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chapter 16 Captain Cook’s Final Voyage: The Journal of Midshipman George Gilbert (1982) George Gilbert c. 1759–? Midshipman aboard the Discovery, George Gilbert offers the most detailed description of a surfboard among the explorers. Like Ellis’s “sharkboards ” and Clerke’s “bone paper cutters,” the outline of the board described by Gilbert—“nearly in the form of a blade of an oar”—is consistent with John Papa ‘Αî’s description of an alaia, “thin and wide in front, tapering toward the back.” Gilbert’s concluding remarks, together with the preciseness of his measurements, demonstrate his keen interest in the boards, and make one wonder if some of Cook’s men might not have tried paddling the crafts themselves.7 Kealakekua Bay, Hawai‘i February, 1779 Several of those Indians who have not got Canoes have a method of swimming upon a piece of wood nearly in the form of a blade of an oar, which is about six feet in length, sixteen inches in breadth at one end and about 9 at the other, and is four or five inches thick, in the middle, tapering down to an inch at the sides. They lay themselves upon it length ways, with their breast about the centre; and it being sufficient to buoy them up they paddle along with their hands and feet at a moderate rate, having the broad end foremost; and that it may not meet with any resistance from the water, they keep it just above the surface by weighing down upon the other, which they have underneath them, between their legs. These pieces of wood are so nicely balanced that the most expert of our people at swimming could not keep upon them half a minuit without rolling off. 72 ...

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