Ghosts on the water. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town.

On September 22nd, 1983, 23-year-old Hammy Oldham's life would change forever,

but not in the way that she thought. Young, an expert sailor and newly engaged,

she thought that setting sail from the Papa A. T. Harbour and Tahiti would be a fun,

symbolic step into the new chapter of her life. Or, according to the Sun, quote,

four loved-up young adventurer, Tammy Oldham, sailing a yacht across the Pacific with her sexy

fiancee was meant to be 4,000 miles of sun-kissed bliss. Well, you're listening to this episode

because, of course, this event didn't go according to Tammy's plan. Today, we're talking

about a harrowing story that is stuck with sailors and Hollywood screenwriters for decades.

The survival story of Tammy Oldham Ashcraft. Tammy Lee Oldham grew up a happy,

athletic child in Point Loma, California, about 20 minutes outside of downtown San Diego.

Like a lot of native San Diegans, she loved the ocean. Her blonde hair bleached by the sun and her

skin always tan from long-day swimming on the Pacific. In fact, she loved the water so much

that when she graduated from Point Loma High School, she went to the University of the Pacific Ocean,

and after graduating from there, she became a bowson, which is a ship's officer in charge of

equipment and crew. I had to look that up. For a year and a half after college, the young Tammy

worked on a 123-foot square rigger called the Maya Luga that crossed through the Pacific,

picking up lots of information about navigating, oceanic life, and her newfound career.

She said in an interview, quote, I love the long passages and going across the oceans,

getting into the rhythm, doing the navigation, and watching the weather. It was on the Maya

Luga rigger that Tammy met Richard Sharp, a handsome 34-year-old sailor. Richard was from

Cromwell, England, and the two fell hard for one another. Richard and Tammy worked another month

...