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Best Movies About Being Stranded at Sea

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Looking back, there are a surprisingly large number of movies that are about being stranded at sea. There is good reason for this: when looking to make a truly hard-hitting movie, what could be more terrifying than the feelings of hopelessness and fear associated with being stranded, miles from land with chances of survival getting slimmer by the minute? Add in an extra threat of, say a human-eating shark, or even escalating friction with the other unfortunate souls you may be stranded with, and you have a recipe for pure terror.

Updated September 22, 2022: If you love a good pulse-pounding, stranded at sea film, you'll be happy to know we've updated this articles with additional content and titles.

The fear factor is upped by the fact that a lot of these stories are not wild fantastical tales, but are scenarios that feel far closer to home and are situations that anyone of us could potentially find ourselves in. In fact, a large percentage of these types of movies are based on true stories . Admittedly, due to the popularity of these gripping films, which can often be shot on a low budget, the market has become slightly oversaturated in recent years, with countless sequels and rip-offs flooding the scene, so to speak. With this in mind, below are 10 of the best movies about being stranded at sea.

10 Dead Calm

If you’re only going to feature three superb actors in your movie, you could do a lot worse than the combined greatness of Sam Neil, Nicole Kidman, and Billy Zane. While out sailing in an attempt to try to take their minds off the loss of their son, a married couple come across a stranded stranger. They offer kindness and help, but as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems with the stranger. A genuinely tense thriller, Dead Calm is a fine example of creating an engaging and exciting movie without needing a huge budget.

Not only has this group of pals found themselves capsized and stranded out at sea, they’re also being stalked by a great white shark. Unlike numerous shark-based movies before (and after) it, The Reef used real footage of sharks in the movie , according to Screen Rant , instead of practical or CGI effects, which always run the danger of making the sharks look unrealistic and, at times, downright ridiculous. Definitely one of the more genuinely scary shark flicks, The Reef never eases up on the tension, keeping viewers glued to the edge of their seats for the entire 90-minute run time. Maybe it's not the most original movie on the list, but certainly one of the most exciting.

Related: Exclusive: Andrew Traucki and Teressa Liane of The Reef: Stalked on Their Allegorical Shark Movie

Titanic is proof that ‘bigger’ is not always better. The RMS Titanic was carrying 3,320 people when it was destroyed by a giant iceberg, the majority of who did not survive the aftermath. The real-life tragedy portrayed in James Cameron’s harrowing 1997 movie manages to perfectly capture the feelings of fear, panic and hopelessness as we spend time in those final moments with the passengers stranded at sea after the ship begins sinking.

Obviously, the sheer scale of death and destruction was certainly impactful, but it felt even more personal as we spend nearly 3 hours with the two lead characters, Rose and Jack, following their forbidden romance and rooting for them throughout. After allowing the audience to develop this tightly intimate bond with these two characters, we’re left devastated as, spoiler alert, it does not end well.

7 Open Water

Yet another movie on this list made all the more terrifying by the fact that it is based, albeit rather loosely, on a true story. This time, Open Water concentrates on an American couple who go scuba diving while on vacation, but find themselves stranded at sea and surrounded by sharks as their tour boat accidentally leaves them behind. Shot out at sea on an ultra-low budget, this actually adds an immense sense of realism and intensity, creating for a nerve racking 80 minutes in which the viewers hearts are in their mouths the entire time.

6 White Squall

A white squall is the occurrence of a sudden, violent windstorm at sea, one which hits without warning. The lack of the usual warning signs, like black clouds, makes them near impossible to avoid when out at sea, as evidenced by the skipper (played assuredly by Jeff Bridges, in one of his more overlooked performances) and his class of students on a school sailing trip in White Squall .

Needless to say, the result was catastrophic, ending in tragedy, and the skipper is put on trial. Based on the real-life sailing boat the Albatross, which sank in 1961, director Ridley Scott not only focuses on the trauma of the event itself, but also spends plenty of time developing the characters beforehand in a coming-of-age style plot which makes the tragedy even more hard hitting for the audience.

5 All Is Lost

Legendary silver screen icon Robert Redford headlines the Golden Globe-winning survival drama All Is Lost , in which the Hollywood great portrays a veteran mariner who finds his vessel adrift at sea following a debilitating collision with a storage container. The man must fight to survive a vicious incoming storm without the help of any navigation equipment or a radio to call out for help, and the riveting picture chronicles his relentless crusade to make it out alive and back to his loved ones. AlI Is Lost features almost no dialogue and only utilizes Redford's immense talent as the sole character of the film , bringing the lost mariner's desperation and fear to life in a spectacularly moving fashion.

Like Titanic , this is based on a real-life event , just on a much smaller scale. No less harrowing for the viewer, Adrift stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin as a couple who are stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after Hurricane Raymond in 1983, and must find their way to Hawaii with a damaged boat and no radio.

