Below is an email between Shaun Levings (MD of World Surfaris) and Kirk Wilcox (Surf Aid International) with snippets from Tom Plummer (Surf Aid Sumatra).

From: Kirk Willcox [mailto:kirk@surfaidinternational.org]
Sent: Thursday, 4 November 2010 10:14 AM
To: Shaun Levings; ‘Lauren Rudder’
Subject: RE: World Surfaris Surf Aid Donation

You’re a champ Shaun – as always!

And thanks to all involved who organised this and the donors – and please pass on our direct thanks to Keith.

It’s really grim out in the field – and the worst weather in years making deliveries super tough.  But we are getting through to the villages using our boat/surf knowledge.

Just got this below from Tom Plummer, who is normally our Mentawai Program Manager, but is managing our frontline response in the islands.

Below Tom’s note here is a clip we just cut of him in the field.  Feel free to post the youtube clip anywhere – it’s already on our site and we’ll be sending it to our databases today.

Thanks again for helping us help the locals in one of their greatest times of need.

Best wishes

Kirk

*From Tom Plummer in Mentawais.

Kirky,

Took our buddies from AusAID and NZ Aid Programme down into Sabiret village and trekked way back up into the hill where they’ve built their camp. Thigh deep mud and we’re having a mission getting up there. Arrive up the top of the hill to find a full blown mini village set up. And those legends have carted it all up the hill that we were slipping and sliding to get to the top of!

Wind came up during the day as it has done since the tsunami and would of been blowing 30-odd knots by the time we headed to Sikakap. Buried the bow half a dozen times and big green rolling up the windscreen of the Huey.  

And here’s our new clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F5SIaNrg0s

Talk soon

Tom

From: Shaun Levings [mailto:shaun@worldsurfaris.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 10:54 AM
To: Lauren Rudder
Cc: Andrew Spagnardi; Kirk Willcox;

Subject: World Surfaris Surf Aid Donation

Hi Guys,

I am pleased to advise that we have just deposited A$3000 into the SurfAid account (as per attached).

Please note that a substantial portion of this came from World Surfaris No.1 customer, Mr Keith Anderson from the Central Coast of NSW along with Gold Coast surfers who attended a film night at our KirraSurf office on the Gold Coast last week.

Keep up the great work.

Best Regards

Shaun

Shaun Levings

Managing Director

This post comes from World Surfaris, the leading adventure surfing holidays company. Want to Surf Maldives or Surf Indonesia then talk to us.

JUST IN 3:44PM 26TH OCTOBER

Information has just come in from the Chef of Freedom 3, Chris Love. Freedom 3 was anchored close to the earthquake epicentre and collided with another vessel (Midas) in Macaronis bay. 

Account of Tsunami hitting by Chris Love – Chef of Freedom 3.

At approx. 10pm (approx. 30mins after the earthquake) last night, Freedom 3 was anchored in the bay at Macaronis approx. 100 metres up the bay from Midas.

The bay drained out (not dry) and then whitewater at least 3 metres high hit the Freedom which broke anchor and started pushing them down the bay.  Midas was hit by the same wave and both boats were out of control being pushed towards the beach (approx. 200m away).  Midas ahead of Freedom was beached and then Freedom collided into the rear of Midas and rather than being beached was almost wedged together with Midas.  The Freedom skipper snapped into action and quickly started the engine and got them into deep water away from the beach.  Meanwhile Midas had burst into flames and within 5 mins was a blazing inferno.  Miracuously all Midas passengers and crew managed to escape the burning vessel.  No-one from either boat was injured however the Midas remains beached and burnt out.

Official Statement – World Surfaris:  Sumatra Earthquake 25th October 2010

World Surfaris are currently directing all efforts to see the safe return of our clients and offering what assistance we can to any travellers affected by last nights earthquake and subsequent wave surge.

Its early stages and information is coming in slowly. We can say the earthquake in Sumatra has affected one of the boats we operate in the region, ‘Freedom 3′, and that all 6 guests are safe albeit a little shaken after this ordeal.

The 6 male passengers from Sydney have been onboard for 7 days and were due to complete their trip on 1st November. 

Late last night (25 Oct), shortly after the quake hit a wave came through the bay at the famous Macaronis surf break where Freedom 3 and Midas were anchored close by.  The Freedom 3 was on the outside and hit by the wave and pushed into the Midas.  The Midas burst into flames and all Midas guests and crew had to evacuate and swim to shore.

