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Between Matildas hype and Tahiti Pro updates, Australian surfers were rattled by reports of four Oz surfers and three, boat crew who were were missing at sea, somewhere near the Banyak Islands in Indonesia. Given so many Australian surfers have been to Indonesia we felt heavily invested in the prospects of the missing party. It was the talking point in lineups and car-parks and many of us (like me) were welded to our phones for regular updates.
As news slowly trickled through that some of the members had been found there was cause for celebration, tempered by the knowledge that not everyone had been declared safe. First we learned that Steph Weisse, Will Teagle, Jordan Stewart and two of the Indo boat crew (Mohammed Iqbal and Junardi Akhmad,) were found at sea. Then, Elliot Foote was located at the Bay of Plenty in the Banyak Islands, after leaving the group for help.
Despite the good news for the Australian surfers and their families, a dark cloud hangs over celebrations, given crew member Fivan Satriang (pictured below), is still missing. According to the ‘Missing Person Sheet’, run by the Indonesian Search team, they are still looking for the 22-year-old. Unfortunately they are presuming the worst, as it’s been three days without any sign of him.
The four Australians had plenty of friends back home who were anxiously following the progress of the search mission. We spoke to one anonymous friend who said he never lost faith in their ability to paddle themselves out of trouble.
Tracks: Have you spoken to any of them?
Yeah. like according to Jimmy ( who’s on the surf trip and a part of the search operation), when we spoke today, they’re still a bit rattled. Especially the fact that like, the remaining Indonesian hasn’t been found yet. But I mean, like, you know, obviously, they want to stay in high spirits. And like Peter (Elliot’s Dad) said, they’re just gonna enjoy the rest of their trip. And you know, like, they’re all best mates there.
But now the crew’s just trying to raise money for the family because the guy who apparently found Footey. I’m pretty sure he’s a relative of the guy who’s still missing.
TRACKS: When you heard the news and knowing Elliot (aka Footey) did you think he was gonna be okay, or were you like, ‘geez this is not good?’
I was not worried, I was pretty sure he would have been found. Yeah, it’s just because in that area they were lost, there’s no fear of getting taken out to sea. But, in saying that like, I remember before my first trip to Indo, we heard this story about this bloke who had actually fallen overboard in the middle of the night. And he was treading water for two days. No surfboard, no nothing.
Yeah, if the boats gone under they’ll have their surfboards with them. Because that was the biggest concern. It’s like, fuck, did the boat go under. Like they’re all surfers. They can all swim. Like the concern was not, ‘Are they alive?’ It’s like how long can they last? And they didn’t know if the other boat had gone down either.
But yeah, all the boys back in Sydney went for a beer on Tuesday night to kind of celebrate, which was classic. Everyone just at the pub, just having a yarn, like this is crazy.
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A fund-raising initiative has been established by the survivors of the recent sea-going emergency in Indonesia. The fund’s aims are to assist and support the family and community of the one crew member who is still missing, to compensate the people who committed their time and resources to the rescue effort, and to help ensure nothing like this happens again. Click here to donate.
