Australian dies in Indonesia as search for missing surfer on Bali continues

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/06/australian-dies-indonesia-search-missing-surfer-bali

Version 0 of 1.

An Australian man has died after being hit by a wave while surfing in central Indonesia, police said, while another Australian surfer remains missing near the holiday island of Bali.

Geoff Moase, 48, was pulled from the water off Sorga beach in Lombok on Friday morning.

Moase was found floating about 100 metres from the shore, local police chief Arif Budiman said.

“He went out Friday morning and only surfed for a few minutes before he was seen floating in the water,” Budiman said, adding he was believed to have been hit by a wave.

The surfboard maker from the Gold Coast in Queensland was still alive but in a “weak condition” when pulled from the water and died on the way to a local health centre, Budiman said.

Moase’s Gold Coast workshop, Dovetail Surfboards, is known for its boards crafted from Australian-grown plantation timbers. In an interview with the website surfcareers.com he described it as his “obsession”. He said he had been fascinated by surfing since childhood.

“At least half of it is just being part of a postcard-like scene,” he said. “Surfing reminds me that I’m lucky to live in a country that’s free.”

Burleigh Heads retailer Keith Davis said: “Geoff was an inspiring individual who really tried to help people do what they loved doing, and that was surfing. He loved helping other people make their surfboards as much as he loved making his own.”

Meanwhile on Nusa Lembongan, an island just off Bali, the search continued for missing Sunshine Coast man Peter Maynard.

His family have said they are considering hiring a helicopter to search for the surfer who was last seen on 27 August.

The incidents follow the death of 27-year-old Australian Peter Luke, who on 11 August was swept up by a five-metre wave that dumped him on a reef at the island of Sumbawa.

Bali and other central Indonesian islands are popular with surfers, particularly from neighbouring Australia, for their famous breaks and uncrowded waves.

• With material from Agence France-Presse and Australian Associated Press