Beau Hunt preparing lines on the bow of the Paradise Express. Rick Burchell in the background.

“Casting off bow line,” reports Hawaiian Auxiliarist Beau Hunt as the “Paradise Express” prepares to get underway for its weekly patrol. Beauclerc Hunt is no ordinary 93 year-old Coast Guard Auxiliarist. He came late to the Auxiliary and has made the most of every minute since joining in 1987 at the age of 77.

Shortly before he retired in the mid 1970s Beau bought himself a sailboat. He had it paid for by the time he retired. For the next several years, he enjoyed sailing with his grandson. After he joined the Auxiliary, he offered his 26’ sloop “Jalpari” as a facility.

Like many Auxiliarists Beau did not concentrate solely on being coxswain/crew. He became one of the best vessel examiners in the District. When Beau examines a boat, it gets a very thorough going over. Beau recalls that one year he did more than 100 vessel safety checks (VSC). Some boat owners have been Beau’s customers for over 10 years.

Beau makes the rounds of the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor on a regular basis doing VSCs for his regulars and offering others a free vessel exam. Once, about six years ago, as he was passing the transient docks he asked one of the boaters if he wanted a safety inspection.
“What do you charge,” the owner asked. Beau told him it was free just to ensure he had all he needed to be safe.

Beau Hunt stowing lines as Lee Peppell looks on.

“I built this boat. I have been all over in this boat. I know everything about this boat,” said the owner. Beau started to walk away with a disappointed look on his face.

“Young fellow,” called the owner to the 86 year-old Beau, “if you really want to inspect it, go ahead.” Beau did the inspection and found that the steaming light was out. According to the boat owner it must have gone out in the few days between it’s last sail and when Beau inspected it. Says Beau, “You never know when something might go wrong.”

With more vessel examiners on the job these days, Beau has cut back on his VSCs. He used to go to several harbors around the island. Now he only does the Ala Wai.

Beau crews weekly on the “Paradise Express.” This crew has been together for several years. They include Beau, 80 year-old Ira Wright, 73 year-old Coxswain Steen Weinold and the youngest crewmember, at 65, Lee Peppell. Lee refers to himself as the cabin boy. Rick Burchill , 60, sometimes goes instead of Ira Wright.

Beau Hunt with Steen Weinold, his young 73-year-old coxswain.

The younger guys all look up to Beau who has become their mentor. His knowledge of the sea and sailing are phenomenal. “He has a sharp eye out there on the water. He sees things before any of the rest of us,” states Peppell.

Before Weinold purchased the “Paradise Express,” he had a 22’ Catalina. On one patrol, they ended up towing a 50’power yacht. Boaters cheered as the smaller Catalina towed the large power yacht into the harbor.

Another time the crew had to tow a 33’ boat from Pearl Harbor. With its rudder out the tow kept skimming around all over the place. Finally, the crew took two large buckets filled with water and hung them over the sides at the stern to stabilize the tow.

Beau’s background:

On a cocoa and sugar plantation near the small town of Georgetown, British Guiana the plantation manager paid a visit to a number of people in quarantine suffering from an outbreak of Black Fever. Stopping to visit with a Catholic priest from France the manager told him, “We are expecting a new life tonight; my wife’s time is near.”

Paradise Express leaving Ala Wai Harbor for patrol, Peppell securing bumpers, Beau at bow.

Father Beauclerc replied, “But I won’t make it through the night. I will be dead by morning. I would be honored if you would give your child my name.”

That night, in December 1910 Beauclerc Hunt was born and given the priest’s name. Two years later, after the death of his mother and baby brother, Beau and his father moved to Canada.

In Canada Beau’s father remarried. Times were hard so they moved around a lot, looking for work. Several siblings were born. Beau’s stepmother supplemented the family’s income by baking pies and breads, etc. Beau helped to deliver the wares to her customers.

Finally, in 1915, Beau’s father heard of a job on a plantation in Hawaii and left to work there. The family followed a few months later sailing on the Steamship “Matsonia.”

Again, as work required it, the family moved from plantation to plantation until they ended up in Honolulu, a few years later. During this time, Beau attended a number of different schools, both on the Big Island and Oahu. One of these was Saint Louis College where he was a boarder, sailing back and forth from Oahu to Hawaii during school holidays. Located near downtown Honolulu on River Street the school was not far from the harbor where Beau was soon spending all his spare time watching the ships and dreaming of life at sea and foreign ports.

The Paradise Express crew: Rich Burchill, Steen Weinold, Beau Hunt, Lee Peppell.

As soon as he was old enough, he got a job working as a member of the Black Gang on a ship that brought Philippine plantation workers to Hawaii. The boilers produced steam to power the ship. The Black Gang shoveled coal to keep the boilers going. More than once Beau found himself in a foreign port without a job to return him home to Hawaii.

From the time he first shipped out, until 1934 when he married, Beau experienced a number of different types of ships and jobs. Many times, he worked on ships that brought livestock to Hawaii. On these ships, hundreds of pigs and/or cows would be pinned up and transported. They had their own handlers but Beau, during the shipping time, liked to stop and visit with the horses.

One time, when Beau was on the west coast without a job to bring him home, his friends dressed him up in a freshly pressed suit and escorted him to the first class area of the vessel “President Calvin Coolidge.” As the ship sailed, Beau’s friends stood on the dock and waved. Beau played the role and waved back. He was discovered as a stowaway and arrested when the ship got to Honolulu. Ironically, he had written his father that he was stranded in San Francisco. His father had come down to the shipping office to send him a ticket to come home. The purser recognized the name and told his father Beau was at the police station.

In the early 1930’s Beau met a girl from Maui. He and Roz were married July 3 & 4, 1934. She was Catholic and they were married on July 3 in a Catholic Church then the next day in the Buddist Temple.

Beau got a job with the Hawaiian Electric Company. They settled down and started a family. Beau gave up sailing to foreign ports but often he would listen with yearning to the whistles of the boats as they sailed into and out of Honolulu Harbor. He had promised Roz he would not go back to sea. They recently celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Not long after he married, Beau decided to become a U.S. citizen.

When the United States entered WWII, Beau’s work with the Electric Company (an essential civilian entity) and being married with two children kept him from having to serve in the military. Beau worked for 36 years at the Electric Company.

In the 1950’s Beau became interested in ham radio. He got his license and was able to help servicemen call their families through the MARS system saving them telephone costs. His station continues to be active. His car license plate bears his call sign KH6DUE.

Still on watch.

The “Paradise Express” crew is always part of the Labor Day safety patrol off Waikiki Beach for the Annual Rough Water Swim.

Treacherous waters caused the cancellation of the 2003 Rough Water Swim. Four Auxiliary facilities rescued 73 swimmers, 2 kayaks and 3 surfboards. In May 2004, along with crews of the other three Auxiliary facilities, the crew of the “Paradise Express” was presented with the Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation.

Recently the crew was called upon to provide a platform for the active duty helo-ops maintenance training. “No problem,” says Beau, “we put on our helmets and went.”

Averaging 200-250 underway hours each year, the crew of the “Paradise Express” has been named the Outstanding Crew for the past five years. Since joining the Auxiliary Beau has received 14 awards.

“I plan to stay with it as long as my health holds up,” says Beau. Right now that looks pretty good. “I enjoy my life as part of the Coast Guard,” he added.