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A mates’ birthday trip of a lifetime turns into a tale of survival
By Chris Barrett
Nias, Indonesia: It was supposed to be a mates’ trip of a lifetime, celebrating a 30th birthday on a remote, private island paradise. Instead, for four Australians it turned into a tale of survival they will talk about for years.
After spending 36 hours floating at sea on surfboards off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, Elliot Foote, his partner Steph Weisse, and their friends Jordan Short and Will Teagle, were found by rescue crews on Tuesday.
The four had been missing since Sunday night when their wooden speedboat struck rough weather en route to the remote Banyak Islands. As the boat sank the Australians and three Indonesian crew members grabbed what they could to help their survival.
Weisse, Short, Teagle and two of the Indonesian crew were found on Tuesday morning, with the rescue captured on video by one of their friends on board who had joined locals in the search.
Jubilant cries of “yeah” can be heard as the boat approaches before one of the members asks: “Elliot?”
“Where’s Elliot?” asks Weisse.
“Have you got Elliot?” one of the other Australians asks.
Foote was found hours later by a local fisherman over 20 nautical miles away, having left the group and attempted to paddle to the nearby island of Pulau Palambakbesar on his surfboard to find help.
The local fisherman then took him to a nearby surf camp in Nias where he sent a text message to his father.
Elliot Foote after he was rescued.Credit: Instagram
“Hey Dad, Elliot here. I’m alive. Safe now. Love you. Chat later,” the message read.
Rescuers have not yet located the third Indonesian crew member, Fifan Satria. There were grave fears for him here on Tuesday night, although local teams continued to hold out hope as they scoured the ocean.
The search efforts were assisted by Australian Grant Richardson, who sailed his catamaran, Sea Mi Amore, overnight Monday in a bid to find the missing surfers. He was confident the four were alive and could be found.
In a video message on Tuesday night, Richardson said he was absolutely elated the Australians had been rescued.
“It was a coordination between all parties involved to be able to bring them back safely but mainly their own mates,” he said. “Their own mates bonded together ... they coordinated with the Australian government [and] the Indonesian government were also on board. It was just lucky we were there to be able to support these guys.”
Yustinus Sega, the search and rescue taskforce officer on Banyak Island, said his team found the Australians on their surfboards. A Czech surfing guide who joined the search was also on the rescue boat, as were two of the surfers’ friends.
“We went last night from Banyak Island to Pinang Island and this morning started searching then we found them,” he said.
The group, which included eight other friends onboard another boat, had set out on Sunday afternoon from Nias, 130 kilometres west of Sumatra, to the small island of Pinang in the Banyaks where they had rented out bungalows to stay for 10 days.
When the storm hit, the other boat took shelter before reaching the destination, where they raised the alarm when their friends also did not arrive.
The holiday, which had also involved travelling in Sumatra, was to celebrate Foote’s 30th birthday.
Foote who grew up in Sydney and attended Scots College, is a carpenter by trade and currently lives with his partner Weisse, 31, who works at a gardening nursery. They live in Main Arm, northern NSW. Teagle is a landscaper and lives in Sydney. Short, 28, also a carpenter, is from Byron Bay.
The moment three Australian surfers and an Indonesian crew member were found after 36 hours missing at sea. Credit: Instagram
Foote’s father, Peter Foote said the four friends were close and would have been looking out for each other during the nearly two days they were lost at sea.
“Steph is pretty rattled, it’s been a long time out there. They’ve been in the water a long time,” he told reporters. “They’re all best mates, they’d be hugging each other.”
Peter Foote said he was not expecting his son to rush home to Australia.
“No, I want him to finish his holiday,” he said. “I am sure they are all fine. If the surf is great and the weather has come good and they are having a great time with their best mates, there is no point in him coming home.”
“They are there for another eight days. Hopefully, they will feed them up and he will be back out there enjoying it. He has a great story to tell. They all do.”
The search had resumed at first light on Tuesday with a number of private boats skippered by Australians joining the team of local rescuers. The Australian government had chartered a private aircraft to assist in the search and a team of four officials from its embassy, including deputy ambassador Stephen Scott, are on the island of Nias.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had contacted Indonesian President Joko Widodo to express thanks for the search and rescue efforts.
“All of us are relieved that the four Australians who were missing in Indonesia have been found,” Albanese told reporters.
“We particularly thank our Indonesian friends, who, once again have come to Australia’s support in a time of need ... And I’ve reached out to Jokowi, our friend, to thank him personally for the effort.”
The island where they were found is about 25 nautical miles to the west of Sarang Alu Island, where the Australians’ boat had gone missing on Sunday night.
With Karuni Rompies
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