Shipwrecked

Fernanda Schlender and I had surfed together quite a bit in the cold, unforgiving San Francisco ocean and were looking for an adventure in warmer water that could test our limits. We never imagined what was to come.

In October 2019, Fernanda had booked us on an epic surf trip at an all-women’s surf resort in Mentawai, West Sumatra. Surfers know this remote island chain because it reportedly has some of the best waves in the world.

We were seven women from all different parts of the world meeting in Padang, West Sumatra — some from Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. After a quick meet-and-greet in the hotel lobby, we were escorted to our boat for the 14-hour journey to the islands.

As we boarded the 60-ft wooden boat, I remember thinking, “This boat does NOT appear safe.” I’ve heard many stories about the unforgiving passage in West Sumatra — stories about boats sinking and its being one of the most dangerous places for piracy. However, I never thought we would end up as one more story.

We settled in for the trip, and at about 9 p.m. we headed down to our bunks underneath the galley. We were about three hours offshore and sound asleep when there was a loud crash and the boat started dragging and shaking.

Fernanda and I were the first to jump out of bed and run to the exit. The sliding door was jammed and wouldn’t open. There were no windows in the bunk area to see what was happening outside, and at this point, the boat was already on a 45-degree angle to its starboard side, and crashing waves were coming in through the port side.

Fernanda grabbed an object to break the door open, but despite our pounding and kicking, the door wouldn’t budge. We were trapped, with waves crashing in. At that moment, I thought, “This is it. We are trapped and sinking. This is how it will end.” Fortunately, an Indonesian crewmember, who was trapped in the bunk area with us, ran to our aid. Together, with all our forces, we were finally able to slide the door open and get on deck.

We arrived on deck to complete chaos — crashing waves and an unstable boat. I saw we had hit the shallows and were aground and listing badly. As I scanned the area, I happened to see a small island in the distance.

There were about 20 young Indonesian crewmembers — none spoke English, none knew how to swim, and all were in a state of panic, running back and forth. Fernanda and I ran to the bow of the boat to grab the lifejackets and began handing them out.

At this point, the boat was continuously being hit with crashing waves, causing it to shake violently as the heavy cargo on board slid from side to side and bow to stern. The captain, an old Indonesian man, came out and yelled in broken English, “Sit on the starboard side of the stern — SIT!” This seemed to be a strange order from the captain as the starboard side was on the verge of being submerged in water.

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