Water Sports Village on Lake Fluessen The water sports village of Elahuizen, together with the even smaller villages of Oudega and Kolderwolde, forms a ribbon of homes and farms along the eastern shore of Lake Fluessen. Many people say it’s the largest lake in Friesland, though others claim the Tjeukemeer lake, northeast of Lemmer, is larger. But if you smuggle in the adjacent Heegermeer and Morra lakes, the Fluessen is definitely larger. Together they form a kilometres-long glaciated valley that was formed during one of the last ice ages.

The Sailors of Elahuizen

The people of Elahuizen used to sail on merchant ships from the prosperous Zuider Zee town of Hindeloopen. The wealthier villagers had shares in the ships. The village coat of arms, dating back to the 15th century and showing a stylised Frisian cockboat, recalls the town’s seagoing past and can be seen on the local school, now a community centre, as well as on the façade of the 1865 church, also surrounded by water. In the late Middle Ages, the cockboats were the first multifunctional cargo ships sailed by Frisian merchants to England and the towns on the German bight (Hanseatic towns). The Frisians were extremely active in sea trading (also from the mounds) as far back as the 6th century. They saw their heyday from the 10th century until the late 14th century. Experts call the first Frisian cockboats, built in the 7th century, glorified punts: workboats with a flat surface and square front and back bows.