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Half-Safe: A Story of Love, Obsession, and History's Most Insane Around-the-world Adventure
In 1948, a young Australian mining engineer named Ben Carlin set out to do the impossible: circumnavigate the globe, by land and sea, in a single vehicle. The vehicle in question was an amphibious jeep developed by the U.S. Army, which Carlin christened Half-Safe, after a deodorant slogan. It was a mechanical mongrel that was supposed to move with equal ease across land and water but in practice wasn't much good for either one. Undaunted, Carlin and his wife Elinore set off across the Atlantic Ocean with dreams of fame and fortune, and of carving a small notch in history. What happened next is one of the most bizarre, remarkable, and forgotten adventure stories of the 20th century. In Half-Safe, author James Nestor endeavors to uncover Ben Carlin's fate and finds a gripping story of love, danger, and extraordinary perseverance that spans three oceans and five continents. Half-Safe takes us from the eye of an Atlantic Ocean hurricane to the sweltering Sahara to the impenetrable jungles of Southeast Asia—and into the mind of a man who could overcome everything but his own demons.
- GenresNonfictionTravel
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1991
52 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
James Nestor
19 books926 followersJames Nestor is a journalist who has written for Outside magazine, Men's Journal, Scientific American, Dwell, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Atlantic, the San Francisco Chronicle, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 18, 2013
I was hoping for something like A Voyage for Madmen, and that just isn't what I got. There's an interesting story here, but this particular telling of it comes across as an extended summary, rather than a real meaningful examination of this remarkable journey and the people who made it.
February 28, 2013
A short, bizarre little book, about a very bizarre adventure by a bizarre man obsessed with an idea to the exclusion of virtually everything else. Ironically, he succeeded in becoming the first and only person to ever circumnavigate the globe on land and sea in the same vehicle. This vehicle he was so enamored of was a discard of the army, an amphibious jeep that proved so useless it was abandoned and production canceled.
Ben Carlin and his girl-friend, Elinore, were sure that a voyage around the world in this odd contraption would bring them riches and fame. It did nothing of the kind, but you have to admire Ben's single-minded compulsion despite numerous brushes with calamity he slogged on. Elinore finally gave up on the hardships (the cabin when traveling through the warmer countries would reach 170 degrees melting plastic items.) She abandoned Ben after several years of hardship and a marriage of constant bickering.
"Finally, on May 13, 1958—seven years and 10 months after he set out across the Atlantic—Ben drove west toward Montreal, where he and Elinore had stopped in 1948. He was older now, 45, gray in the beard, and heavier. Over the past decade, Ben had traveled 39,000 miles over land and 11,000 miles over water. He had crossed four oceans and five continents to become the only person in history to circumnavigate the globe by both land and sea in the same vehicle—a distinction he still holds"
Ben Carlin and his girl-friend, Elinore, were sure that a voyage around the world in this odd contraption would bring them riches and fame. It did nothing of the kind, but you have to admire Ben's single-minded compulsion despite numerous brushes with calamity he slogged on. Elinore finally gave up on the hardships (the cabin when traveling through the warmer countries would reach 170 degrees melting plastic items.) She abandoned Ben after several years of hardship and a marriage of constant bickering.
"Finally, on May 13, 1958—seven years and 10 months after he set out across the Atlantic—Ben drove west toward Montreal, where he and Elinore had stopped in 1948. He was older now, 45, gray in the beard, and heavier. Over the past decade, Ben had traveled 39,000 miles over land and 11,000 miles over water. He had crossed four oceans and five continents to become the only person in history to circumnavigate the globe by both land and sea in the same vehicle—a distinction he still holds"
January 12, 2018
I didn't look at this very closely before reading it, and assumed it was fiction. It was shocking to learn halfway through that this insane story actually happened! A short enjoyable read.
June 12, 2021
James Nestor is by far and away one of my favorite authors. I love to read his dogged research on topics that I didn't know I was highly interested in until he introduced me to all the crazy scientists and practitioners of whatever topic he is covering.
Ben Carlin is definitely one such crazy scientist that is highlighted here, but there were so many let downs with this tale.
First, I'm very upset that I did not get to properly realize and understand Ben's female travel partner/wife. WHY DID SHE KEEP GOING ON THIS JOURNEY WITH HIM?? was she nuts? Did she have any background in travel? Was it only because she wanted to be famous?
Second, I wanted an exploration of how this man stayed awake for such long hours steering a land/sea jeep through the ocean. How did it never flip upside down? How did his fellow crew members not declare mutiny and throw Ben over board? I must know!
