One day in late October 1945, Kaupo resident Abel Kawaiaea rode his horse to Mokulau around noon. The wind had calmed after days of rough seas, and the young cowboy, who had turned 20 the week before, had his fishing net in hand.
As Abel scanned the ocean, he spotted a large fishing float off in the distance. But as Abel continued to watch, the object grew closer until he realized it was a man paddling a surfboard across the channel separating Kaupo from Hawaii island.
When the paddler landed at Mokulau’s rocky beach, Abel saw that he was no ordinary man but a muscled giant resembling the legendary Tarzan of the silver screen.
The paddler scanned Kaupo’s desolate landscape, and spying one lone person along the shore, approached Abel, asking, “Are there any motels around here?”
Tarzan had arrived in Kaupo.
By 1945, Tarzan was a cultural phenomenon across the world. Over the previous 30-odd years, creator Edgar Rice Burroughs had written over 20 books about the fictional character raised by apes.
The books were wildly popular around the globe, including Hawaii. From March 1923 to December 1931, the weekly paper Ka Hoku o Hawaii published regular installments of Tarzan stories in the Hawaiian language.
However, it was the Tarzan movies that truly captivated the public. By October 1945, nine Hollywood movies had appeared starring Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller as the wild man-beast.
The towering, muscular man standing before Abel Kawaiaea at Mokulau on October 24, 1945, was not in fact movie star Johnny Weissmuller, but a 34-year-old Oahu police officer. The officer’s name was Gene Smith, but everyone had called him Tarzan since his youth due to a brawny physique similar to Weissmuller’s.
On landing at Mokulau, Smith had achieved a truly remarkable feat, paddling 30 miles across the Alenuihaha Channel from Hawaii island to Kaupo, all alone, starting in the middle of the night.
As reported in the Maui News: "Battling a rough channel and a choppy sea which caused him to make a wide circle in order to reach the eastern-most point of the Valley Isle, Smith boarded his 15-foot surfboard at 12:30 a.m. and reached his destination at 12:45 p.m."
Amazingly, Smith’s journey from Hawaii to Maui was just the latest in a series of interisland treks.
On November 5, 1938, Smith set out paddling from Ka Lae o ka Ilio, Molokai at 10:40 p.m. and arrived 25 miles away at Makapuu, Oahu after 8 hours and 47 minutes, at 7:27 a.m. on November 6.
Despite multiple shark sightings and eight Portuguese man-of-war stings, Smith was in good spirits upon landing.
“If it wasn’t for my neck, I could paddle all the way back,” he said.
Two years later, on October 14, 1940, Smith departed from Kaena Point, Oahu on a paddle board at 3:45 p.m., bound for Kauai. He landed at Koloa, nearly 80 miles from Oahu, a fatiguing 30 hours later, at 9:45 p.m. on October 15.
Remarking on Smith's Oahu-Kauai paddle, surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku said that Smith “set a record that will be long in being beaten”.
While Smith’s accomplishments in paddling between Molokai and Oahu and Oahu and Kauai are groundbreaking, it’s worth noting that he was accompanied by a support boat on both trips.
Smith apparently relied on these support boats a great deal, as can be seen in a newspaper article about his Molokai-Oahu paddle:
“Periodically, [Smith] came alongside to take on nourishment. At 1:30 a.m. after two hours in the water, he had a chocolate bar and dates. At 2:30 he ate raw eggs. An hour later he sipped a half a bottle of Coca Cola. Then at 5 a.m. he called for oranges.”
In contrast, the Hawaii-Kaupo journey was Smith's first solo interisland paddle. He took this extra level of risk seriously, postponing his departure until the weather was just right, according to an article in Ka Hoku o Hawaii:
“He mau la kona kakali ana ma Kohala a hiki i ka malie kupono ana nona a holo aku ai.” [He waited a number of days in Kohala until it was calm enough to set out.]
At Mokulau, when Smith landed and asked Kawaiaea if there was motel, Kawaiaea replied, “No, but there is Nick Soon at the Kaupo Store.” Kawaiaea then took Smith to the store to meet the shopkeeper.
In addition to being the local storekeeper, Soon was an avid photographer. Thus it was that the following day, October 25, Smith returned to Mokulau along with Soon, Kawaiaea, and another Kaupo resident, Josephine Marciel, to recreate the previous day’s event for Soon’s camera.
Smith took his board into the water and paddled back to shore while Soon took pictures, the images in this article. Smith ended up staying in Kaupo for a number of days, hosted by Nick Soon and Josephine Marciel.
But Smith was soon off on another ocean adventure. Just weeks later, on November 11, 1945, Smith paddled from West Maui to Waiulua, Molokai, a distance of about 10 miles. It took him 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Kawaiaea and Smith kept in touch for a period of years after Smith's Kaupo trip. However, Smith eventually returned to his childhood home of California and become increasingly reclusive before his death in 1986 at 74 years old.
Kawaiaea moved to Oahu and passed away there in 2004 at the age of 78. Fittingly, Kawaiaea returned to Mokulau after this death, and his grave at Huialoha Church overlooks the waters that he had fished so often in his youth.
