What every newbie
needs to know
before
paddling
a SUP
29
Seek professional instruction
your first time out, preferably a person
or camp licensed by the WPA
(World Paddle Association)
Use the buddy system
Check out www.distressedmullet.
com to find local meet-ups like
the ones led by Richard Poole on
Wednesday nights beginning at
Dockside
Stay out of the way of marine
channels and boat traffic (especially
around the public boat ramp and
Heide Trask Drawbridge), surfers
and swimmers
Be conscious of tides
Wynn Plaza, Wrightsville Beach
Kayak Trail and public boat ramp are
some of Wrightsville Beach’s better
launch points
Visit www.supcleanup.com to find
out about SUP Cleanups
What you need according to
laws enforced by the U.S. Coast
Guard, N .C. Wildlife R esources
Commission and T own of
Wrightsville Beach
personal floatation device
noisemaking device or whistle
light (for night paddlers)
leash (for paddling in surf zone)
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
can spot a wave 200 yards out and
catch it because of the power behind
the paddle.
O n a standup board he’s no longer
reliant on swell to have a successful
day in the water.
“T his morning,” N ewkirk says, “I
got on my board, walked out to the
dock, did a four-mile paddle around
the beach. It took me 45 to 50 minutes.
A nd in the 45 minutes I was
outside, I was seeing nature. I was
breathing fresh air. I was out on the
water and I got a great workout.”
Since he took on the sport, N ewkirk
has dropped his gym membership.
“It’s just opened up a new world to
me,” he says.
John Beausang began paddleboarding
after two herniated
disks required core strengthening
rehabilitation. A friend suggested
SUP. T hree years later, Beausang
connected the community of SUP
athletes as the creator of D istressed
M ullet, a website currently ranked
second or third in the nation for
total traffic with almost 4,000 posts
and about 300,000 hits a week.
“It’s all about getting people out on
boards,” Beausang says.
W rightsville began to earn a
name for itself, when Jeoffrey and
C atherine N athan, owners of C oastal
U rge, brought the beach its first
SUP race in January 2009, the inaugural
C oastal C lassic.
“O ur little area,” Beausang explains,
“has an amazing concentration of
really good paddlers. It’s like the perfect
confluence of factors here. W e
have every different possible combination
of water conditions. W e have
flatwater currents, tides, inlets, open
ocean and surf.”
A fter traveling the nation, Beausang
says it is safe to say W rightsville is
the perfect SUP spot. W ithin a fivemile
radius of W rightsville Beach one
might experience all three primary
features of the sport: flatwater, downwinding
(point-to-point paddling with
a southerly wind) and surfing.
“T here’s a place for pretty much
everyone,” Beausang says, “whether
you’re racing competitively on a
national stage or whether you’re just
going out for fitness.”
In 2010, Beausang, N ewkirk,
SUP for
beg inners
Chris Curry finishes the paddling po tion of the 2011 Wrightsville Beach Biathlon.
Elite competitor Karen Wrenn raises her paddle in victory
after winning her division
of the 2011 Carolina Cup.
Jos hua Cu r r y