Sailor and author Tami Oldham Ashcraft faced a catastrophe and survived.
Her story now serves as inspiration for others trying to overcome impossible odds.
She originally wrote about her ordeal at sea in a memoir called "Red Sky in Mourning." The memoir has been adapted into a movie starring Shailene Woodley. The movie, "ADRIFT," will be in theaters Friday.
It tells the story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft and her fiancé, Richard Sharp, setting sail from Tahiti in 1983, headed for San Diego, Ashcraft's hometown. Less than two weeks into the trip, the couple encountered one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history, Hurricane Raymond.
Ashcraft joins Midday Edition Tuesday to share how she survived after the couple's boat was clobbered by the storm.
What do you think would happen if you faced a catastrophe and would push the limits of your physical and emotional capacity. We all would like to think we'd overcome the challenge and survive but most of us never really know Saylor and author Tammy Oldham Ashcraft faced a catastrophe and survived. Her story now serves as inspiration for others trying to overcome impossible odds but her survival took a toll that lasted years. She originally wrote about her ordeal at sea in a book which is being released this week as a movie called adrift. Joining me now is Tammy Oldham Ashcraft and Tammy. Welcome to the program. Thank you very much for having me. Back in 1983 you and your fiance Richard Sharpe were both avid sailors. You took a job delivering a 44 foot yacht from Tahiti to San Diego two weeks out. You met up with Hurricane Raymond. I'm wondering how soon did you know you were headed into bad weather. Well like you said we were two weeks into it and we'd heard over the radio that there was a tropical depression that was starting off of Central America. And normally those systems start going west and then they'll end up heading north and then petering out usually before they get to the Baja in Mexico. And so we were just keeping on route. We'd heard it was starting. And then as it started gaining intensity and becoming a bigger storm then we realized that we were in dangers way. We ran from it for nearly three days but problem is you can't second guess a Hurricane in which direction it's going. So we just thought we would try to get as much speed and go up over the top and hopefully it would just head west and skirt underneath us. But that's not the case. It kept changing directions and it ended up clobbering us. And it was a tremendous storm. I know you were knocked unconscious during the storm and then you woke up you discovered the worst lost that you could imagine. You were alone. What do you believe happened to Richard. We fought the hurricane for hours on end and we were running under bare poles going over massive seas becoming airborne at times off the backside and some of these giant waves. So I had been at the wheel most the morning hit us it hit us early in the morning and we fought it just kind of just holding onto our own. We had no sails up we just had the engine on and he told me to go below about 1:00 in the afternoon. So I did. And just as I went below I heard him scream. So he saw the wave the roadway that hit us. And the whole boat going over and out like he said I was knocked unconscious. When I came to the boat was half sunk mast ripped out. And he was he had been ripped off ripped overboard. Now as you mentioned the yacht was heavily damaged in this storm. Most of the navigation equipment was gone. How did you manage to sail. Amazingly enough the night before the hurricane actually got to us. We were experiencing of course you know gale force winds but we were pushing the boat to its maximum trying to get as far away from the system as possible. And one of our heads sails ripped and the wind was just slogging along in the breeze and it happened to catch the latch of one of the spinnaker poles that was attached to the main. And that made that pole came crashing down the night before and we were able to retrieve it and lash it on deck and it was amazing that that happened because that little pole saved my life. I was able to rig that hole which some of it had been severed off when the main mast went overboard it cut some of that off. I only had about nine foot pole but it was enough to rig up into the forward part of the boat and put a small little sail on it and I was able to get steerage that way with sailing the boat under that tiny little jury rig. Now the director of the film adaptation of your memoir says that it became central to the story that this was a woman versus nature story because many of those are told in surviving 41 days at sea. Did you feel like it was you against nature. Oh most definitely. I was. I had to first of all keep my wits about me keep my head my emotional state in check. And I had to quit crying because I was losing water and then not only that but to try to get the boat to move. That was my major concern is to get the boat to move. I was smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It hit us about 12 degrees nor the equator and it can't be any further land in any one direction. And so I was actually a little closer to Baja California but I couldn't go in that direction. I had to study the currents and the winds and I could just really go down when so my only option was to try to sail boat to Hawaii to get to Hilo harbor. And so yeah it was really me against the ocean and everything you know. It's interesting because day by day as things went I was able to you know little things would go right. And so just all those little things adding up ended up to being my survival. But I was you know I was really out there the mercy of Mother Nature. And you were finally rescued in Hilo is that right. Well I don't really call it rescued. I actually made it there myself and I sailed right to the basically to the entrance of Hilo harbor. I could not go in because there is a big long reef called wond reef that comes off of Hilo harbor so it's quite a long ways in there and I didn't have that good of steerage on the boat with that tiny little sail. So I just I just drifted out. I knew somebody would be coming out of the harbor at some point and I saw this big 200 foot ship come out a research vessel Japanese research vessel with that was working with University of Hawaii. And so they I signaled that I shot a flare off to them and they stopped. Thank goodness and came over towards me. Now this tragedy that you lived through happened 35 years ago. Does it sometimes seem unreal to you that you actually lived through this event. Yeah it does seem you know my life has moved on. I have a family. You know I married later in my 30s. And then I've moved on with and I have children and I look back on that episode of my life and it is sometimes very hard for me to to wrap my mind that that was actually me out there. I did go right back out and go sailing again and I did sail for nearly 10 more years and I sail I fail. Today we have a powerboat now today. But I sail just up until a few years ago and I sold one of my little sailboats. Yeah. And actually when it was really surreal is when I was in Fiji on set when they were filming the movie watching Shailene do a scene and I just I just wept. I mean I just I just could not I just there was so much emotion built up in me. She was doing such a good job and I just I just looking at that that lone girl out there on that boat and just realising you know that was me was just overwhelming. I've been speaking with Tammy Oldham Ashcraft her book is being released today. It's called a drift a true story of love loss and survival at sea. The movie adrift opens this Friday June 1st. Tammy thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me.
