A Montauk Mystery: Who is Akua Lapu?

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Well this is a Montauk mystery that happened after the 2016 Friends of Erin Parade at the Montauket. It revolves around two men wearing coconut hats and carrying a banner that said, “Hibernians of Hawaii.”

Let me begin: I attended the 2016 Friends of Erin Parade in Montauk on the chilly Sunday and enjoyed the floats, bagpipes, and community spirit. For a few years I covered the parade for the now defunct Montauk Pioneer and still try to attend. It is a good way to visit the hamlet I called home for 4 years. Afterwards I usually go to the Montauket to say hello to Steve “Puck” Dolan who I went to OLPH Grammar School with in the early 1960’s. He has long been a bartender at the legendary sunset bar.

This year something unusual happened as I was catching up with “Puck” on various things including a friend of ours, Hobart Serino’s well being. “Puck” had just visited him the week before in Florida. Hobart had a job related electrical accident that almost cost him his life. As we were talking two men dressed in coconut hats that covered their whole heads and Hawaiian robes walked up to the bar and ordered two drinks. Only their sunglass wearing eyes were visible through the coconut helmet hat that they wore. Afterwards they sat with me and told me they were from Hawaii. Then they gave “Puck” and myself a red beaded wreath that had all sorts of pins and toys on it , posed for some photos and left.

After they left, separately Puck and I examined the wreath and from afar, we looked at each other in shock. On the wreaths were things about our past, an OLPH school pin, and a pin with the name of deceased mutual friend of ours who referred to himself back in the late 60’s as the “Plum Fairy.” There was also a fraternity pin of a fraternity Plum Fairy and Puck belonged to back in High School. As we discovered more of the pins they all had meanings, who were these guys from Hawaii?

Enter Facebook where an Akua Lapu left me a photo on my page with the message, “My identity must remain a mystery for the present. I am on the road and plan to visit more members of the lost tribes before returning to Kauai….Aloha” Also on his profile it said he attended PMHS the school I attended and had old vintage photos of our friend Plum Fairy and others of Montauk surfing legends like Lee Bieler, former owner of the Blue Parrot in East Hampton. OK now some facts….

1-No one knew I was going to the Montauket, in fact I almost didn’t.
2-Both Puck and I talked to this guy, these guys and their voices rang no bells and they never said they knew us or where once from our home town of went to PMHS. All they Just said was they were from Hawaii!
3-When they put the beaded wreaths around our necks they never said, “check out the stuff on it. Then they just took photos with us and left.

So a few days later I called “Puck,” and he was still as bewildered as I still am. Thus the story of Akua Lapu remains a mystery to us. A real 2016 Montauk Mystery.