Word: carline
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Monsoon rains greeted the Carlins in India, and they put up in Calcutta for repairs. There Elinore, 39, who had been seasick all across the Atlantic, thought of the ocean travel ahead and decided to jump ship. Skipper Carlin ran advance ads in Australian newspapers for a replacement. All he wanted was a strong swimmer who was also a motor mechanic and a radio maintenance man and had enough money to repatriate himself from anywhere enroute. He got a 23-year-old Perth draftsman named Barry Hanley who knew something about small boats...
...Carlin crossed the Bay of Bengal alone, met Hanley in Akyab, Burma. Together, the new shipmates crossed Burma and headed toward Thailand. Neglected British military roads were so bad that Carlin says, "I wouldn't drive that way again for Gracie Kelly and ?1,000, with Rudolph the Rainier's job thrown...
Fireworks in Formosa. The Half Safe pushed on through Cambodia and Vietnam. Ahead, bridges were out, so Carlin set his course straight for Hong Kong, 500 miles over the South China Sea. It was the longest transoceanic hop since the Atlantic. The travelers lived on bread, fruit and canned beans. Leaded gasoline fouled the engine and Carlin somehow managed to do a complete valve job at sea. Safe in Hong Kong, Carlin converted his engine to run on kerosene, only to find there was none available...
Formosa gave the Half Safe a fine welcome: fireworks, a military escort and free watermelon at every corner. "It's true of islands everywhere," says Carlin. "Only on islands do they realize fully you've arrived by sea." But Okinawa almost made him eat his words. The Half Safe upset the gum-chewing rhythm of that Americanized base. "We were in the seamen's club before someone noticed I wasn't a jet pilot." Then a security officer accidentally found them. "Say, you guys just arrived? I don't want to act suspicious...
Fare to Australia. Unfortunately the Half Safe's timetable is off. Carlin and Hanley arrived in Japan too late to try a Pacific crossing this year. Hanley intends to spend the winter working as a draftsman; Carlin will try for a job as a mechanic and English teacher. In the spring they will head out. With the end of the long trip in sight, Ben Carlin, 44, admits he would never try it again. But he knows why he did it this once...