Woman Survives 41 Days Alone At Sea After Boat Capsizes In Category 4 Hurricane
In late September 1983 a young, carefree couple were about to set off on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean. An exciting journey lay in prospect, but nothing that the two seasoned sailors felt they couldn’t handle. The duo were Richard Sharp and Tami Ashcraft, and the 4,000-mile-long voyage they were planning led from the island of Tahiti to San Diego, California. But around three weeks into their exciting trip, events took an extremely dark turn.
Impending horror
The 34-year-old Briton Sharp had been given the task of sailing a luxury yacht currently berthed in the idyllic island in French Polynesia and delivering it to the city on America’s west coast. A keen sailor, he had been only too happy to accept the contract, and he brought his beloved, 23-year-old American fiancée along for a voyage that they expected would take roughly 31 days.
But the grim reality of what had initially looked — and indeed felt — like a fun trip would suddenly dawn on the pair 20 days in. What followed would change things between them forever, and the sheer horror and adventure they experienced was turned into a major Hollywood movie called Adrift.
How it all began
The origins of this infamous and ill-fated voyage lay in the first meeting of the main protagonists of this story, Sharp and Ashcraft. At this point, several questions about the couple may well be presenting themselves to you.
Where were Sharp and Ashcraft born? How did the loved-up couple link up? When did they fall in love? All of these questions are probably swirling around in your mind now, reader, so let’s do our best to address them.
Introducing Richard Sharp
Sharp was born in the English county of Cornwall back in 1949. This picturesque county lies at the south-western tip of England; it’s a peninsula that boasts coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the English Channel to the south. There’s a good chance, then, that Sharp’s birthplace and upbringing gave rise to his lifelong love of the oceans.
Anyway, in his youth, Sharp was privately educated. And after leaving school, he went straight into the Royal Navy’s academy. But just when it looked like he was on his way to following in his father’s footsteps and graduating into the British Navy, Sharp was expelled for ‘insubordination.’
Introducing Tami Ashcraft
Ashcraft, meanwhile, had been born Tami Lee Oldham on March 23, 1960. Her place of birth was San Diego, California, which coincidentally was the destination that she and Sharp were aiming to reach from Tahiti back in the fall of 1983.
Ashcraft had attended Point Loma High School in her hometown. Then, some time in her late teens or early 20s, she made it out to South Africa. Ashcraft found not only some work there, but also love.