Adrift, with Tami Oldham Asshcraft - Film

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Adrift, With Tami Oldham Ashcraft - Film

 

Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Adrift

Tami Oldham Ashcraft’s True Survival At Sea Horror

   

    Tami Oldham Ashcraft has been through an experience that few could stand the test to survive. She and her then boyfriend, the late Richard Sharp set out to sea to deliver a boat owned by a wealthy couple they had befriended from Tahiti to San Diego. The couple didn’t want to sail it themselves and were satisfied that Sharp was a veteran sea master who had sailed around the world and Ashcraft was an experience sailor with skills within her own rights. Little did they know that once out to sea, they would encounter one of the worst and most violent Pacific Hurricanes in recorded history i.e., Hurricane Raymond in 1983.

Shailene Woodley as Tami Oldham Ashcraft

Sam Claflin as Richard Sharp

     Raymond had shifted course and bore down on their 44-foot Hazana sailboat. Unfortunately, the boat was not powerful or fast enough to get out of Raymond’s path. The storm literally sucked them inside of it. The winds caused waves as high as sixty feet. They would lift the boat to the top than let it free fall to the bottom. Being inside a hurricane is no joke. Needless to say, the vessel was smashed up but still in tact enough to float when the winds passed. Ashcraft was ordered to go below by Sharp where she was relatively safe. Sharp however stayed on deck and was swept overboard by the waves. To this day he remains lost at sea.

Richard (Sam Claflin) and Tami (Shailene Woodley)

     What was it like being in the belly of a hurricane? Ashcraft explains, “The swirling is the speed of the hurricane. It swirls around not you. When you split a hurricane into quarters, there are different semi circles which are navigable areas that are more intense than others. So if you can get south i.e., the southern quadrant of the hurricane, it tends to throw you out instead of suck you in. So that’s why we ran from it for nearly three days, to get into the safe navigational area. But it was going so fast, at times doing 25 knots and our boat could only do 12 – 14 knots. We were in the worst navigable area of the hurricane. It hit us around noon. I was knocked unconscious for about 27 hours. We were in it for about 6 hours.

  

    Upon regaining consciousness, Ashcraft awakened to a completely tattered boat with nothing working. Their communication system was totally dead. She seemed left with no hope of recuse and the love of her life had vanished. She is all alone, adrift at sea. To survive, Ashcraft must summon every ounce of hope, courage, mental toughness and strength she can make happen. Ten years after this incident, Ashcraft chronicled the harrowing events of her 41-days of hopelessly floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean from the storm to being rescued in her book “Red Sky In Mourning: A True Story Of Love, Loss and Survival At Sea.” The title is a rueful riff on the adage, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.”

Shailene Woodly & Sam Claflin

     The movie “Adrift” is the film version of Ashcraft’s misadventure with Shailene Woodley portraying her and Sam Claflin plying her soulmate Richard Sharp. Ashcraft pointed out that a Japanese ship rescued her. She said, “They were So gracious. When they got me back on shore, they put on a big reception for me. In fact, the captain of the ship stayed in touch with me for several years after which was very nice. When they first got to me and brought me on board their ship, they asked if I wanted to shower. I really did look a mess, but I said I wanted to eat.”

L-R Aaron Kandell, real life Tami Oldham Ashcraft and Jordan Kandell

   Ashcraft was approached by twin brothers scriptwriters and producers Aaron and Jordan Kandell who read her book and were so blown away with it that they had to make a movie. 
     

Film's Director Baltasar Kormakur

    The film was directed by Baltasar Kormakur. Ashcraft gave her blessings and even visited the set where she relived some of the horror seeing the recreation of the mishap but being the trooper that she is, she came through it with appreciation and understanding. 

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