Boat Trader's Stomping Grounds Features Netflix Outer Banks, Gains Momentum
Director Jonas Pate and legendary powerboat racer Reggie Fountain are featured in Stomping Grounds 3 from Boat Trader.
Boat Trader's popular new video series Stomping Grounds that is all about boating culture across America is gaining momentum. The third episode in the brand's ongoing documentary show features in-depth interviews with a number of celebrities and well-known boating industry figures. From Hollywood director Jonas Pate, who sits down with series host Ryan McVinney to discuss his latest hit show Outer Banks on Netflix, to powerboat racing legend Reggie Fountain regaling viewers with tales of the early days of offshore powerboat racing and founding the iconic Fountain Powerboats company, the episode is chock full of educational and entertaining boating facts, anecdotes and characters. Watch the full episode below.
Outer Banks on Netflix: Inspired By Real Boating Experiences
As director and co-creator of Outer Banks, filmmaker Jonas Pate drew on his experience growing up boating in North Carolina when he and his brother Josh Pate, along with their partner writer Shannon Burke created the show for Netflix. The series is an original action-adventure mystery teen drama now in its second season. It reached number one on Netflix for a few weeks during the height of the pandemic in 2020, and in 2021 when the second season was released, it reached number one again - in 40 countries - on the streaming provider's platform.
Above: Jen Pate and her husband filmmaker Jone Pate with Boat Trader's Stomping Grounds host Ryan McVinney, onboard the couple's Grady-White Freedom 235 boat.
The show is set in a community in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and follows a group of teens as they search for a lost treasure, thought to be potentially buried at sea. Pate explains how he consults his two teenage children when the team is writing the storyline. It’s a story filled with boats and boating scenes that showcase an on-the-water lifestyle, from small “beater boats” and starter boats, up to big offshore sportfishing yachts and motor yachts. There is a stark social divide between the wealthy seasonal residents of the fictional town and the working-class locals. The wealthy residents are known as "Kooks" while the working-class are known as "Pogues".
Above: Director Jonas Pate and his wife Jen Pate in front of their family's Grady-White Freedom 235 dual console boat. Photo by Boat Trader.
Also highlighted in the episode is the skill and talent required for on-the-water video production including a segment about catching, flying and landing drones from fast-moving moving boats with founder of Lost Wave Media cinematographer Carson Talbert, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from local Wilmington video production powerhouse Lighthouse Films, who illustrates why Wilmington is often referred to as "Hollywood East".
Grady-White Boats
The video also features a visit to the Grady-White Boats building facility in Greenville, North Carolina. Shelley Tubaugh, VP of Marketing at Grady-White, tells viewers about how she and Outer Banks director Jonas Pate discussed the fact the production company and film crew had a hard time getting their Grady-White to stay on the bottom of the ocean floor during one scene. Since the boat's have a foam-core and are built to be virtually "unsinkable" they could not get the boat to submerge. Pate explained they had to blow multiple holes in the boat's hull and weigh it down with heavy blocks just to keep it down. Tubaugh also discusses the history behind Grady-White and how owner Eddie Smith inspires his crew to work hard and provide a safe, high-quality, long-lasting family fishing boat at affordable prices.
Carolina Boats And Custom Carolina Sportfishers
A visit to Morehead City to learn about Carolina Boats, Custom Carolina sportfishing yachts and an illustration of that famous "Carolina flare" helps demonstrate to viewers some of the unique and notable characteristics of boats built in North Carolina. John D. Riggs of Riggs Yacht Sales discusses the tournament scene and his work on the custom Jarrett Bay sportfish yacht "Jaruco" - a 90-foot battlewagon that has traveled the world plying waters around the globe, winning many tournaments. Other brands highlighted include Merritt Boatworks, Albermarle, Hatteras and Viking.
Above: The JARUCO a 90 foot Jarrett Bay Sportfishing Yacht. Photo by Riggs Yacht Sales.
Reggie Fountain and Fountain Powerboats
From there, the show visits Washington, North Carolina and the home of a living legend, Reggie Fountain, set along the beautiful Pamlico River. Boating enthusiasts and powerboat racing fans will be eager to hear his stories of how he came up in the boat racing world, eventually winning world championships on the Mercury Racing Team in the 1970s, and breaking multiple world speed records.
Above: Reggie Fountain at the Fountain Powerboats factory in Washington, North Carolina. Mr. Fountain took Ryan McVinney and viewers of Boat Trader's Stomping Grounds 3 on a tour of the factory via his personal golf cart. Photo by Boat Trader.
Mr. Fountain tells the story of defeating Miami Vice’s Don Johnson, actor Kurt Russel and star Chuck Norris, among others, at a famous boat race in New Orleans back in 1990. He then takes McVinney and Boat Trader fans and viewers on an impromptu golf-car tour of the Fountain Powerboats facility that he helped build along the banks of the Pamlico, where he still consults and helps test boats on the water before they are sold to customers.
Follow the Stomping Grounds series by Boat Trader.
