Little Success, Big Joy
When she was thirsty and had nothing to drink, she found a quarter tank of water on the 12th day of the disastrous night. She stated in her words, “great turning point. I knew I would live, but more so, I felt as if I wanted to live. A tremendous weight had been lifted.” Every day was a struggle and the biggest struggle was when she decided to remove the extra trash from the yacht.
Ship Appeared
When she noticed a ship near to the horizon, she immediately grabbed the flare gun and made three flares in the sky without any pause. Within no seconds, she used a smoke bomb, lit it up and unfortunately she dropped it in the cockpit itself. Although she threw it away but ended up burning herself. All these efforts went to waste when no help arrived.
Everything Against Her
At one point in time, she was not knowing why everything was going against her. She was trying to get off the heavy extras away from the yacht but ended up hurting herself badly. “Flat on my back near the edge of the deck, I was terrified I’d fall overboard. As I tried to move, the jagged edges of the mainmast cut into my stomach. It weighed a ton. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t stay there; I had to get free. I lay gasping, staring at the sky, mustering every ounce of strength I could find to shove the massive piece of aluminum off me.” It seemed like a neverending journey to her.”
Never Ending Journey
“Arms pushed, feet shoved, stomach contracted, and every muscle in my body strained to break free. As the chunk of aluminum rolled off me, I caught myself along the toerail – the edge – just before the momentum could hurt me overboard. I lay back against the warm deck, panting. How much more could I take? I should have realized the mast’s foot would fall on me. What’s the matter with me? My sanity was treading water”, recalled Tami.
Too Much To Handle
The mess was too much to handle and especially for a girl like Tami who likes everything around her to be tidy and neat. She tells, “I was becoming so depressed that I couldn’t stand to be around the mess another minute. A man probably wouldn’t even notice it!”
No Rays Of Light
“Noon was the most exciting time of day because I would take my sun sight and calculate how far I had traveled in the past twenty-four hours. It was always somewhere between twenty and sixty nautical miles. I just prayed I would hit one of the Hawaiian Islands and not sail past them. It didn’t have to be the big island of Hawaii I came to, even though that would be the closest. Any island would do.” Tami tells.