ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Tami Oldham Ashcraft

My lifelong love of the ocean began at the beaches of San Diego, California, when my dad stuck me on a surfboard at the age of five. Through my school years I progressed as an "average" student but found my interests ran to hands-on type classes like woodshop, auto mechanics and welding. I spent hours in my grandfathers’ garage helping him with small projects or just tinkering away on my own inventions. I spent summers at the beach surfing or body surfing the crystal waters off Sunset Cliffs, in Point Loma, until entering the job market at the age of fifteen. My first and only "real" job was at a natural foods store, an unusual choice for a teenager at that time.

Adventure beckoned early. I was at a family dinner at my grandparents’ house and my great-aunt Rene was there with her husband. They had returned from a trip through the South Pacific. She described in such vivid detail the beauty of New Zealand, the majestic fiords in the south, the central hydrothermal lands and the white sandy beaches of the north. She talked with such fervor that I knew I had to go there some day.

I graduated a year early from high school by going to night classes and summer school, while working to fatten my adventure fund. I bought a Volkswagen bus, strapped my surfboard to the top and headed to Mexico with my best friend Michele. We had six months of sun, fun and surf until she had to return north to San Diego. My choice: heading south to New Zealand. I abandon my Volkswagen and immediately signed on as crew on a 32 foot sailboat. I never looked back and I thank God I didn’t get seasick.

Incredible adventures followed. I visited New Zealand and it was all Rene had said it was and more. Then I met and fell in love with Richard, a handsome, experienced sailor. I wanted to share my love for the ocean crossings, the island hopping, the beauty of New Zealand, but this was never to be. In one ill-fated moment the ocean I so loved took him from me . . . never to be seen again.

I survived the relentless hurricane and now recount this miracle with fond memories of a love lost and a courage I did not know I had.

I have been encouraged by many people to put my story down on paper. Writing a book was a project I thought all too grand until the offer of help from a good friend. The task has been arduous at times. Having to dig deep into my memory after all these years of trying to put this incident behind me. It has been difficult yet enlightening. My story is of love, loss and survival . . . of personal endurance beyond anything I could have imagined.