It wasn’t as intense as when I got to shore and the survival was over, and I could see people together and everything kept reminding me of him. It was one of the strongest storms of the 1983 Pacific hurricane season. It was some time before she found the courage to sail again and the mental scars were lasting. As Raymond approached Hawaii, the cyclone kicked up very high surfs that pounded the Big island of Hawaii. ‘From the depths of my soul, I feel an animal roar inside me. I just put it on the back burner. Tami Oldham Ashcraft is an American sailor and author who, in 1983, survived 41 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Taking a 44ft luxury yacht from Tahiti to California, a voyage of some 4,000 miles across the glistening waters of the Pacific, was the chance of a lifetime for two avid young sailors. Ashcraft, sheltering below decks, was knocked unconscious. Their trip turns into a nightmare after they sail directly into Hurricane Raymond. Hurricane Raymond (1983) On 12th October 12 1983, Ashcraft and Sharp’s boat found itself ambushed by a late-season storm, Hurricane Raymond. Although Tami was still struggling with the head injury, she managed to attach the sail to a broken pole and raise it. Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Police in Connecticut are warning residents to keep a distance from an On October 12, 1983, Sharp told Oldham-Ashcraft to get below deck to rest. An incredible tale, yes, but believe it or not, it's actually based on a true story—and the 2002 memoir written by Tami herself titled Red Sky in Mourning: A … I couldn’t believe how much I was still holding around in my head, and just purging it like that really helped me to get past it all. “It reminds me of how I got home,” she says. In 1983, Ashcraft's then-fiancé, 34-year-old British sailor Richard Sharp, was hired to ferry the 13-metre yacht Hazaña from Tahiti to San Diego.The then 23-year-old Ashcraft … I really wish I had taken the time to do that. It was 27 hours before she regained consciousness to an eerie silence and utter devastation. Unable to outsail the ferocious Hurricane Raymond, Sharp and Ashcraft fought desperately to keep Hazana afloat in the 40-foot waves and 140-knot winds. As they were already in the path of the storm, the couple attempted to weather it, donning raincoats and boarding up the yacht. Overwhelmed with grief and shock, Tami was initially paralysed, unable to comprehend the truth. ‘There were times I didn’t even want to live any more because I didn’t know how I was going to go on. The couple had already covered more than 50,000 miles of ocean sailing together so the prospect of covering 4,000 miles together over the course of three weeks wasn't daunting. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Then the radio crackled to life with a warning that Hurricane Raymond was bearing down on them. PETER WALKER: Are slim people ALWAYS fitter than fatties? And it was then that the miracle took place: a voice in her head demanded she bail out the boat to prevent it from sinking. She rationed her water supply with life-saving discipline, taking only a few sips a day from the storage bag which supplied the shower. Raymond brought beneficial rains. She loaded her rifle and put the muzzle her mouth, but the thought of never seeing her little brother grow up made her think again. Tami had no electronic navigation, just an old-fashioned sextant, some waterlogged charts and the sun and the stars as she made for the safety of distant Hawaii. Confused, Tami at first feared she might have brain damage, yet the voice – sometimes Richard’s, sometimes her own, sometimes her parents’ – was persistent. Published: 22:01 GMT, 5 May 2018 | Updated: 22:47 GMT, 9 June 2018. Raymond threatened the Hawaiian Islands enough for a hurricane watch to be issued. 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