Red Sky in Mourning - Book Review

Kliatt, Nov, 2002 by Edna M. Boardman

Tami Oldham Ashcraft. 2002. Read by the author. 4 tapes. 6 hrs. Simon & Schuster Audio. 0-7435-0956-0. $26.00. Cardboard; content notes. SA*

Nobody looked for Tami Oldham and her fianc8 Richard Sharp when communication with them was lost. They had set sail from Tahiti in the superbly constructed (by Dutch shipbuilders) and outfitted four-master Hazana, aiming to deliver it to San Diego. A rogue wave, kicked up by Hurricane Raymond, dislodged Richard from his safety tether and washed him out to sea, leaving Tami unconscious for 27 hours below deck. She awoke drifting in a calm ocean, injured and disoriented, the boat almost trashed. The story continues as she struggled with despair but rigged the limited remaining sails and used her basic navigational experience to get her, in 41 days, to Hilo. Flashbacks recount Tami's earlier life and relationship with Richard. Ashcraft tells of her first weeks on land, her contacts with family and the media, and her eventual marriage and family. Ashcraft is clearly not a professional reader, but there is great power in her voice. A moving story for a wide readership. Edna M. Boardman, Bismark, ND