[Lang]

Mike

I am not saying Ben was a nice guy but what has this got to do with the Half Safe journey? It's just grist for the scandal rag mill. Millions of people ranging from aggressive criminals, wife beaters, union organisers, vicious bosses, sporting thugs, egomaniac celebrities and every day obnoxious drunks, many fabulously successful in their fields, have all or more of Carlin's personal failings

Despite the sudden interest in Carlin's personal life Half Safe remains for the foreseeable future to be the only non-airborne machine to accomplish a full surface circumnavigation of the earth under its own power.

Yes he was rescued because of circumstances when he had a problem but he managed to come up with a solution by using available assistance and did not throw in the towel. Why he would consider scuttling a still floating vessel to tread water in the Atlantic is a mystery to me- I think that was after the freighter was alongside. The last thing the freighter captain would have wanted is to be stuffing around lifting a box out of the ocean, I am sure Carlin convinced him to make the effort. I concede that is help.

What I don't concede is the "snide remarks" about being helped over and over with finances and facilities (which all adventurers/explorers/pioneers/mountain climbers get as pre-planned support) and there was nobody who set out with him in a support vessel or provided ready-action safety teams or set up a rescue plan etc to reduce his risk. Today's sponsored heroes - and there are still lots of these great people out there - being helped over and over again have vastly more support and what to Carlin would be unbelievable risk reduction.

No man is an island and even fabulously rich adventurers like Richard Branson would never be able to carry out their projects without help "over and over again" from people with skills, facilities and knowledge beyond their capacity.

He did not promote risk of death as any part of his operation, in fact when you see him interviewed he took the extreme British stiff-upper lip attitude and dismissed danger, often with dry humour, as irrelevant. The journey was the thing and the risk was part of the operation.

I just mention the risk of death because that is at the core of reaction and what people want to place at the centre of an adventure story. What separates peoples attitudes to envelope pushers is their personal risk threshold. Those with a high bar can understand, the bulk can admire and the low bar people refer to Benjamin Franklin.