Freedom 3 escaped with some minor cosmetic damage and fortunately nothing structural and certainly not taking on water. There were no injuries to persons onboard.

Shaun Levings, World Surfaris Managing Director spoke to Chris Love the chef of Freedom 3 at 5am Sumatran time today.  Chris confirmed all were ok and the guests were actually asleep at the time.  He confirmed they were heading into the nearby Macaronis Resort and local village to survey the damage there and offer assistance before going to the main Mentawai port of Sikakap to lodge a police report and pick up the stranded MV Midas guests and take them back to Padang.  Chris estimated they would be in Padang by early tomorrow morning (27 Oct).  World Surfaris have made arrangements for the 6 guests to depart Padang on Garuda at 0850 tomorrow to Jakarta then connect with international flights home.

As further information becomes available we will endeavour to keep you informed. Currently World Surfaris’ efforts are focused on organising the safe return of our clients and assisting other operators where possible.

Reports have just come through from the Telo Islands in northern Sumatra that the quake was not felt there.  Kandui resort in the Northern Mentawais was not damaged.  We are still awaiting an official damage report from Macaronis Resort.

Thank you

Shaun Levings

Managing Director

World Surfaris

This post comes from World Surfaris, the leading adventure surfing holidays company. Want to Surf Maldives or Surf Indonesia then talk to us.

The final tally for the Surfers 4 Padang concert was $8825. 

This post comes from World Surfaris, the leading adventure surfing holidays company. Want to Surf Maldives or Surf Indonesia then talk to us.

For those of you underneath the rock, the surers for Padang concert was held recently at Cafe La Monde, Kirra. The line up included some great acts;  Ash Grunwald, Beau Young and others. The gig was set up to donate to surfaid to help the recent earthquake victims in Padang. It may be out of the headlines now but the tragedy is still very real over there- So a big thanks to all who particpated-World surfaris was proud to be part of it.

So…. First of all a HUGE thanks to all involved with sponsoring the event !! without your support this event would not have happened!!!

Also a huge thanks to the musicians, Matt Mchugh, Ash Grunwald, Matt Pitts and Co and Beau Young. I think everyone who was there had an amazing night of entertainment, the boys went big !!

Sorry for the delay in this report but good news is always welcome. The final figure rasied came in at $8,825.00 for Surfaid International. A great effort that and sorely neeeded

Check out below the images thanks to Simon Williams.

Congratulations to Matthew Butel, the winner of the World Surfaris - Santa Lusia Boat trip with Airfares by Air Asia

and Dane Baldwin-winner of the JS surfboard

Thanks everyone for particpating and raising the much needed funds.

Keep up the good work all the crew at Surfaid International and we hope this helps with your important work.

This post comes from World Surfaris, the leading adventure surfing holidays company. Want to Surf Maldives or Surf Indonesia then talk to us.

SurfAid has launched an Emergency Response Appeal to help the people of Padang who were hit by a huge earthquake (7.6 on the Richter scale) on Wednesday 30 September. Please donate here.

SurfAid Situation Report: Sumatran Earthquakes

Padang, Thursday 8 October 2009:

Three groups of SurfAid assessment teams, ascertaining where SurfAid should focus its initial relief efforts, have returned from the sub-districts of Agam and Pasaman Barat (West Pasaman), which lie to the north of Padang and were heavily hit by the earthquakes.

“SurfAid was requested by UN-OCHA to undertake rapid assessment of two coastal sub-districts of Agam and we found 75,000 people without shelter,” SurfAid Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Judge, said today from SurfAid Emergency Response headquarters in Padang. “Rain is forecast for the next week so SurfAid is urgently planning with other agencies to respond to this assessment.”

SurfAid has loaded a boat, the Kuala Intan Baru2, with emergency supplies for Pasaman Barat. On board are 300 shelter kits, 700 tarpaulins, 300 construction kits and 500 hygiene packs, plus medical staff. The boat will depart from Muara Harbour Padang at 8am tomorrow (Wednesday 7 October) bound for Sasak Harbour in the north.

Tom Plummer, our Mentawai Program Manager who has come to Padang from his base in Tua Pejat, said: “We have enough solid information about the situation and we are sending shelter and hygiene kits to the affected area as soon as we can, along with doctors, nurses and medicine, so the community can receive immediate help.”

A team of six from SurfAid will join the boat, along with one person from Trocaire. The journey will take eight hours. The emergency supplies will be distributed to the three worst-hit sub-districts of Pasaman Barat:

1. Sasak Ranah Pasisia, IDPs 1000

2. Luhak Nan Duo, IDPs 15,000

3. Kinali, IDPs 30,000

(IDPs – Internally Displaced Persons. These figures are a broad estimation only.)