Like James Cameron did with Titanic , the film not only focuses on the disaster and survival aspects of the story , but also highlights the intimate bond and romance between the two leads, allowing the viewers to become fully invested in their well-being. Even from the safety of your own couch, the rollercoaster of emotions you’re taken through is mentally draining — one can only imagine what it would have been like to have been there, lost at sea.

3 The Shallows

Inspired by her husband Ryan Reynold’s minimalist movie Buried , which takes place entirely in a coffin, Blake Lively teamed up with director Jaume Collet-Serra and writer Anthony Jaswinski for this stranded at sea survival horror. This time around, the story follows a surfer (played by Lively) instead of a sailor, who gets stranded out at sea, only to find herself under threat from a great white shark.

Interestingly, the majority of The Shallows was shot in a tank using blue screens for effects, with the shark being entirely computer generated. Somehow, the result is still ultra-realistic, making you feel as if you are right there in the water with her, kind of the Blair Witch Project of stranded at sea shark movies.

2 The Poseidon Adventure

The very notion of being lost at sea is terrifying all in itself, but throw in the element of a capsized ship on the verge of being completely consumed by water and the stakes get even more dicey. The '70s classic disaster film The Poseidon Adventure centers on the titular ocean liner as it is tragically overturned by a destructive tsunami, trapping its unsuspecting inhabitants and leaving them to figure out how to escape the stranded ship.

Related: These Movies Will Make You Second Guess Ever Getting on a Boat

The spine-tingling flick went on to earn 8 Academy Award nominations and won two, with critics lauding it for its pulse-pounding tension, outstanding visual effects and commanding performances. Since its release, The Poseidon Adventure has gone on to become a cult film and is a knockout example of the disaster genre.

1 Life of Pi

One of the most critically lauded movies of its year, Life of Pi was nominated for a total of 11 Oscars, winning four. The premise revolves around a 16-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) who is stranded on a lifeboat with a dangerous Bengal tiger after surviving an ocean liner shipwreck. The movie is captivating from start to finish: we follow Pi’s tale as the pair learn to trust each other in this visually stunning masterclass in storytelling. Its incredible technology and deeply allegorical substance results in one of the most mesmerizing movies about begin stranded at sea.

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Adrift Ending, Explained

If you love movies that portray the survival of people in the most challenging of circumstances, then ‘Adrift’ is the one that you must watch. Starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin in the lead roles, the film follows the story of a woman who is stranded in the sea for forty-one days, with her partner. It is gut-wrenching and emotional and the character’s strong spirit is inspiring. The ending forces us to see the entire story in a different light. SPOILERS AHEAD

Plot Summary

Tami is a twenty-three-year-old who arrives in Tahiti intending to find some odd job and explore the island for as long as she can. She gets a job at the dock, where she meets a man named Richard. There is an instant attraction between them and their love for travel and sailing brings them together. Over the next five months, they spend a lot of time together and fall in love. Things take an unexpected turn when Richard is offered to sail a boat to San Diego from Tahiti by some old acquaintances. He jumps on the opportunity and takes Tami with him. Initially, the journey seems magical, but then they are hit by a Category 4 hurricane that upends their boat.

Is Richard Alive or Dead?

Being stranded at sea can do all sorts of things to one’s body and mind. But a lot of times, it is these tricks played by nature that our consciousness tries to use to our advantage, to ensure our survival. A similar thing happens to Tami as well. When she wakes up, wounded and alone, on the boat, and finds Richard’s tether, she realizes that he is dead. However, sometime later, she finds him floating at a distance, and this is what gives her the incentive to bring the boat back into shape and fight for her survival.

She spends forty-one days adrift in the sea, and all the while, she has Richard by her side. Even though he is wounded and his survival prospects are reduced with every passing day, his presence alone is enough for Tami to keep working and make her way to Hawaii. It is only much later that she realizes that Richard has never been by her side. She had been hallucinating him.

While this twist catches us off guard and gives a whole new emotional weight to the story, it is not something that was not hinted at before. In fact, if you had been paying close attention, you would have seen the twist long before Tami came to know about it. The film leaves a lot of breadcrumbs along the way to show us what is happening with Tami and Richard rather than throwing the revelations at us out of the blue.

The film begins with a shot of a person drowning in the sea. In the next shot, we see Tami inside the boat. This is the first instance that shows us that Tami is alone on the boat. Because she was inside the boat, the figure we saw drowning was Richard. Hence, in the opening scene itself, the film tells us that the protagonist is alone and her partner is already dead.

Another hint that the film drops a couple of times is the mention of hallucinations. When Tami asks Richard what it is like to sail alone, he says that it is tiring, physically and mentally. While seasickness and dehydration drain the body, the mind is occupied by hallucinations. In another scene, after being stranded at sea for some time, Tami sees a huge ship pass by them in the middle of the night. She tries to grab its attention, but the ship disappears into the night just as suddenly as it had appeared. Again, Tami wonders if she is hallucinating, and Richard’s answer remains quite vague about it.

