She holds a 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license. The 100-ton designation refers to the gross tonnage limit of vessels the holder is licensed to operate commercially — essentially, any vessel up to 100 gross tons, which covers a wide range of small commercial vessels including passenger boats, charter sailboats, and similar craft. The license requires documented sea time, examination on navigation and seamanship, and certification in first aid and other safety disciplines.
The professional credential matters as confirmation of what the experience of 1983 established: Tami Oldham Ashcraft is a qualified, experienced mariner. The 41 days she spent alone on the Hazana were not evidence of luck or of exceptional circumstances compensating for ordinary skill. They were evidence of competence exercised at the outer limits of what competence can achieve.
She lives on San Juan Island, Washington, one of the islands in Puget Sound accessible by ferry from the mainland. San Juan Island is small — about 55 square miles — and maritime in its character, surrounded by the complex tidal currents and seasonal weather of the Pacific Northwest. It is the kind of place where the ocean is not an occasional presence but a constant one, where the ferry schedule and the weather forecast are facts of daily life.
She still sails.
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## The Sextant Pendant
The diamond-encrusted sextant pendant that Tami Oldham Ashcraft wears every day is a small object that carries a specific weight.
A sextant is a navigational instrument: a device for measuring the angle between a celestial body and the visible horizon, used in conjunction with a chronometer and tables to determine position at sea. The name comes from the arc subtended by its frame — one-sixth of a circle, 60 degrees. It is a precision instrument, capable of measurements accurate to within a tenth of a minute of arc under good conditions, which translates to position accuracy of a few miles.