I was encroaching a bit into the alpha male grouping I paddled closer to the beach. Safely back in the car I couldn't shake the potential sighting especially since he had made it explicitly clear through his website and e-newsletters that he was in perpetual hiding ala a writer's witness protection program and was currently in the "islands".  I was so rattled I whipped out the crackberry in the parking lot and fired off this missive to a random IP address I had gleaned from his website: 

Allan-
In hopes that this finds you, my name is Jay Sweet, I am one of the many people you thank in the pre-ordered copies of "CYGAWA." I finished the book on the way back from a long weekend in Montana where I was soaking in some big sky and viewing forest fire aftermath. I must say it was a compelling read, my favorite character being Lesley (sp?) From the UK; "are you fucking insane...." Indeed. Anyway I am the editor at large of PASTE magazine (www.pastemagazine.com ) whose tagline is signs of life in music, film, and culture. Having read "ISOCZ" and the latest, I feel strongly that you are a sign of life.  I also believe in cosmic symmetry. In other words we have been living somewhat similar lives only I am exactly two decades behind you. I gave up screen-writing and films all together after working for The Farrelly Brothers (Dumb and Dumber, Something About Mary, Me, Myself and Irene) which you mention in your latest, I moved home to the house I grew up in after my father's stroke, (sound familiar). I surf my local break in Gloucester, MA with joyful abandon, Blue highways being in my top five books alongside Cormac's trilogy, I lived in Mal Pais, Costa Rica for awhile before moving to Ecuador, and now I make part of my living writing about the life of rock stars and as a music consultant on feature films. I was even asked by S. P. (Who I am pretty sure is one of your main foils in the latest) to work help with some music on another doc of his three years ago which you'll be happy to know I declined. Anyway the reason for this missive is I am writing this on my crackberry staring at the Montauk lighthouse with my wave ride on the roof. I'm in town for the weekend for a wedding and the northwest wind is fucking with the only wave I know about at Ditch Plains (that's what you get being a tourist ) although a guy who rides my secret local spot back home told me to try and sneak into some cove over by the military base. I am writing on the off chance you might be stateside here at the end of the road or even in the water as I type and open for an interview about the new book. Obviously, I didn't really plan on one, it just dawned on me of where I was and how I could help spread the word about  "CYGAWA" to our readership. Just so you don't think I'm a kook or a snitch Google me, Jay Sweet music (I'm not the female porn star also known as jay sweet on IMDB)  Worst case scenario maybe you can steer me to a better break while my wife visits Jackson Pollack's house tomorrow. I apologize for all grammatical errors and spelling but you try writing all this shit with your thumbs freezing your ass off after a cold surf session on your cell phone (that is if you can find it...... wink/nudge)
-paz/ chevre
Jay

An hour later on the way to the ceremony I received this text "Yes, I'm in Montauk.  Call me at the following number....".  I did and made plans to meet the next morning. We met at a crowded place and after meeting my wife he assumed I was not out for his head.  We jumped into his truck and zoomed off to the lighthouse.  He was even so kind as to bring along his tape recorder for me because I was so unprepared.  Our conversation took up both sides of a sixty minute tape. (if you want to read a transcript of the interview make a comment below and I will send it to you) I promised to wait a month to write any of this down so he could vanish again.  It's been 5 months and to be honest I haven't even listened to the tape since that night, because it wasn't really an interview...it was more like talking to a gum chewing, shit happens, conspiracy theorist who has you convinced he is 100% right and that everyone else is living a lie. It made me think about all the lies we as a public allow ourselves to be told, even though we ultimately know they are false. Keeping his sanity while everyone is telling him he is crazy has effected him not only mentally but physically. He is seemingly being held together only by the duty and effort to not let people get away with murder, figuratively and literally. He is a man battling the world when all he would rather do is surf a long left off some palm tree island.  Being a lone voice in a hurricane of lies and deceit it's hard to remain sane, but if anyone can take on the world, beat it into submission and then make it a story for the ages, it will be Weisbecker, because truth is always stranger than fiction. Do us all a favor and buy the book. 

Comments

[Stephen]

Great chance encounter and thank you for sharing it. I'm interested in receiving a transcript and any info on how I might get my hands on a copy of the book (CYGAWA)as that seems to be tough to come by since the recall and halt on printing.

[Liquid Element]

Can't get enough of Weisbecker. Was lucky enough to see him pick off one the best waves of the day at Pavones back in '02. I've been following along with him ever since reading CZ. What's the latest on CYGA?

[Chris]

I'd love to read a copy of that transcript. Thanks for sharing this story...I dig this stuff.

[Chris]

I'd love to read a copy of that transcript. Thanks for sharing this story...I dig this stuff.

[Ryan]

A copy of that transcript would really make my day!

[Ryan]

By the way Jay, any chance you want to part with that copy of CYGAWA? It's starting to feel like this book is never going to get released. I mean, I can only read Cosmic and Zero (and meet Zero in Puerto Viejo) so many times.

[Larry Bergman]

Hi- i'd love to get the transcript of your Weisbecker interview...
Thanks
Larry