Just like this, there is also the scene when Tami sings on the boat, and for a split second, we don’t see anyone behind her. But then, Richard starts talking and we see him in the background. There could probably be more hidden details that show themselves on a second watch and tell us that Tami had been alone on the boat for all those days.

With no help arriving from anywhere and Richard’s condition getting worse, Tami tells him that she is going to let him go now. The moment she says that Richard suddenly disappears from the boat, which makes her realize that she had been hallucinating all this while. Now that she is alone, Tami’s will to do something to save herself is severely exhausted. But then, a bird shows itself. It’s a land bird, which proves that Tami is close to land. She sends a signal to call for help, and soon enough, she is saved.

Eventually, she finds herself back in Tahiti, where she recuperates and visits Richard’s boat. She is overwhelmed by the memories they had made over the past five months but also knows that she will need to leave him behind if she is to move forward. She visits the beach where they used to spend a lot of time, and in the flower that Richard had told her is the flower of love, she leaves the ring he made for her and sends it out into the sea. It is revealed that Richard was never found and he probably died the night of the hurricane. Tami took her time to heal and grieve but did not give up on sailing.

Read More:  Best Shailene Woodley Movies and TV Shows

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41 Days Stranded at Sea: The Harrowing, Heartbreaking Real-Life Story Behind New Movie 'Adrift'

"It's amazing what you can do when you have to survive," says shipwreck survivor Tami Oldham Ashcraft

Spoiler Alert! This story contains major spoilers about the plot of the new movie Adrift .

The summer of 1983 started out like a fairytale adventure for 23-year-old globetrotter Tami Oldham Ashcraft.

The California native got engaged to her British boyfriend, Richard Sharp, and several months later the two experienced sailors set out on a dream trip from Tahiti to San Diego on a luxurious 44-foot sailboat. Less than two weeks into their trek, the pair — played by Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin in the new movie Adrift — were trapped in a devastatingly strong hurricane that changed their lives forever.

Ashcraft, who originally detailed her ordeal in a 1998 self-published memoir Red Sky in Mourning , says that although she and Sharp received radio warnings about the developing storm, which started out as a tropical depression and quickly gained in intensity and speed, they were unable to outrun it.

“We ran from it for three days trying to figure it out, because it kept changing direction,” Ashcraft recalls to PEOPLE. “The storms are going twice your speed. We couldn’t make that kind of time with the boat to get out of the way.”

When the hurricane fully descended upon them on Oct. 12, Sharp had sent Ashcraft below deck to rest. The last thing she remembers before the boat capsized and she was knocked unconscious is her fiancé screaming.

“When I woke up from being knocked out for 27 hours, I didn’t know where I was,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Where am I?’ The boat’s half-full of water at that point, I couldn’t even really remember anything. Then I started moving and unlatching myself [from her safety suit and various debris], looking around going, ‘Oh my God. Richard. Where’s Richard?'”

All she could find of Sharp in the midst of the wreckage was his broken safety tether hanging lifelessly over the boat. While the reality of her grave situation swept over her, so did the awareness that she was badly injured — her head was split open behind her hairline and she had a serious gash on her leg — and drifting aimlessly somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“They were both bad. My head injury I could keep clean somewhat, keep bandages on it,” says Ashcraft. “Thank goodness it’s underneath my hairline so you can’t see it. It splayed my head wide open, and I just bled. My leg I kept hitting on everything, and then there was so much water in the boat. It would just stay wet all the time. I was super worried about my leg. Then I started ripping up t-shirts and stuff when I ran out of bandages.”

After she self-administered first aid, Ashcraft’s next key survival move was crafting a makeshift sail from some of the debris on the boat and setting course for Hawaii — 1,500 miles away — which she was able to do via her navigation skills.

“What saved my life was knowing celestial navigation, that I could navigate by the sun and get myself somewhere,” Ashcraft says. “You have to do three sights a day, and sometimes I would have to do four. Doing all the mathematics required for that really helped me to focus.”

RELATED VIDEO: Two American Women and Their Dogs Rescued After Five ‘Hopeless’ Months Lost At Sea

It also helped keep her mind off her grief over losing her fiancé in such a tragic way.

“I had to tell myself onboard that I couldn’t cry anymore, because I was losing way too much water,” Ashcraft says. “My water supply was very limited. I just had a big talk with myself. That inner strength to survive is so strong. You just don’t realize it, until you’re put in a really crucial time that you have to survive. It’s amazing what you can do. That just comes from within really. Then keeping your mind active.”

Ashcraft survived 41 days adrift in the Pacific, subsisting on peanut butter and willpower, before she approached Hilo, Hawaii and was picked up by a Japanese research vessel after sending up a flare around 4 o’clock in the morning.