Third, I would have really enjoyed a more detailed description of how he enhanced this land/sea jeep through all those years of tinkering with it. All I was given is that he used neoprene which later divers adopted to use with their equipment. Surely there's more!
Anyway, I did like learning about this weirdo, but I definitely would have enjoyed learning about the weirdos who chose to spend so much time with him eating canned fish and spending weeks, months, and years with him as well as more about his vessel.
Ben Carlin is definitely one such crazy scientist that is highlighted here, but there were so many let downs with this tale.
First, I'm very upset that I did not get to properly realize and understand Ben's female travel partner/wife. WHY DID SHE KEEP GOING ON THIS JOURNEY WITH HIM?? was she nuts? Did she have any background in travel? Was it only because she wanted to be famous?
Second, I wanted an exploration of how this man stayed awake for such long hours steering a land/sea jeep through the ocean. How did it never flip upside down? How did his fellow crew members not declare mutiny and throw Ben over board? I must know!
Third, I would have really enjoyed a more detailed description of how he enhanced this land/sea jeep through all those years of tinkering with it. All I was given is that he used neoprene which later divers adopted to use with their equipment. Surely there's more!
Anyway, I did like learning about this weirdo, but I definitely would have enjoyed learning about the weirdos who chose to spend so much time with him eating canned fish and spending weeks, months, and years with him as well as more about his vessel.
April 14, 2021
An impossible trip made possible by a brutally stubborn will.
An awesome journey by a determined individual who lost his way in the journey. The stresses of some.obsessions can take a toll on the soul of the adventurer which did in this case.
An awesome journey by a determined individual who lost his way in the journey. The stresses of some.obsessions can take a toll on the soul of the adventurer which did in this case.
July 6, 2022
Super interesting story! My only complaint is that it is so brief, I would’ve loved more detail but unfortunately it seems as though there isn’t enough information available for Nestor to pull from. Besides that, fantastic book!
July 10, 2020
Interesting story but lacking some of the pzazz of most of the Atavist Kindle singles.
March 2, 2014
I'm a sucker for sea stories, and this is perhaps the strangest one I've ever come across. Ben Carlin somehow managed to circumnavigate the globe by land and sea in a jeep and boat hybrid. And nobody remembers that he did it.
That's probably the most interesting part of this whole story--the nobody remembering part. In many ways Carlin's journey is textbook adventuring, the kind we often associate with the late Victorian era, shades of Shackleton and his ilk, but Carlin's feat took place in the 1950's--too late for the romance of those earlier endeavors and too soon for the bold new adventure of manned space flight that would so capture the world's attention in the coming decades. In a way Carlin's stab at it was a reification of Modernism's obsession with iteration. The thing itself--circumnavigation--had been done, but he could still do it from another angle, a new approach. Doubtless there's something to be learned here. Perhaps something to do with the indomitable human spirit. But for whatever reason Carlin's journey never captured the hearts of the public at large. It's sad, I suppose.
Though the subject matter interested me the real reason I read this book was to try out The Atavist. I'd heard good things about their long-form nonfiction articles. I definitely enjoyed the digital extras here--the maps and photos, as well as the option for author narration and embedded community notes--but I'm not sure the content has caught up to the technology yet. Nothing here seemed to enhance on print or traditional digital reading in any meaningful way. Still, I remain intrigued by the possibilities and will likely read another article in the future. The stories are excellent. Ultimately that's all that matters in reading anyway.
That's probably the most interesting part of this whole story--the nobody remembering part. In many ways Carlin's journey is textbook adventuring, the kind we often associate with the late Victorian era, shades of Shackleton and his ilk, but Carlin's feat took place in the 1950's--too late for the romance of those earlier endeavors and too soon for the bold new adventure of manned space flight that would so capture the world's attention in the coming decades. In a way Carlin's stab at it was a reification of Modernism's obsession with iteration. The thing itself--circumnavigation--had been done, but he could still do it from another angle, a new approach. Doubtless there's something to be learned here. Perhaps something to do with the indomitable human spirit. But for whatever reason Carlin's journey never captured the hearts of the public at large. It's sad, I suppose.
Though the subject matter interested me the real reason I read this book was to try out The Atavist. I'd heard good things about their long-form nonfiction articles. I definitely enjoyed the digital extras here--the maps and photos, as well as the option for author narration and embedded community notes--but I'm not sure the content has caught up to the technology yet. Nothing here seemed to enhance on print or traditional digital reading in any meaningful way. Still, I remain intrigued by the possibilities and will likely read another article in the future. The stories are excellent. Ultimately that's all that matters in reading anyway.
