Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea [Hardcover]

Tami Oldham Ashcraft (Author), Susea Mcgearhart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2002

Picture yourself in a tropical climate, sailing out to sea with your fianc. Life is perfect; youre young and in love. Then picture everything going horribly wrong. You inadvertently sail into a hurricane, youre injured, and you wake up to find that your loved one is gone. Your boats motor is shot and your masts have disappeared. Utterly alone, youre weeks from dry land. Red Sky in Mourning is the story of Tami Oldham Ashcrafts 41-day journey to safety, which she survived through fortitude and sheer strength of character. Interspersed with flashbacks to her romance with her doomed fianc Richard, this survival story offers an inspiring reminder that even in our darkest moments we are never truly alone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Experienced boaters, Ashcraft and her fianc‚, Richard Sharp, had been hired to ferry the four-masted Hazana from Tahiti to the U.S. mainland. The jaunt seemed simple enough, until the pair unwittingly sailed into the throes of a hurricane. Sent below decks during the worst of the storm, Ashcraft was knocked unconscious; when she awoke 27 hours later, all that remained of Richard was his broken safety tether. Thus began Ashcraft's horrifying 41-day solo journey toward civilization, which makes up the bulk of this book. Having lost all radio contact, Ashcraft made the best of her rudimentary celestial navigation skills and sailed for the shores of what she hoped was Hawaii. Facing fatigue, injury and almost certain death, Ashcraft suffered a near mental breakdown. She survived on canned food, beer and cigars, endured minor squalls and mirages of ships on horizon and was finally rescued off the coast of Hilo by a Japanese touring vessel. As she recounts her story, Ashcraft emerges as a fiercely independent, strong sailor (she is now a 100-ton licensed captain with more than 50,000 offshore miles). Some will find the self-consciously inspirational tone of the book a little too saccharine, but others will appreciate Ashcraft's remarkable courage; in any case, the story certainly has enough adrenaline-pumping action to satisfy nautical adventure junkies.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ashcraft awoke below decks in the boat she and her fiance, Richard, had been sailing to find herself knee-deep in water and covered with blood. Remembering that they had been trying to outrun a hurricane, she emerged to discover calmer seas and the unmistakable absence of her sweetheart, leaving no explanation but the unavoidable and heartbreaking conclusion that he was washed overboard. With much of the food ruined by salt water, the mast destroyed, the engine inoperable, the radio dead, and the help beacon unhelpfully silent, Ashcraft nevertheless made it back to land on her own after more than a month stranded at sea. Her account is peppered with memories of adventures with her fiance--of voyages made and places visited--and conversations with the voice of reason (or her conscience, or a guardian angel, or her fiance). Tragic, depressing, and yet inspiring, the contrast between the idealized past and the horrific present is stark, making Ashcraft's story of survival and perseverance all the more memorable and profound. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (June 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786867914
• ISBN-13: 978-0786867912
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a gift from Tami Oldham Ashcraft--A must read., July 30, 2002

By 

CS "ellwynl" (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading Red Sky In Mourning. I have to say that no book has ever touched me in this way. Once I started to read it I could not even put the book down. I read it from cover to cover in my first sitting and then stayed up most of the night thinking about it. The next morning I awoke and read it again-it is incredible. The book is more than a story it is woman opening up her heart and letting it all out and letting the whole world in. Tami Oldham Ashcraft writes with such honesty and clarity it is as if you were there witnessing the events of her life rather than reading about them. I laughed, I cried, but most of all, this book warmed my heart to know there is love in this world like Tami and Richard shared-what an incredible person Tami Oldham Ashcraft must be. If you are going to buy one book this year I would highly recommend this on. I have already read my copy several times and will more than like read it several more.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Weaker Sex?, January 16, 2003

By 

jake laete (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea (Hardcover)

Let's never hear about the weaker sex again. The riviting story of Tami Oldham's tragedy at sea will convince anyone that there is no such thing. A storm at sea swept her fiance, Richard, away to his death and knocked her cold for 27 hours. She awoke to find a demasted yacht, little food and devasting loneliness. But she pulled herself together with the help of a "Voice" and navigated across the open sea in a crippled, jury-rigged vessel to safety.

Even though the reader knows that she made the journey successfully one can not help but be anxious for her safety and welfare throughout 41 day voyage. When she happened to find an unexpected container of drinking water on board I could taste the sweet water and rejoiced with her.

A splendid read. I just caution anyone to be prepared to stay up very late reading this sad, but uplifting adventure, and to keep a glass of water nearby, because you won't want to stop.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AUTHENTICITY RINGS THROUGH, June 15, 2002

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Sky In Mourning: The True Story of a Woman's Courage and Survival at Sea (Audio CD)

No one can explain a particular terror as knowingly as the one who experienced it. Such is the case with Tami Ashcraft who brings authentic emotion to her compelling true life story and reading.

A dauntless, seaworthy sailor, Tami Oldham, and her fiancé Richard Sharp, shared their love for each other and a love of adventure. They were hired to take a four-master, the Hazana, from Tahiti to American shores. They sailed on a cloudless, gorgeous day. Almost three weeks later they faced a ferocious hurricane. Fighting with all their minds and might, Richard secured himself to their boat and instructed Tami to go below.

Only seconds passed before she heard Richard's anguished cry not realizing that he had been lost in the sea. She must have fainted for it was only when she regained consciousness that she realized the damage done to their craft and the apparent hopelessness of her predicament.

Forty-one days past before she found safety. "Red Sky In Mourning" is a tale of love, loss, and courage made even more meaningful because it is all true.

- Gail Cooke