Family of Surfers Lost at Sea Recount Harrowing Situation: “Like a death in the family.”
Four Aussie surfers were stranded at sea for 36 hours in Indonesia the other day.
But thankfully, they were found…alive. The four surfers – Steph Weisse, Jordan Short, Elliot Foote, and Will Teagle – who were on the trip to celebrate a birthday, ran into trouble when traversing between the remote Indonesian islands of Nias and Pinang.
And now, the family of one of the temporarily missing surfers is speaking out.
Peter Foote, father of Elliot, told The Guardian, it was “like a death in the family. It was so stressful. But it’s all good now. It’s just an amazing survival thing. He looks a bit of a mess but he’s OK. He just got a few cuts on his side, maybe from the boat.”
In a video interview – watch above – Foote continued:
“For the last few days, we’ve been optimistic. I know they’re good water people. The water is nice and calm there. It’s nice and warm. I was always optimistic.
“I’ve spoke to a couple people who live up there and they said it happens all the time. Surf boats break down, and they’re missing for a couple days, then they find them. So, it’s quite common apparently."
Captioning the video, The Sydney Morning Herald wrote:
“After spending 36 hours floating at sea on surfboards off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, Elliott 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 sunk the Australians and three Indonesian crew members grabbed what they could to help their survival.
“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.
“Rescuers have not yet located the third Indonesian crew member.”
And in the midst of filming that interview, coincidentally, Foote received a text directly from his son; it read:
“Hey dad, Elliot here. I’m alive. Safe now. Love you. Chat later.”
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