The ship’s crew members “were shocked,” she recalls. “I was exhausted. I was way underweight — I’m 5’8″-5’9″ and I weighed about 100 lbs. I didn’t even go to the hospital. Can you believe that? I can’t believe nobody sent me to the hospital.”

When Ashcraft returned home to San Diego, the weight of her near-death experience and the loss of her first love fully set in, and she face a long recovery from her injuries, physically and mentally.

“I had the head injury and I couldn’t even read a book for nearly five years. I couldn’t finish sentences, my short term memory was really bad,” she says. “Seeing couples together, that sort of thing, was hard. I had nightmares. I was consumed for years and years with thinking about it. I then realized after five or six years that I could choose when to start thinking about him and the experience. I started realizing, ‘Oh, I’m not consumed by this all day now.'”

Although Ashcraft says her physical injuries healed well enough that she never went to a hospital for medical attention, she regrets not seeking out help from a therapist or counselor.

“I wish I had gotten some professional mental help. I think I could have sped up my recovery a little bit more,” she says. “Not so much the grieving but the mental recovery of reading and that kind of thing. They can give you projects to work on and things, and also just make sure that you’re going around the right track.”

Ashcraft says it took her a full five years before she was able to come out of her mental fog and feel joy again. She returned to the water almost immediately — only these days she prefers power boating to sailing when she navigates near Washington’s San Juan Islands, where she lives with her family, husband Ed, a contractor, and her two daughters.

“We’ve been a boating family,” she says. “I think it teaches the children so much more about life.”

Ashcraft still speaks publicly about her incredible survival story to groups like the Navy Survival School. “I’m glad to help, although I’m sorry I was in that situation. Now I choose when I want to think about it. For many years I was consumed by it and a lot of that had to do with just moving on in life,” she says. “It’s still in your heart. It’s just in a different way.”

Adrift is now playing in theaters.

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'Triangle of Sadness' Trailer Reveals Shipwrecked Cruise for the Uber-Rich

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NEON released the theatrical trailer for its third consecutive Palme d'Or winner, the satirical comedy Triangle of Sadness . In the upcoming film, a cruise for the uber-rich sinks, leaving its survivors to fend for themselves on an island in this highly-anticipated criticism of the elite one percent that will be released in theaters on October 7.

Five years after satirist Ruben Östlund won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2017 with The Square , he returned with his second award-winning satire Triangle of Sadness . Since premiering at the Cannes Film Festival , the Swedish writer-director’s first English-language film turns the social hierarchy upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty. Triangle of Sadness centers in on a model celebrity couple, Carl ( Harris Dickinson , Beach Rats and County Lines ) and Yaya ( Charlbi Dean , Don’t Sleep and Blood in the Water) , who are invited on the luxury cruise for the uber-rich as well as their alcoholic boat captain ( Woody Harrelson , True Detective and Natural Born Killers ).

The Triangle of Sadness trailer not only succeeds in setting the tone for what to expect from the upcoming film, but it calls privilege in to question with the use of tense moments, awkward requests, and melodramatic background music. This gives viewers a glimpse at the absurdity, satire, and gross factor that divided audiences at Cannes.

RELATED: From ‘Amour’ to ‘Triangle of Sadness’: Every Palme d'Or Winner of the Past Decade (And How to Watch Them)

Joining Harrelson, Dickinson and Dean is Croatian actor Zlatko Burić , known for appearing in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy. The Triangle of Sadness cast also includes Iris Berben ( Eddie the Eagle ), Sunnyi Melles ( The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch ), Henrik Dorsin ( Solsidan ), Dolly De Leon ( Verdict ), Vicki Berlin ( Forbrydelsen ), Oliver Ford Davies ( Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace ), and Arvin Kananian ( Aniara ).

Fredrik Wenzel , who worked with Östlund on Force Majeure and The Square , is in charge of cinematography for the film with art direction from Gabriel de Knopp and Daphne Koutra . Executive producers are Brina Elizabeta Blaz , Alessandro Del Vigna , Lizzie Francke , Dan Friedkin , Ryan Friedkin , Micah Green , Andreas Roald , James Benjamin Shannon , Jim Stark , Daniel Steinman , Bradley Thomas , Dan Wechsler and Jamal Zeinal Zade . Philippe Bober and Erik Hemmendorff are producing.

Triangle of Sadness will be hitting North American theaters on October 7. Watch the first theatrical trailer below.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

“Set in the world of world fashion – a satire in which a pair of models find themselves at a crossroads in their careers. Fashion model couple Carl and Yaya are invited on a luxury cruise. When the yacht sinks they become stranded on a desert island with a group of billionaires and a cleaning lady. In the fight for survival, old hierarchies are turned upside down since the cleaning lady is the only one who knows how to fish.”

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The odds of surviving 13 classic 'lost at sea' movies

And by that I mean, my odds of surviving.

