# Adrift: A True Story of Love, Loss and Survival at Sea

Susea McGearhart, Tami Oldham Ashcraft

THE HEART-STOPPING MEMOIR, NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING SHAILENE WOODLEY AND SAM CLAFLIN, AND DIRECTED BY BALTASAR KORMAKUR (EVEREST)


A compelling, at times devastating, ultimately inspiring account of how much can go wrong on the ocean and how, miraculously, one woman conquered her own fears.


‘An inspirational and empowering read’ Shailene Woodley


Young and in love, their lives ahead of them, Tami Oldham and her fiancé Richard Sharp set sail from Tahiti under brilliant blue skies, with Tami’s hometown of San Diego as their ultimate destination. But the two free spirits and avid sailors couldn’t anticipate that less than two weeks into their voyage, they would sail directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. They found themselves battling pounding rain, waves the size of skyscrapers, and 140 knot winds. Richard tethered himself to the boat and sent Tami below to safety, and then all went eerily quiet. Hours later, Tami awakened to find the boat in ruins, and Richard nowhere in sight.


Adrift is the story of Tami’s miraculous forty-one-day journey to safety on a ravaged boat with no motor and no masts, and with little hope for rescue. It’s a tale of love and survival on the high seas– an unforgettable story about resilience of the human spirit, and the transcendent power of love.


Previously published as Red Sky in Mourning

## Copyright

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

WilliamCollinsBooks.com

This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2018

Originally published as Red Sky in Mourning in 2002 by Hyperion

First published in the United States by Dey St, an imprint of William Morrow, HarperCollins Publishers, in 2018

Copyright © 2018 by Tami Oldham Ashcraft.

New afterword copyright © 2018 by Tami Oldham Ashcraft

Tami Oldham Ashcraft asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Film artwork on cover © 2018 STX Financing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins

Source ISBN: 9780008300425

Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008299569

Version: 2018-05-16

## Dedication

To the memory of my grandfather Wally J. Oldham,

the solid foundation in my life,

and to Richard Sharp . . .

who will live in my heart forever.

## Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

One: On the Firing Line

Two: 1300 to 1600 Hours

Three: Coming To

Four: Sinking

Five: Currents and Drift

Six: Jury Rig

Seven: Time on My Hands

Eight: Water Above, Water Below

Nine: A Ship and a Gooseneck

Ten: La Cascade

Eleven: Hinanos and Cigars

Twelve: Machetes and Eels

Thirteen: Overboard

Fourteen: Turtle Back Sunsets

Fifteen: In Broad Daylight

Sixteen: Hazana and Maeva Beach

Seventeen: Glow Sticks and Milkshakes

Eighteen: De Plane—Me Insane?

Nineteen: Hold On, Hold On

Twenty: On Solid Ground

Twenty-One: Home at Last

Twenty-Two: Aftermath

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Glossary

About the Authors

About the Publisher