Sources and additional reading
Malcolm Gault-Williams' book "Legendary Surfers Volume 2" includes a biography of Gene "Tarzan" Smith.
The master's thesis "Ka Nohona ma Kaupō, Makahiki 1930-1950" by Kanoelani Kawaiʻaeʻa-Harris describes the history of the Kawaiaea family in Kaupo.
Below are the full articles from the 1945 newspaper articles about Gene Smith's paddle journeys, with the Hawaiian articles translated into English.
Surf Boards From Hawaii To This Isle
Gene Smith Paddles Board on 40-Mile Cruise All Alone
(Maui News, October 27, 1945)
Hawaii’s one-man Navy scored again!
Gene Smith of Honolulu—the one man Navy, aided only by his surfboard—added another glowing chapter to his ever-growing accomplishments with a 12 hours, 25 minutes 40-mile trip unescorted from Upolu Point Hawaii, to Kaupo, Maui, Wednesday.
Battling a rough channel and a choppy sea which caused him to make a wide circle in order to reach the eastern-most point of the Valley Isle, Smith boarded his 15-foot surfboard at 12:30 a.m. and reached his destination at 12:45 p.m.
Smith’s first channel-conquering feat was when he spanned the Ilio Point, Molokai, to Oahu between Koko Head and Mokapu in 1938. At that time he took less than nine hours to make the 30-miles jaunt.
In 1940 he made a westerly trip—Kaena Point,Oahu, to a spot left of Nawiliwili on Kauai. This 82-mile journey took about 30 hours.
Smith, who is scheduled to leave for Honolulu in a couple of days, is spending his time at Kaupo while awaiting transportation for his surfboard to Oahu.
Setting Out For Maui
("Holo No Maui", Ka Hoku o Hawaii, November 7, 1945)
Last week, Gene Smith of Honolulu arrived in the district of Kohala with his surfboard and set off for Maui.
He waited a number of days in Kohala until it was calm enough to set out. At a suitable time, he left Kohala about 1 mile from Honoipu.
Smith related that in 1938, he set out from Molokai on his surfboard and traversed to Oahu, and in 1940, he embarked from Oahu and crossed to Kauai. These ocean crossings were both successful.
Smith reported that he expected it would take 12 to 15 hours to navigate the 35-45 mile channel.
The length of his surfboard is 15 feet, and it weighs 60 pounds. His only nourishment was water.
These feats of being the first person to paddle on a surfboard from Hawaii to Maui, Molokai to Oahu, and Oahu to Kauai could well make him renowned.
This type of activity is not unknown here in Hilo. At times, the youths of Hilo have paddled their surfboards from Puueo to Mokuola, a distance of a mile or more, and from Puueo to Mokuola. This is also an example of taking a board across the open ocean through the mighty swells of the Alenuihaha.
Hawaii’s One Man Navy On Another Trip
(Maui News, November 7, 1945)
Gene Smith, who recently landed at Kaupo after a 12-hour trip on a surfboard from Upolu Point, Hawaii, will attempt another channel-conquering feat within a few days when he will paddle his motorless board across the Pailolo channel to the island of Molokai.
The Honolulu police officer now on leave of absence earlier spanned two other channels after first crossing the Oahu-Molokai water route seven years ago.
Smith will attempt the Maui to Molokai crossing within three or four days from Honokahua. He will start his journey during the night and plans to reach Friendly Isle shore between Kamalo and Waialua.
On Oct. 24, Smith took 12 hours and 25 minutes to cross the channel between Hawaii and the Valley Isle. Since the time he arrived in Kaupo, Smith has been at the East Maui district staying with Nick Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Marciel and Joe Akana.
The first man to greet the inter-island paddler when he arrived at Kaupo was Abel Kawaiaea.
Safe Landing
("Pae Maalahi", Ka Hoku o Hawaii, November 14, 1945)
Relating to information published in the letters from readers section of the Hoku pertaining to the departure of a person named Jeane Smith from Kohala on a surfboard.
News has been received reporting that he landed at Kaupo, Maui after 12 hours and 15 minutes.
He set out from Kohala at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday and landed at Kaupo at 12:45 p.m.
He rode on a 15-foot-long surfboard weighing 60 lbs. He is the first person to paddle a surfboard from Hawaii Island to Maui, as well as from Molokai to Oahu and Oahu to Kauai.
Smith Conquers Pailolo Channel In 160 Minutes
(Maui News, November 17, 1945)
Gene (Tarzan) Smith, the original “one-man submarine,” today has but two Hawaiian channels left to cross and before long there wouldn’t be an island in this territory left untouched by Smith’s surfboard.
Sunday, the channel-conquering Honolulu police officer paddled across the Pailolo channel from Napili Bay in West Maui to Waiulua on Molokai in two hours and 40 minutes to hang up his fourth inter-island trip.
Smith hit the water in Honolua at 7:15 in the morning and reached the Friendly Island at 9:55 o’clock, crossing the channel unescorted.