Australian charter boat rushes to surf camp after tsunami

News.com.au, By Fred Pawle and Sallie Don, October 26, 2010 5:31PM

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THE father of an Australian surfing guide missing after a powerful undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia says he hopes his son is simply out of mobile phone range.

Chris Scurrah, formerly of Melbourne, was the skipper on board the Sumatran Surfariis charter boat Southern Cross when the 7.7-magnitude quake hit Kepulauan Mentawai, off Sumatra's west, last night.

Missing Southern Cross skipper Chris Scurrah
/ Facebook

A staff member of the Padang-based company said the Southern Cross has not made contact since the quake.

"There is one boat that we haven't been able to make contact with, the Southern Cross," Yuli, a staff member of the Padang-based company said.

"Among the passengers there are nine Australian citizens."

On board are Chris Scurrah, his fellow skipper Akinori Fujita from Japan, and eight other Australians.

Chris's dad, Hal Scurrah, said he had yet to hear from his son but hoped to have contact soon.

"My feeling is that he's possibly out of range, and hopefully he's all well," Mr Scurrah said.

"I keep watching news, and I keep trying to text him or contact him on Facebook. He'll have a laptop with him.

"Generally he's not out of contact for a long time because often they will go into a sheltered spot or into a local town for supplies. That's when they can make contact, too."

Chris Scurrah survived last year's 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia, texting his family that he was running inland after the quake hit Padang, home to nearly a million people on the coast of Sumatra.

More than 1100 people were killed during the quake last October.

Mr Scurrah said the family was used to his son being in dangerous situations.

"(It's) something we sort of live with," Mr Scurrah said. "We're always on our toes."

Mr Scurrah said he hoped his son was north of the area hit by the quake, as that was generally the direction he headed on surfing adventures lasting between 12 and 14 days.

"I think he's probably been out for three or four days," he said.

"Hopefully, he should be making contact pretty soon."

But Surfaid's Mentawai Islands Program Manager Tom Plummer said the missing boat had been close to the quake's epicentre.

"There are genuine fears," he said.

The Sumatran Surfariis charter boat company says it has not been able to contact its boat Southern Cross since the 7.7-magnitude quake hit Kepulauan Mentawai, off Sumatra's west, last night.

Earlier, another Australian charter boat was rushing to the surf camp at Macaronis Resort to find out what damage was inflicted by a tsunami that hit the region last night, The Australian reported.

The camp is at a break known as Macaronis, in the southern Mentawais.

Three boats were anchored nearby last night. Two of the boats were smashed into each other by the tsunami.

The Southern Cross has gone missing with nine
Australians on board / Supplied

One, the Midas, was destroyed. All passengers - mostly Australian surfers - are safe and accounted for.

Charter boat Freedom III is on its way to the Macaronis Resort to see what damage was inflicted, and whether the guests had been injured.

“Freedom III is on its way there now, to do its duty of care,” said World Surfaris manager Shaun Levings. “We’re still waiting on a report.”

Asked if he was concerned about the resort, Mr Levings said: “Absolutely. It’s not looking too good for them.”

The Macaronis Resort is owned and run by Australians. “The owners have put years of work in building this beautiful resort,” Mr Levings said.

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