Gone are the days when we have to travel for days to reach the desired location as our ancestors did. Nowadays, humans have facilities to travel across the globe with safety within hours. Still, sometimes the unexpected events can lead one to the unforeseen future. The reason why we are talking about the unexpected and the unforeseen is that our today’s story is filled with such events. But more than anything, this story depicts that every person hides an extreme capacity that we hold within ourselves and don’t realize until something extremely drastic happens.

Around Fiji

Tami Oldham Ashcraft, a 23-year-old young American lady who belonged to San Diego, California along with her fiancé, Richard Sharp, a 34-year-old British man were having fun in the warm waters of the Southern Pacific. Their adventurous tour was going on for the last six months. And they were not getting over with the idea of sailing across the sea. The couple shared a similar interest when it came to sailing and relaxing. Thus, they came up with the idea of chilling around. Out of all the islands they chose Fiji, an island country. Fiji is said to be one of the most amazing islands across the globe and surely an adequate place to have fun and more. Tammi and Richard used to plan about their future life in between all the soothing sounds of the waves.

Last Adventure

As the couple was in need of money, on September 22, 1983, Tami and Richard got going from Tahiti to San Diego, California, as they were hired to transport a brand new 44-foot Trintella luxury yacht named Hazana, to its owner. Initially, they were supposed to finish this journey within 31 days. However, the couple never made it to the shores on their destined location as fate had different plans for them. On the third day, a 35-knot storm hit Hazana, the yacht which made its deck fitting came loose. As a result, saltwater flowed onto the single-sideband radio. They were not able to sleep but soon the weather was clear by the 6th day, the winds were pushing them towards the east which was described as “bliss” in Richard’s ship log.

Winked At Her

The winds were as fast as 140knots and waves as high as 50 feet. It was a Category 4 hurricane. Richard took over the wheel. Tami went down by the stairs, turned to close the door and that’s when they looked at each other for the last time. Amidst all the stress, Richard winked at her and she smiled and closed the door. It was 1 pm and the barometer was showing below 28-inch mark. Tami heard the most terrifying sound of her life at this moment.

Invisible

“When the wind’s howling that hard, it’s picking up spray right off the top of the water. There’s so much spray, you can hardly see anything. It’s like being in a blizzard,” told Tami. Both of them had never seen anything like this before. All they were wishing was for this night to pass soon. On October 13, 1983, Tami found herself in the midst of the ocean when she woke up from a long sleep, more than 24 hours of unconsciousness on a boat with no shore nearby in any direction. What was more shocking is the terrible condition of the boat which doesn’t seem like it would take Tami anywhere. She was still shocked as she had no clue about how she was in this situation.

Sextant The Savior

Using a sextant, one old sailor’s tool she managed to be certain about her locations after comparing the angles of sun and horizon. One mistake who result in heading towards the southern oceans in short missing forever. Every time she used to feel tired and ready to give up, she used to hear Richard’s voice telling her “one second at a time.” On the 41st day at sea and covering an unbelievable 1,500 miles, Tami made it to the lands of Hawaii. She managed to survive through the roughest of days. The regret of making out of the sea alone was too much for her. Richard helped her even after he was gone.