Kuala Intan will act as a floating warehouse, staff accommodation and communication post. The team will take two motorbikes onboard the boat. Other boats are standing by in Muara Harbour if further supplies are needed to Sasak.

SurfAid CEO Dr Dave Jenkins, Matt Hannon and Tom Plummer will depart Padang to Sasak with a speedboat to do primary treatment and further assessment tomorrow morning.

SurfAid is planning with other aid agencies – IOM (trucks and transport), Save the Children (NFIs (non food items), especially shelter) and SurfAid (distribution, Monitoring & Evaluation) – to do distribution in the Agam area.  Departure is also planned for tomorrow.

Shelter has been identified as key priority in all areas and SurfAid is currently sourcing shelter kits from cities outside Padang.

SurfAid Founder and CEO, Dr Dave Jenkins, said all SurfAid staff have rallied, despite some of them having near-death experiences and others losing their homes.

“The team spirit amazes me yet again as we roll out our program to the many people in need,” Dr Dave said. “These are unforgettable moments for our maturing organisation – to serve with such warm-hearted people passionately committed to the welfare of others.”

Summary of SurfAid rapid assessments:

1.              SurfAid will be focusing on two sub-districts of Agam and Pasaman Barat. Pasaman Barat’s worst areas are: Luhak Nan Duo, Kinali, and Sasak Ranah Pasisia.

2.              Agam: Worst areas are Tanjung Raya and Nibung (Lubuk Basung), where 99% of the village has been damaged or collapsed.

3.              Assessment data will be compiled by SurfAid’s Dr Saiful Sofjan to ascertain the needs for further plans on medical care provisions, trauma clinic and school space.

4.              Re-assessment about the exact location where SurfAid can pitch tents will be communicated by the assessment team by telephone.

5.              The Trauma Clinic team will meet several psychology teams from Universitas Andalas to discuss the framework of working with the community members and religious leaders to provide a cultural trauma approach for the community in Chinatown and other areas within the Padang region, and as well for Agam and Pasaman Barat.

This post comes from World Surfaris, the leading adventure surfing holidays company. Want to Surf Maldives or Surf Indonesia then talk to us.

“We awoke Thursday morning to the terrible news of the 7.6 richter earthquake in Padang late last night.  The Earthquake has levelled many buildings in Padang including some major hotels.  We have friends affected and spent all day Thursday trying to communicate with our people on the ground in Padang.”

As of Fri 02 October, World Surfaris have contacted all our tour operators in Sumatra and fortunately all our clients are safe and there was no damage to any of our charter boats or surf camps in the region.

Shaun continues “We had a group of 10 surfers from the Gold Coast onboard Santa Lusia who are now flying back to Australia.  The Gold Coast Bulletin reported these clients were missing and dramatised a story about ’surfers lost at sea’.  This is far from the truth and the clients were never in any danger. They will be back at home with their loved ones tomorrow.”

“Now we know all our client are safe, World Surfaris efforts will now be dedicated towards helping the people of Padang get back on their feet.  This will take some time and the SURF  AID INTERNATIONAL  are at the forefront of the relief efforts. ”

Today World Surfaris pledged $1000 to Surf Aid and effective immediately $20 per person from every new Sumatra booking made by 31 December 2009 to Surf Aid International at http://www.surfaidinternational.org   We urge anyone reading this to dig deep and pledge monies towards this organisation who WILL make progress and make a difference to the people of Sumatra affected by this natural disaster.

Shaun  Levings
po box 180
Mooloolaba, Queensland (QLD)  4557
10/1/2009 9:57:13 PM (PST)

Dear Shaun Levings,
Please accept our sincere gratitude for your generous donation of 1,000.00 in support of SurfAid International’s Padang Earthquake Relief Effort.

On behalf of those who benefit so greatly from your support, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your generosity.Australia

Yours sincerely,

the Team at SurfAid International,

This is a receipt for the gift of $1,000.00 to SurfAid International Australia.

Date:  10/1/2009 9:56:07 PM

All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible
SurfAid International Australia ABN: 311 113432Australia / PO Box 630 / North Sydney / NSW 2060

SurfAid

Any further queries, please don’t hesitate to email Shaun Levings on shaun@worldsurfaris.com

This post comes from World Surfaris, the leading adventure surfing holidays company. Want to Surf Maldives or Surf Indonesia then talk to us.