Adrift (2018)

Shailene Woodley plays the real-life survivor Tami Oldham who got caught in a hurricane and had to sail on her own towards Hawai'i with a broken boat. In honor of her heroism and harrowing story, I tried to put myself in her terrible, waterlogged shoes.

My chance of survival: 2%

First, I know nothing about sailing. Tami had no chance of rescue and needed to sail herself to safety. I would never be able to do that, with or without Sam Claflin as a love interest.

Life of Pi (2012)

My chance of survival: 20%

If I remember correctly, Pi survives mainly by cowering in a minature raft he floats on to hide from the tiger. I am better at hiding than I am at sailing. But still, I get very hungry.

The Deep (2012)

My chance of survival: 1%

This Icelandic movie is based on a true story about a fisherman who survived in the freezing ocean after his boat capsized. I am always cold, even in my office. I would be very bad at this.

The Finest Hours (2016)

My chance of survival: 80%

This is a movie about a Coast Guard rescue mission. And a historically successful one! I can be rescued by Chris Pine.

The Deep (1977)

My chance of survival: 0%

I do not know how to scuba dive and also I am very scared of it, and so I would immediately panic and breath too much or too little and screw up my lungs in the way that you're not supposed to when you're scuba diving.

The Disappeared (2012)

My chance of survival: 30%

Because htis film is about six men stranded after their fishing boat sinks, I feel like I could survive just by following directions and hoping no one eats me.

Open Water (2003)

See my earlier answer about scuba diving, and then throw in sharks.

The Reef (2010)

I'm not a terrible swimmer, and even though sharks are super scary, statistically, they probably won't eat me. So if I could stick to the group and make it to a shallow section of the reef where I could stand, I could probably wait it out until I was rescued by a fishing boat.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

My chance of survival: 25%

Again, I'm basing my odds here on not having to rely on any of my own boat knowledge. If I make it out of this one, it's mostly luck.

All Is Lost (2013)

My chance of survival: 10%

Look, I'll say again: I don't know how to sail. But Robert Redford only had a shot at making it out if he was rescued, and I'm banking on those odds.

Titanic (1997)

My chance of survival: 85%

Women and children first, people. Since I almost certainly wouldn't fall in love with a rougish third-class artist, I wouldn't jump out of the lifeboat at the last minute in time to push him off a door.

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

My chance of survival: 50%

Whales are scary, and so are shipwrecks, but in this imaginary scenario, I have Chris Hemsworth to help me survive.

The Perfect Storm (2000)

My chane of survival: 0%

The storm is perfect for a reason. RIP me.

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The Real-Life Story Behind The Shipwreck Movie 'Adrift' Is Almost Unbelievable

The film  Adrift  (2018), starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin, tells the story of two sailors who manage to survive some incredible odds. A seemingly standard harrowing Hollywood premise, the film is actually based on the true story of Tami Oldham. At only 23 years old, Tami Oldham Ashcraft survived being  lost at sea  for 41 days after a hurricane ravaged her boat and killed her fiancé, Richard Sharp. She sailed 1,500 miles in a battered yacht, somehow keeping herself alive after the devastating hurricane by repairing the boat and setting a course for land. Oldham faced 41 days of unimaginable physical and emotional turmoil, at some points even hallucinating and hearing voices. But her tenacity and sailing experience allow her to make it to Hawaii alive, against the odds.

The film adaptation of the Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp story stays pretty faithful to their ordeal – but, of course, with some Hollywood license taken that suggests it may not be entirely as somber. The Tami Oldham Ashcraft survival story is one of sheer grit and determination to live – a struggle that continued long after the ordeal itself.

In The Movie, Oldham Finds Sharp – But In Real Life, He Was Gone

The major difference between the movie and real life appears in the trailer:  Richard Sharp survives the storm . In real life, he was torn from his safety harness by the waves and Tami Oldham never saw him again. But in the movie, she finds him in the water the next day, clinging to a life boat, badly injured but alive.

While this looks like a huge departure from the true story, subtle hints tell viewers that things may not be as they seem. In the trailer, Sharp mentions how hallucinations are common when you sail alone. So it remains open to possibility that Oldham simply imagines Sharp is still there with her.

Their Sailing Experiences Led Them To A Fateful Job Offer To Transport A Yacht

• Tami Oldham Ashcraft
• Hachette Books

Twenty-three-year-old Tami Oldham and her fiancé, Richard Sharp, had been sailing together around the South Pacific Islands for about six months when they received a job offer in September 1983. The owners of the Hazana , a 44-foot yacht, wanted Oldham and Sharp to sail it from Tahiti to San Diego , a journey of 4,000 miles.

As avid sailors, the couple agreed to take on the delivery of the boat – a decision that would permanently change the course of their lives.

