Swirling ocean gave surfers an uncomfortable ride

SYDNEY - An Australian surfer who was sailing near the epicentre of the latest Indonesian earthquake says it sent shudders through his boat, then caused the ocean to swirl 180 degrees, dragging the vessel backwards and forwards.

Surfer Marcus Keeshan, 33, had anchored his 21m Antar Pulau near the Banyak islands, the closest land to the epicentre, and was watching a movie when the 8.7 quake struck.

"We were down below in the saloon watching a movie and we felt some very strange movement for about two minutes," Keeshan told Australian radio from his boat as he delivered aid to stricken islanders.

"The boat just started doing some really strange things. At first it made booming sounds, as though it was hitting something, then it began to get sucked downwards," Keeshan said. "The boat rose and fell really sharply."

Keeshan said the crew of his surf charter vessel told him that an earthquake had struck.

"We were all thinking 'tsunami' but none of us wanted to say it."

But after the initial effects of the quake, the ocean went calm, so Keeshan and his fiancee and another Australian surfer returned to watching the movie.

"About 20 minutes later, the water started rushing ... with incredible force. The boat was dragging anchor," Keeshan said. "The current moved [with] a 180-degrees swing. Then it happened again, the third time the current changed. It rushed for 20 minutes. Big waves," he said.

Keeshan said the crew were forced to use the boat's motor to resist the dramatic ocean surges. "We were getting washed around and we were getting quite scared," he said.

Keeshan said the other Australian took his surfboard to bed in case the boat sank. "He went to bed with his surfboard so he could bob around like a cork and survive," he said.

- REUTERS