Richard and Mike
Just finished the new book.
A good read.
The author obviously has limited practical skills and a quite a lot of insignificant errors in this area are in the book. He has no idea of scale or difficulty of undertaking repairs in trying circumstances. Several times he mentions repairs in dramatic circumstances using parts that Ben "just happened to have" or "found in the bottom of a box" or dismisses near-death incidents in a sentence.
That was not his focus, it was a human interest story with some really interesting characters. Ben Carlin was a difficult person who was his own worst enemy as he took not suffering fools to the extreme and had no way to work around people's weaknesses. He stuffed up the book deal by not co-operating and refused to co-operate with the press on a regular basis. He did have a few no-hopers along as crew which made things worse.
Really interesting relationship with Elinore. They were very similar in so many ways (drinking, smoking, partying) but Ben could not have give and take in the relationship. I wonder why she did not leave after the Atlantic but she obviously still had the passion for something. Notoriety, parties ??? Or maybe she just loved him.
The interesting thing about Ben in particular was the way people welcomed them into their homes and offered use of facilities for days, weeks and even months. Often when they returned years later they were welcomed back with open arms. People can put on an act for a short period to achieve some PR aim but not for months on end. They were obviously a welcome addition to the social life of their hosts.
The trip took over Ben's life for more than a decade but when it was finished he took on a successful career in publishing, was very astute in investing and died the equivalent of a millionaire today. His social habits were a bit too much for his extended family and he became more difficult as he got older, dying a pretty lonely bloke trying to reconnect with his lost daughter.
As I said, the author wanted a human interest story and trades on the heavy drinking by both Ben and Elinore, although he minimizes her drinking efforts. The Half Safe trip is almost incidental to the Ben Carlin story and just the connecting thread.
A lot of research and proven evidence but I would dispute some of his conclusions, particularly the black and white statements about why Ben acted as he did from his childhood traumas and other life disappointments. Pretty presumptuous to assume you know what is going on in someones mind, particularly someone you never met.
Buy the book, good read, and a look into the life and times of adventure past.
Lang
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