They left Papeete Harbor on September 22, 1983.
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## The 1983 Pacific Hurricane Season and the Problem of Raymond
The eastern Pacific hurricane season of 1983 was an active one. The El Niño event that had developed in 1982 and 1983 had raised sea surface temperatures across the tropical Pacific, providing the warm water that fuels tropical cyclone development. Hurricanes that year were forming further east and tracking further north and west than typical, creating conditions that made the eastern Pacific less predictable than usual for vessels transiting the region.
Hurricane Raymond formed from a tropical wave that emerged from the Central American coast in early October 1983. The first advisory was issued on October 8, with the system located near 12.4°N, 104.4°W — about 500 miles southwest of Mexico’s Pacific coast. It was moving west at a modest pace over sea surface temperatures of 29 to 30 degrees Celsius, the kind of thermal fuel that drives rapid intensification.
By October 9, it had strengthened to tropical storm status. By October 10, it had become a hurricane, located near 12.0°N, 114.6°W, with a small, distinct eye already forming. On October 11, it reached peak intensity: 64 meters per second, approximately 143 miles per hour, a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It was moving rapidly westward.
The couple had been aware that a hurricane was developing. Tami Oldham Ashcraft would later describe running from it for three days — trying to sail north, away from its track, while the storm kept changing direction and tracking in ways that complicated their evasion. Hurricanes of this kind move at speeds roughly twice what a sailing yacht can achieve under power and sail combined. You cannot outrun them; you can only try to position yourself out of their path.