1778: EXPLORER CHARLES CLERKE: WAIMEA, KAUAI: "MEN AND WOMEN ARE SO PERFECTLY MASTERS OF THEMSELVES IN THE WATER THAT IT APPEARS THEIR ELEMENT"

Charles Clerke sailed on all three of James Cook's voyages through the Pacific, first as a master's mate, and finally as commander, following Cook's death in 1779. Surf historian Patrick Moser has identified this passage, below, as the first in which surfboard use in Hawaii is described. * * * These People handle their Boats with great dexterity, and both Men and Women are so perfectly masters o...