SURVIVOR TELLS THE TRUE STORY OF ADRIFT
TAMI’S INCREDIBLE TALE WAS MADE INTO A FILM
Abeautiful romance between two young sailors, a massive category 4 hurricane, a ship wreck, and a brave woman’s desperate fight for survival.
Sounds like the very stuff that Hollywood movies are made of and anyone who has seen the hit film Adrift knows what an incredible story it is.
But Adrift is actually based on the true story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft, who survived for 41 days in the Pacific Ocean after Hurricane Raymond took her fiance Richard and almost killed her.
‘It was the worst experience of my life,’ Tami, now 58, from Friday Harbor, Washington State, exclusively tells New Idea. ‘I was completely alone for all that time – Richard was dead and I had shocking injuries.
‘But when you are in that situation and you are pushed up against death, that survival instinct kicks in. I was determined that I was going to live – and somehow I did.’
Tami and Richard Sharp met in San Diego in 1982. He was a handsome, blue-eyed sailor from Cornwall in England, who was on an around the world solo trip on his boat, Mayaluga.
An accomplished sailor, Tami worked at the docks varnishing the boats with her friend Deb, and as soon as she clapped eyes on Richard, it was love.
‘With his English accent and blue eyes, Richard was a catch,’ recalls Tami. ‘We had so much in common from our spirit of adventure to our love for boats – we fell hard for each other.
‘Together we sailed to Tahiti, where he proposed in a park overlooking the harbour. He made me a ring out of bailing twine and promised to get me a diamond. I didn’t care – things were perfect.’
Friends of Richard asked him to sail their boat from Tahiti to San Diego across the Pacific Ocean. It was an opportunity – they were offered $10,000 plus flights back to Tahiti.
‘We couldn’t turn it down,’ says Tami. ‘The boat was gorgeous and it should have
been an amazing trip – we were so excited.’
They set off in September 1983 and, for two weeks, the weather was perfect until they heard about a tropical depression in Central America.
Their boat was too close to avoid it, but they pushed hard north, trying to out-sail it. Although they tried, they couldn’t get ahead of it.
For three days the weather got gradually worse. On the morning of October 11, the storm was on top of them with sustained winds of 225 kph and 15-metre waves.
‘It was super scary,’ says Tami. ‘The wind was howling and the pelting rain felt like gun bullets on our skin. I remember I was at the helm and Richard told me to go below to rest.
‘I had just attached my harness to a post when I heard Richard scream: “Oh my God!” And then there was this horrendous thump as the boat rolled over. I blacked out.’
It is estimated that 27 hours later, Tami came to. There was a massive gash on her head and left leg, and she could see daylight through a gaping hole in the boat where the mast had been.
‘I was screaming for Richard,’ she recalls. ‘I came out on the boat and saw his harness still attached, but when I pulled it, he wasn’t on the other end.
‘Then I grabbed the binoculars and scanned the ocean. I knew then that Richard was gone and I was on my own. I was in major shock – my head and leg were killing me.
‘I inflated the lifeboat on deck and I sat in the foetal position, shaking convulsively. The next morning I woke up and surveyed what was left. Then I had to plan to save the boat – and my life.’
For 41 days Tami drifted alone, eating rationed food and using a simple navigation tool.
‘I was resourceful and determined I wasn’t going to die,’ Tami says. ‘I kept my mind focused on getting back to land. All the time I felt Richard’s presence with me.
‘I slept in the cockpit surrounded by his clothes and pillows so I felt close. He encouraged me from beyond and his reassuring spirit kept me going.’
Eventually, she made it to Hilo, Hawaii, where she was picked up by the coast guard. She went to live with her mum Zonna in San Diego, but she was left with lasting injuries.
‘I couldn’t read books for five years because everything seemed jumbled in my head,’ says Tami.
‘The grief for Richard started soon after I was rescued – I went to meet his parents in England to tell them what happened.
‘After Christmas, I went back to Fuji to varnish boats again. It was healing and I wasn’t afraid of the water – I started sailing again and no storm ever scared me again because I had been through the worst storm ever and survived.’
In 1992, Tami met her husband Ed Ashcraft at a boat yard in San Diego. For the first time since she lost Richard, she fell in love with the handsome man who built houses.
They were married in August 1994 and had two kids Brooke, 20, and Kelli, 23. While pregnant with Brooke, Tami started writing her memoir, Red Sky In Mourning, about Richard and her ordeal.
The book was picked up by a major publisher in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2014 when a Hollywood production company contacted her about the rights.
‘People had always said that my life should be turned into a movie,’ says Tami. ‘I was thrilled when this finally came true! I had always wanted Shailene Woodley to play me as we seemed alike, so when she accepted the role I was thrilled.
‘And Sam Claflin, who plays Richard, was perfect. It was uncanny – his mannerisms and the way he talked were the same.
‘When the movie came out this summer, I cried every time I saw it. I think it did a brilliant job of conveying my story.’
Now Tami runs an auto mobile repair business and sails.
‘I’ve got used to being famous,’ she says. ‘Over the years I get so many people write to me who have lost a loved one, asking for advice. I’m so happy to help anyone. My situation was highly unusual, but the feelings of loss and grief are still the same. I will never forget Richard and I will always love him, but I’m glad I found the strength to move forwards.’