They Unexpectedly Encountered A Late-Season Storm, Hurricane Raymond

• Wikimedia Commons
• Public Domain

In October 1983, Hurricane Raymond thrashed the Pacific Ocean. The Category 4 storm produced 140-knot winds and 40-foot high waves, an extremely dangerous situation for a 44-foot yacht to sail into. Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp underestimated the severity of the storm, and after initially trying to outrun it , they tried to swing north to avoid its path.

As hard as the couple fought against the hurricane, it simply overwhelmed them and their boat.

Oldham Last Heard Sharp Scream Before She Was Knocked Unconscious

With the storm worsening, Richard Sharp told Tami Oldham to go below deck. As she went below, she heard Sharp scream before the boat pitched forward . She smacked against the wall and fell unconscious for 27 hours, waking up to find the storm over. But when she went looking for Sharp, she only found his safety tether hanging over the side of the boat. 

Oldham was heartbroken, but didn't have time to properly grieve for her husband-to-be. She put her feelings aside and pushed through the tasks needed to be done for survival. She spent the next 41 days repairing and sailing the yacht on her own, eating canned food and peanut butter and charting her course home.

The Storm Destroyed Most Of The Boat's Equipment

Against 40-foot waves and wind up to 140 knots, the Hazana   rolled and flipped end-over-end . Loose items smashed upon the walls, and water partially flooded the cabin. The masts floated in the water nearby, ripped off by the hurricane winds. Worse, the boat's critical electronics – the engine, radio, emergency signal, and navigation device – were all destroyed.

On her own, Tami Oldham rigged up a makeshift sail and pumped the water out of the cabin. She managed to repair the yacht enough to make it the 1,500 miles to Hilo, HI.

Oldham Saved Herself While Suffering A Major Head Injury

The boat and its contents were not the only things damaged by the storm. After slamming against the wall, Tami Oldham suffered a major head injury. Just like the rest of the boat, Oldham bandaged up her head as best she could and fought through it.

Though she survived, she said the injury left her unable to read a book for six years.

She Had Nothing But A Sextant And A Watch To Guide Her To Hawaii

• Author Unknown

Though the storm ruined most of her navigation devices, Tami Oldham still had a map, a watch, and a sextant (a centuries-old navigational device  used to measure the distance between celestial bodies in order to determine latitude and longitude while at sea).

Using the sextant, Oldham figured out her position in the ocean and found the currents that would take her to Hawaii. Today, she  wears a tiny replica of a sextant as a pendant to remind her of how she found her way home.

At One Point, Oldham Suffered A Full Mental Breakdown

Being alone at sea gets difficult even in the best of circumstances. Tami Oldham endured her loneliness while also injured, grieving the loss of her fiancé, and fearing she might never make it back to land. At one point in her journey home,  she experienced a full mental breakdown , lying completely catatonic for two days. She was "mentally fried," unsure she would be able to carry on.

Luckily, Oldham began to hear an "inner voice" that told her to get back up. By listening to it, she was able to power through and continue sailing to Hawaii.

Her "Inner Voice" Stopped Her From Committing Suicide

In a  Chicago Tribune interview, Tami Oldham described the pain of losing the man she loved :

Definitely the hardest part was dealing with Richard being gone. There were times I didn't even want to live anymore because I didn't know how I was going to go on. I was never going to fall in love again.

At one point during her ordeal, Oldham decided to end it all – she grabbed the shotgun from the ship's cabin and put the barrel in her mouth . Yet that inner voice told her no – it wasn't her time to go yet.

When asked about the voice, she responded:

I think it was my inner spirit, quite frankly. It was my spirit. People want to convince me it was God, but I don't know. I think, personally, it was my inner spirit.

Oldham Wishes She Sought Help For PTSD Sooner

For Tami Oldham, readjusting to life after the hurricane took another kind of tenacity. While in "survival mode" on the boat, she focused on the tasks needed to be done rather than mourn the loss of her partner; back on land, surrounded by people, not as many distractions existed.

She spoke of the mental trauma she endured in an interview with the Chicago Tribune , and reveals a wish that she had sought help for PTSD :

I wish I had because I definitely had some severe post-traumatic stress syndrome. I really wish I had taken the time to do that. I'm fairly headstrong, so I'm always, "Oh, I can get through this on my own." Now looking back, at times I really needed some professional help.

Oldham's Mother Had A Premonition That Something Was Wrong

Thousands of miles away from her shipwrecked daughter in San Diego, Tami Oldham's mother knew something was wrong. After Hurricane Raymond hit, Zonna Pennell began to have strange dreams, strange enough she viewed them as premonitions : "There was a guy outside a boat looking through a porthole. It was blurry. I saw Tami and she had something red on her head – a gash."

Pennell started going to the Coast Guard office every day to ask about her daughter, but was never even told about the hurricane. She only heard from Oldham after the ordeal was over.

