The four Australian surfers and two of the three crew members of the boat that had been lost in a storm were found today in different circumstances by volunteers and rescue teams from Indonesia.

One of the crew members, identified as Fifan Satria, is still missing.

Initial reports from Australian media indicate that the boat encountered a storm and began to sink, forcing the surfers and crew to abandon ship and use their boards as life preservers.

They were travelling from Nias to Pinang but the storm diverted them further northeast towards Palambak Island.

Three of them, Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short were found by the catamaran of an Australian sailor, Grant Richardson who offered to go and look for them (see video), while Elliot Foote, saw an island and deviated from his friends to go and look for help and ended up being helped by local fishermen.

The surfers' family received the news while being interviewed. Foote's father said he felt confident that everything was going to be okay, that it was normal for boats to sink in that part of the world and that he was confident that everything would be okay.

The group was adrift for approximately 36 hours.

They were travelling to celebrate Foote's 30th birthday. There were eight of them in total, four of whom arrived safely on the island and the other four did not, which raised the alarm among friends who reported their concern to the authorities.