Weligama, Sri Lanka. June 20, 2017.
A little blue fishing boat resting on the beach of Weligama in Sri Lanka with the name Texelaar caught my eye. My family hails from the Dutch Wadden Island of Texel; people from the island are called Texelaar. I realized there is a delightfull connection between my ancestral land and this place I live in now. I called the local newspaper, the Texelsche Courant, to place an add to find out more about this boat.
On 26h of december 2004 Sri Lanka was struck by a tsunami caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean which killed 32,000 people. The south and east coast of the island were worst hit. One and a half million people lost their homes. Two women who responded to my ad told me they had brought up the idea to donate boats to the fishermen who had lost their source of income in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. The women, both fishermen’s wives, had mobilized their own fishing community of Oudeschild to raise funds. The action was called Fish for Fish.
Five of these vessels were called Texelaar and donated to people in the town of Weligama. Another boat, pictured in the image above with its proud new owner, was named the TX 36 Jan van Toon after one of the Texel based cutters.