She Wrote A Book About Her Experiences, Which Was A Part Of Her Healing Process

As a part of her grieving process, Tami Oldham wrote a book called Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea , a project she began around eight years after the accident. At the time it was released, her two daughters were too young to read the book or understand what their mother had been through – they only knew that "Mommy was in a hurricane."

Although the book was initially rejected by several publishers , Oldham went ahead and published it herself. When a literary agent discovered it, those same publishers went into a bidding war for the story. Oldham's book formed the basis for the film  Adrift.

In Spite Of The Trauma She Endured, Oldham Still Loves To Sail

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When asked by the Chicago Tribune how she feels about sailing today, Tami Oldham's response said a lot about her inner strength:

I just love it. I'm passionate about it. I kind of parallel [the hurricane] to being in a car accident. You get back in the car or, like they say, back on the horse. I couldn't wait to get out of the States and get back to some tranquility and get back to the water again. But it definitely made me a lot more cautious.

Today she lives on San Juan Island, WA, a place where she can practice the hobby that not only saved her life, but also gives it joy.

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Visiting the mysterious empty and sunken vessels of the deep blue sea.

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No Escape: 24 Stranded Island Movies

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The Wild Life (or  Robinson Crusoe as its known elsewhere in the world) swings into theaters this Friday, delivering a well-worn tale told from the perspective of the animals whose island sanctuary shatters with the arrival of a shipwrecked human. Set your survival instincts to “purrr” because this week’s gallery in a bottle marks the spot for 24 more stranded island movies!

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22 Stranded on a Desert Island Movies

Here’s one way to get yourself excited about getting out and traveling watch a movie about people on a beautiful tropical desert island. From the old to the new and the suspenseful to the romantic, here are 21 movies to get you in the mood to take a vacation. (click for the trailer, if available)

Table of Contents

1.  Six Days Seven Nights (1998)

Starring Harrison Ford. A couple takes a vacation to a beautiful tropical island, but when the woman, Robin Monroe, is called back to work, she gets a plane ride with Fords character and the two of them become stranded on a remote island.

2.  Robinson Crusoe (1997)

Starring Pierce Brosnan. A man comes to an island, builds himself a new home, and protects himself from savages. He is stuck there for years before he is rescued.

3.  Cast Away (2000)

Starring Tom Hanks. A Fed Ex employee becomes stranded on a deserted island and must fend for himself for years, remembering his life at home and the woman he loved.

4. Swept Away (1974)/ Swept Away (2002)

A rich woman and her friends take a trip on a yacht, and the sailor cant stand them. Her friends leave and she wants to catch up with them, so she has the sailor take her to them on a small boat, which breaks down and they become deserted. The original rated better, but it is in Italian, so youll need subtitles. Unless you speak Italian.

5.  The Beach (2000)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Im going to be honest- this is one of the worst movies Ive ever seen in my entire life. The idea of it is just so cool (DiCaprio and some friends search for a rumored island of perfection), but the characters are so poorly developed that I literally could not tell them apart.

6.  Lord of the Flies (1990)

A group of British school boys become stranded on a deserted island, and must fend for themselves and form their own government, but the results are disastrous.

7.  Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

A family becomes shipwrecked on a island full of pirates. They build an amazing home for themselves and explore and learn to live on the island. 

8. Paradise Lagoon (American)/ The Admirable Crichton (British) (1957) (trailer unavailable)

A Lord and his servants are shipwrecked on an island, putting the traditional class system to the test.

9. Island of the Blue Dolphins (1964) (trailer unavailable)

Based on a true story, a young girl is stranded for years on an island.

10.  Respiro (2000)

A free-spirited woman on a beautiful Italian island is accused of madness by the people living there.

11.  Mediterraneo (1991)

Italian soldiers become stranded on a Greek island that they believe to be deserted, until the townspeople come out of hiding and the Italians assimilate into their culture. Italian language film.

12.  Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women (1979)

5 men become shipwrecked on an island where a group of girls have been living for years. A nun has taught the girls that all men are evil, so the girls are out to kill them. 

13.  Bare Essentials (1991)

A couple gets stranded on a desert island, and they re-discover love, but not with each other.

14.  The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Starring Harrison Ford. A man takes his family to get away from it all and have a new life on an island, but it isnt all fun and games.

15.  Nim’s Island (2008)

Starring Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler. An adventure writer, Alex Rover, is summoned by a young girl to a private island when her dad becomes lost at sea and her island is invaded.

16.  Three (Survival Island) (2005)

Three people become marooned on an island and have to fight for survival.

17.  The Blue Lagoon (1980) / The Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)

Two children get stranded on a lush island and as they grow up they develop feelings for each other.

18.  Paradise (1982)

A supposedly love-it-or-hate-it movie involving some sort of kidnapping and eventual love in an oasis.

19.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

After a bad breakup, a man takes a vacation on a beautiful island, and behold, his ex is there with her new boyfriend. Comedy.

