Beach Boy is an actual job … who knew?
I have to admit that I have become slightly obsessed with beach boys on my trip to Hawaii. If you’d asked before this week what a beach boy was, I’d have said that it was a young man in Southern California who spent his free time at the beach or creating vocal harmonies, but now I’ve learnt that it’s an actual job – and it sounds very appealing.
There have been beach boys on Waikiki for over a hundred years, ever since the Moana Hotel opened in 1901. They were employed at first to help the tourists who wanted to have a go at the wacky new sport called surfing. Although it was considered a new sport in 1901, the first printed illustration of a surfer had appeared in 1784, but it didn’t catch on immediately. This was probably because the picture appeared in the Atlas of Captain Cook’s Third Voyage, and Captain Cook was clubbed to death by Hawaiians very shortly after enjoying an afternoon of local water sports, which must surely have been a bit off-putting, even for the keenest would-be surfers.
But a hundred years later, the tourists were ready to give it a go, and they definitely needed a helping hand from the beach boys because olden-days surfing meant wading out to sea towing a piece of wood the size of a small tree. Surf boards were anywhere between seven and twelve feet high, and very heavy.
By the 1920’s beach boys had expanded their brief to give swimming lessons, canoe rides and even massages on the beach … accompanied by a little live music on the ukulele.
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, in the photo above with his personalised surf board, was a celebrity surfer and swimmer who broke world swimming records at the 1912 Olympic Games, and then went on to introduce stand-up surfing to Australia and New Zealand. He was also a member of the Waikiki Beach Patrol, the professional organisation for beach boys, and was so famous that he became Hawaii’s official meeter and greeter for VIPs and other celebrities. After he died in 1968 a statue was put up next to the beach and it’s become a tradition to hang your lei on it before you leave.
The canoes Hawaiians use are called outriggers, and they have an extra bit on the side to stop them from tipping over, which seems like a very sensible addition. I did have a go in one of these, but not on the sea, on a small lake in the Polynesian Cultural Centre. It was quite hard work and we didn’t even have to steer, as we had a local canoeist at the back working the rudder.
I did see a modern day beach boy touting for trade on his outrigger. It looked much more challenging to paddle on the ocean, but on the plus side, the view was definitely better.
From now on, whenever I hear Surfin’ USA, I’ll think of Hawaii rather than California.
And sadly, much as I’d like to retrain as a beach boy, I don’t think I’ve got the abs for it.