PEOPLE | CULTURE | HAPPENINGS
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The growth of Wrightsville Beach’s signature watersport
A Stand Up Activity
BY GABRIELLA DIONISIO
IN 2006, Jason Colclough traveled from Wilming-
ton to Hawaii to visit friends. The group of
watermen spent the majority of their time
kite-surfing, kayaking and surfing. Then he was
introduced to standup paddleboarding (SUP)
— an activity that, when he returned home, would soon
spark a new wave of excitement in Wrightsville Beach.
After his trip to Maui, Colclough became the first known
paddleboarder in town.
“It was a riot,” Colclough says, recalling the first time he
tried SUP. “When I came back to Wrightsville, people would
constantly stop me on the water and ask me what I was
doing.”
Colclough soon was joined by other watermen eager
to try the new sport, including Reggie Barnes, Haywood
Newkirk, Brad Howard, Todd Bostian and Chris Curry.
“A lot of us were surfers, which was why we initially
got into it,” Curry says. “Between the people, being out in
water, and being surrounded by nature, it’s just a spiritual
experience.”
WBM FILE PHOTO
june 2018 18
WBM