20.  A Perfect Getaway (2009)

A couple on vacation in Hawaii meets another fun couple on a desert, but then learn that there are two wanted murderers on the loose- a man and a woman.

21.  Couples Retreat (2009)

Starring Vince Vaughn. A couple goes to an island resort to re-ignite their spark, but soon they learn that they will be tested and will have to make their marriage work. Comedy.

22.  Land of the Lost (2009)

Starring Will Ferrell. A man who theorizes about time warps goes back through time, and he and his friends must try to survive. Unfortunately, it may be the worst movie ever made. Comedy.

If you like these island movies, learn how to travel the world for free and have your own exotic adventures! Read my ebook How to Become the Jack of All Travel: A Beginners Guide to Traveling the World for Free . It is possible, and it really works- Ive been doing it myself for years. 

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Spacesuits of boeing-launched astronauts stranded on space station are incompatible with spacex craft.

Two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station after their Boeing spacecraft malfunctioned could be there much longer than anticipated because of an incompatibility with their spacesuits.

NASA told Fox News Digital their Boeing spacesuits are made to work with the company’s spacecraft, while SpaceX’s spacesuits are made to work with its own Dragon vessel, which NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams may ride in on their descent back to Earth.

The two astronauts arrived in the Starliner vehicle June 5 and were only supposed to stay until the middle of the month.

Authorities have been discussing how to safely return them home after discovering helium leaks and propulsion problems.

Both astronauts are “very familiar” with the International Space Station, said Russ DeLoach, NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance. The Starliner test flight marked the third mission to the ISS for each of them.

With the commercialization of space, NASA is not as deeply involved as it once was with every aspect of mission and spacecraft design.

As a result, an incompatibility between the spacesuits designed by SpaceX and Boeing has reportedly created an issue returning Wilmore and Williams to Earth.

“The Boeing spacesuit is made to work with the Starliner spacecraft, and the SpaceX spacesuit is made to work with the Dragon spacecraft,” NASA told Fox News Digital. “Both were designed to fit each unique spacecraft.”

NASA did not confirm whether the issue is detrimental to the astronauts’ return.

Fox News Digital has also reached out to Boeing on the matter.

On Saturday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and agency leaders will hold an internal agency test flight readiness review in connection to the Boeing crew flight test. During the review, “any formal dissents will be presented and reconciled,” NASA said.

After the test, NASA is expected to host a live news conference at 1 p.m. from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The decision to return the Starliner spacecraft to Earth with astronauts is expected to be made no earlier than Saturday.

According to NASA’s website, if the decision is made to return Starliner to Earth without a crew, Wilmore and Williams will remain on the space station until late February 2025.

NASA would then plan to have the SpaceX Crew-9 mission have only two crew members, instead of four, travel to the space station in September and Wilmore and Williams would return to earth with the two-person crew early next year.

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Newborn stranded on Greek island without water rescued after three days

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A newborn has been rescued after being stranded with his parents for three days on the Greek island of Tilos, officials have said.

Human traffickers abandoned a group of refugees on the shores of the Aegean Sea – including pregnant women and babies – without food or water.

The boy, said to be aged just 50 days old, was among the dozens who became trapped in a mountainous area.

As their recourses ran low, his parents were forced to use seawater to make his milk.

After three days, authorities finally rescued the baby, while others were taken away from the area by helicopter.

Mayor of Tilos Maria Kamma shared footage of the operation, showing a man cradling the child in his arms before climbing into an inflatable boat.

In a post on Facebook, she said: ‘The community of Tilos has once again risen to the occasion, lending a shoulder to the refugees.

‘The locals are trying to cope in the best way possible with the “migrant crisis” in their homeland and to help the suffering, the wounded and the distressed people.’

Local media reported the baby was safe and healthy. It is not clear how many people were part of the group.

Maria also said the baby boy was finally given the name Ionas, likening him to the monk who washed up in Tilos and built the monastery of Agios Panteleimon.

She also said human traffickers are creating a ‘scene of despair’ on the island and claimed some refugees have been ‘badly beaten’.

‘Pregnant woman trapped in the mountain, infants and children thrown in steep areas of the island, women injured, men beaten badly by traffickers, make up the scene of despair that my island’s society has been experiencing in recent months,’ the mayor added.

She reported that there has been ‘minimal’ assistance from the outside for the island, but praised volunteers for stepping in to fill the gap and help refugees.

Greece is one of the gateways into Europe for refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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Stranded & Survival Movies

1. 127 Hours

2. Cast Away

3. Pitch Black

4. Apollo 13

5. The Mist

6. Enemy Mine

7. The Blue Lagoon

8. Blindness

9. Dawn of the Dead

11. Maximum Overdrive

12. The Blair Witch Project

13. Tremors

15. The Thing

16. The Thing

20. Predator

21. Open Water

22. Open Water 2: Adrift

24. Lord of the Flies

25. Survival Island

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