January 24, 2013
Interesting. Not well written. What it made me think about though is why some stories and people are so compelling and interesting to read about and others, like the Carlins and Half-Safe, are just tedious. I realized it has to do with character and personalities more than the amazing feats or tragedies they accomplish or endure. Ben Carlin comes off as a a big-ego, greedy, blow-hard and that is never interesting. I enjoyed the author's, James Nestor, few insights into his compunction to research this story and write about it more than the actual story. I'm glad for the writers that find those engaging stories and charming characters we all like to read about this just wasn't one of them and I'm glad it was short!
September 28, 2008
Ben and his wife cross the Atlantic Ocean in an amphibious Jeep, then drive into Europe. Yes, a Jeep. This is better magic than Harry Potter! Some people hope to sail the Atlantic; others, to cross it by powerboat (a big steel hulled trawler fitted out as a live-aboard seems about right to me). But you can do it in a Jeep. Hard book to find; worth locating, for the drama, as well as the boating.
February 18, 2013
Can you imagine being in Ben Carlin's shoes and setting off on an attempt to circumnavigate the globe using a single vehicle for both land AND sea crossings?
If that question interests you, then read this book. Truly a remarkable, bizarre, and forgotten tale. This is definitely not the typical adventure story swelling with machismo.
If that question interests you, then read this book. Truly a remarkable, bizarre, and forgotten tale. This is definitely not the typical adventure story swelling with machismo.
January 14, 2014
I bizarre idea, the kind of idea I have always dreamt of trying. But very interesting to see that this idea is what slowly took over his life and what should be an inspirational story became anything but that.
A great hour long read or so, perfect before a flight or train when adventure is on the mind.
A great hour long read or so, perfect before a flight or train when adventure is on the mind.
January 14, 2013
The fact that this story summarizes five months of an arduous journey in one sentence is testament to how little information the adventurer left behind. This short tale of Ben Carlin and his circumnavigation is a quick interesting read.
February 28, 2013
I can't fathom why anyone would attempt to circumnavigate the earth in a Jeep/boat (beside the fact this guy was certifiably bonkers). I guess that was the point though. I think everyone should tilt at windmills sometime in their life...just maybe not like this.
July 20, 2014
Très sympa, mais beaucoup, beaucoup trop court!
Cette nouvelle ou cet article de journal relate le tour du monde d'une jeep amphibie de type Ford GPA dans l'immédiat après-guerre...
Cela mériterait un livre bien plus détaillé !
Dommage, mais une superbe histoire quand même !
Cette nouvelle ou cet article de journal relate le tour du monde d'une jeep amphibie de type Ford GPA dans l'immédiat après-guerre...
Cela mériterait un livre bien plus détaillé !
Dommage, mais une superbe histoire quand même !
September 10, 2013
This is a great story - totally bonkers - but not a great book. You get the feeling that the story could be a great book, but this isn't it. Really interesting, but more like a long-form, extended magazine article.
September 27, 2013
Short and sweet! An interesting story; don't know why we never heard of this saga! I still cannot visualize it--need to see some good photos of Half Safe. I read this story on my Kindle. It's worth a read.
February 26, 2014
As a novella, not bad. As a story, insane. Couldn't find it in print - had to get it online.
January 8, 2013
This was a good Kindle Single on the obscure, obsessive journey a man and his wife made around the world in a (marginally) seaworthy Jeep.
January 14, 2013
I didn't think this was a well written book. It did not hold my attention and I found myself forcing myself to finish the book.
February 21, 2013
Half finished. Really interesting story that is badly written.
March 8, 2013
Quick read. I am grateful for the oddballs who follow their dreams, but there are limits!
April 11, 2013
Super short but an interesting little bit of history
May 23, 2015
What a story! Everyone loves a good tale of adventure, and this one has the explorer-of-the-world angle covered. The lead character, Ben, is thankfully more complicated than most.
February 15, 2016
Good read.
Weird people doing extraordinary things forgotten by history.
The drive of the human soul exceeding all boundaries. A life lived.
Weird people doing extraordinary things forgotten by history.
The drive of the human soul exceeding all boundaries. A life lived.
July 8, 2016
Way too short, but I guess with the lack of historical sources the writer had no choice. A very fun read about a great forgotten epic adventure.
May 6, 2015
LOved this exciting easy read!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews