THE SQUIZ
A group of 4 Aussies on a 30th birthday surfing trip to Indonesia have an epic story to tell when they return home… Birthday boy Elliot Foote, his partner Steph Weisse and their mates Jordan Short and Will Teagle were travelling with 3 Indonesian crew members on a wooden speedboat towards the Banyak Islands off the coast of Aceh when they hit rough weather and were uncontactable on Sunday night. And after more than 36 hours missing at sea, they were found “bobbing around on their surfboards“. Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency also confirmed 2 crew members were found safe, and the search is continuing for the remaining missing man.

WHAT HAPPENED?
There have been patchy comms with rescue teams and the group due to reception issues, but Elliot’s dad Peter Foote kept reporters updated yesterday. There’s a map here so you can follow along… The group initially left Nias island (about 150km from Sumatra) on Sunday night before bad weather hit, and as the boat sank, they grabbed what they could help them survive in the water. Yesterday morning, Weisse, Short and Teagle were found together, and Foote was found some hours later 20 nautical miles away near Palambak Island – he’d paddled off to get help. A lovely video of Peter’s reaction as he heard that his son was alive is so great… He says the group were “probably thinner and waterlogged”, but they’re doing well.

ANY WORD FROM THE GROUP?
They were stoked to be found… Late yesterday a video of Elliot looking relaxed and recounting the moment he was reunited with his friends again did the rounds. “‘Oh, there’s my mates – there’s Steph, Jordie and Will’. And I’m like, ‘oh sick’. And they’re like, ‘hey man’.” Peter also spoke about receiving a text message directly from his son just before 1pm yesterday… “It says ‘Hey Dad, Elliot here. I’m alive. Safe now. Love you. Chat later’. He’s probably going out for a surf this afternoon, you know.” For the Aussies, all’s well that ends well…