Sad update after four Aussie surfers were saved when their boat sank off the coast of Indonesia

The search for a missing Indonesian crew member has sadly been called off, a week after four Australian surfers were miraculously rescued after 36 hours of treading water in the middle of the ocean.

Elliot Foote, his girlfriend Steph Weisse and friends Will Teagle and Jordan Short became stranded in the waters off the island of Sumatra after their wooden sloop hit rough conditions and capsized on August 20.

The group then made the harrowing decision to separate from their three crew members in a desperate attempt to find help.

They were found clinging to surfboards with Mohammad Iqbal last Tuesday morning and a second Indonesian crew member was also plucked from the water shortly after.

However, their inspiring survival story is tinged with immense sadness as the group’s guide, Fifan Satrio, remains missing and feared dead.

“The search from the first to the seventh day was effectively conducted not only at sea but also along the coasts around the Banyak Islands, but the result was still zero,” the head of the local search and rescue agency Octavianto said. news agency Agence France- Press on Monday.

The search will not resume until new information comes to light.

A fundraiser has since been set up by Will Teagle’s sister, Amy, in support of Mr. Satrio and the Haloban village who teamed up to search for the missing tourists.

“Our primary goal is to help the Indonesian Haloban community, who have helped save the lives of a group of strangers despite a family member still missing,” Ms Teagle wrote in the gofundme.

“We will allocate a significant portion of the money raised to provide vital support to this community and Fifan Satria’s family during and after this traumatic time.

“We would also like to express our gratitude and reward to the individuals, companies and organizations that participated in the ongoing search and rescue operation.

“These teams have offered their resources, time and efforts without hesitation and where possible we will use these funds to ease the financial burden of their rescue efforts. ‘

Mr. Iqbal remembered how the Aussies paddled ahead in the desperate search for help after their boat sank.

He and the other crew member were left behind by Mr. Satrio, who was not a strong swimmer and could not keep up with the group.

“The foreigners were paddling very fast, but we couldn’t keep up and we had to take care of Fifan,” Iqbal said. The Australian.

“I tried to encourage Fifan a lot. I reminded him to tie his surfboard to his body so that no matter what happened—whether he felt dizzy or passed out—he wouldn’t sink into the sea.

“I told him if he didn’t and he passed out, he might not be found.”

Mr. Iqbal last saw Mr. Satrio clinging to a surfboard and the life jacket was unfastened.

Mr Satrio’s mother made a tearful plea for the search to continue at a local service attended by the four Aussies on Thursday evening.

The Aussies are delighted to be back on dry land, but are heartbroken that their Indonesian guide is left lost at sea.

“We had an amazing service last night with Fifan’s family and the locals here – that was very special to us and special to them,” Foote told the Today show on Friday.

“We’re just so excited and grateful for everyone and everything that happened, but we’re still grieving, we’re still angry about the end result, but also happy to be here. ‘

It comes hours after Mr. Foote broke his silence over the ordeal where he paid tribute to the group’s missing guide.

“My deepest thoughts are with Fifan’s family. Our merry young guide who has not been found,” Mr Foote posted earlier on Thursday.

“I wish we could have done more to help you, and that will be a burden to me.

“I understand the loneliness you must have felt alone in those hours, and my condolences to your family.”

The four surfers and their crew had chosen to trek through the rough weather on Sunday night, while a group of eight of their friends took refuge on Saran Alu.

Mr Foote went on to say that the experience was ‘something I cannot comprehend’.

‘My emotions are incredibly mixed; elation, guilt, full adrenaline, fear, pure joy and happiness,” he said.

“From the moment the boat went down to the moment we were reunited on Pinang Island, uncertainty was the only certainty.

“I didn’t know if my eight friends had arrived on the island the Sunday night before us, if my friend Steph, Will, and Jordan had been found and rescued before I did, or if I should go out and find them. ‘