tsunami recovery
I returned from Sri Lanka on Monday. Yes, it has taken this long to wake up
enough from jet lag and the emotional drain of the trip to be able to catch up on my fun groups. The damage is every bit as bad as the TV made it out. There are boats everywhere that are damaged or destroyed. No, they don't need designers to help them with new hull designs. Most of the local fishermen use something like a dugout with an outrigger. The hulls that I saw are mostly fiberglass now although I did see a few wood hulls. The bulwarks are stitch and tarred on. The mast is stepped to the keel and lashed in place. The outrigger is lashed in place as well. Almost all the boats have a small outboard. They launch through the surf, make a quick turn and paddle to deep water then start the outboard. Most of the fishing is done 3-5 miles off shore using nets. Some fishermen work nights and use lights to attract the fish. In the more devastated areas the fishermen are just now starting to return to the sea. They had been hearing a hum from the sea at night and took that as a warning not to go out. Darning my travels (I went from Colombo to Batticaloa and then followed the coastline back to Colombo) there were also large boats on the beach with significant damage as well as some that were sunk off the beach. Many of these boats will never be re-floated and many are not easily repaired. Some were several hundred yards inshore. Many of the people are trying to go about some kind of daily life but they go to the remains of their home (if there are any remains, and in some areas even the foundation was washed away) and just stand trying to come to grips with their loss. In the coastal areas every body either lost a family member or friend. Every family on the island was effected. This is just Sri Lanka. The other side of this is that I found the people to be open and friendly. The fishermen took me to their boat while they readied for the launch. They are careful and use dual fuel filters. They go over the motor completely before they even think of going out. My only regret is that I didn't go out with them. I know that this is a little one sided but that is also the way I am feeling right now. Brian |
Thanks, Brian. Brian D "Brian Combs" wrote in message ... I returned from Sri Lanka on Monday. Yes, it has taken this long to wake up enough from jet lag and the emotional drain of the trip to be able to catch up on my fun groups. The damage is every bit as bad as the TV made it out. There are boats everywhere that are damaged or destroyed. No, they don't need designers to help them with new hull designs. Most of the local fishermen use something like a dugout with an outrigger. The hulls that I saw are mostly fiberglass now although I did see a few wood hulls. The bulwarks are stitch and tarred on. The mast is stepped to the keel and lashed in place. The outrigger is lashed in place as well. Almost all the boats have a small outboard. They launch through the surf, make a quick turn and paddle to deep water then start the outboard. Most of the fishing is done 3-5 miles off shore using nets. Some fishermen work nights and use lights to attract the fish. In the more devastated areas the fishermen are just now starting to return to the sea. They had been hearing a hum from the sea at night and took that as a warning not to go out. Darning my travels (I went from Colombo to Batticaloa and then followed the coastline back to Colombo) there were also large boats on the beach with significant damage as well as some that were sunk off the beach. Many of these boats will never be re-floated and many are not easily repaired. Some were several hundred yards inshore. Many of the people are trying to go about some kind of daily life but they go to the remains of their home (if there are any remains, and in some areas even the foundation was washed away) and just stand trying to come to grips with their loss. In the coastal areas every body either lost a family member or friend. Every family on the island was effected. This is just Sri Lanka. The other side of this is that I found the people to be open and friendly. The fishermen took me to their boat while they readied for the launch. They are careful and use dual fuel filters. They go over the motor completely before they even think of going out. My only regret is that I didn't go out with them. I know that this is a little one sided but that is also the way I am feeling right now. Brian |
On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 19:06:59 -0800, "Brian Combs"
wrote: I know that this is a little one sided but that is also the way I am feeling right now. I wasn't aware this situation had "sides". I, for one, appreciate hearing unfiltered-by-media first-hand accounts. Some friends went to Thailand last week to hook up with their buddies who narrowly avoided getting killed at Phuket. All they did was run like hell inland when they saw a crowd coming. For a crucial half-minute, they let the reptile base of the brain make their decisions and it's safe to say they didn't overanalyze. Sailors in storms face the same situation...do I go with the Adlard Coles-approved plan or go with my gut? The Smeetons attempting the Horn (and nearly losing the yacht...TWICE) comes to mind. In Sri Lanka, an uncaring universe took a mindless swipe at them. An eighteen-wheeler-sized asteroid could land five miles from here...I would be similarly dead. The only thing that *might* have helped them would have been some kind of Civil Defense-type siren system, because they were about two hours from the tsunami's origin point. Such a system wouldn't have saved that many Indonesians, but the islands where the folk tradition kept alive the memories of a similar event in 1907 only lost a single person. When the ground shook, the village headman yelled "Head up the hill...now!" Hundreds did and they all lived, save one. By contrast, when the sea receded for no reason, hundreds elsewhere decided that stranded fish were a bounty...cool! free dinner! Now it's a great season for crabbing. In 1700, a magnitude 9 earthquake hit Juan de Fuca Strait in British Columbia. Like Pacific Islands recalling Cook's visits, this villagers still know what happened through stories passed down. They now know via lore what to do. They know through science that another huge quake is about due in Seattle/Vancouver. They want money to move their villages up the hill. I say give it to them. They are obviously brighter people than urbanized Canadians/Americans, who build condos on landfill in fault-covered harbours. R. |
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