Un-official beginning of summer...

Means Memorial Day weekend and going to the rivers with the fewest amounts of people! Definately not the Ocoee! And with the newest addition of the dam releases, the Cheoah, we opted for the wild wilderness of the Nolichucky. Expecting a small crowd we were gladly greeted with nobody! I could not believe and neither could my mates. With the temperatures in the high 80's, we put the least amount of gear on and headed our way down to the river. After the first two rapids, you get to a play spot called Jaws. With the levels and the weather co-operating we decided to stay for about 2 hours at this particular spot. Mind you that it is still about 8 miles to the take-out. Here are some of the boys playing. You will have to forgive them, they are not in Bliss-Stick boats yet.... However, Pete Pickering is one of the newest U.S. team paddlers for Bliss-Stick! He is currently waiting on his boats! So he went for the boogie board!









Dylan on the other hand went for the kayak!




As we traveled down the river we took our time and decided to take in the views. Everytime I go there I forget how beautiful it is and the play is amazing down the whole river. At least one or two holes to play per rapid! For a total of 9-10 miles... depending on who you talk to.

the views...


my peeps! Pickering, Whitson, Largente, Myself


I was a great time! Including the Honda being stuck in the VIP parking section that Pete told us about....


We used several NRS 20ft straps to pull the car out of the mud. They work great! Oh yeah, you see the Buick LeSabre that is next to it..... we had to bounce it out of the way about 3ft to get the Civic pass the front bumper! Shhhhhh don't tell! Until next time....

Bliss-Sticks new seats for 2006!

It's all good sitting in here, comfort, adjustability, strength and functionality. We don’t think you’re going to find anything better. Loads of innovative features and incredible rigidity….



Innovative Features

‘Stemmed Plastic Construction’. A process of molding multiple internal stems within a molding, creating an incredibly ridged form. With both surfaces of the seat bridged, (that’s right under your butt), it provides exceptional support and strength to the hull for no extra weight.

'Overhung Side Walls’, The seat constricts at the top, encapsulating your body so much better. This combined with our expandable foam pockets makes fitting your kayak a simple pleasure.

‘Integrated Backrest Guides’, These create a clean, smooth, path for the backrest adjustment straps minimizing wear and tear. It also holds your backrest high, in that perfect position to provide maximum support and control.

‘Peli-case Provision’, Right between your legs, just where you want it. A 'photo boaters', dream.

Other Nice Features

Simple secure adjustment
Easy access to back of boat
Comfy seat pad
Secure tie points
Robust pillar integration
‘Bomber’, hassle free



Our creek boats have always boasted a good strong comfortable seat and our playboats a unique, cockpit adjustable system, that worked fine, but we soon discovered, once people had trimmed there seat position, they never wanted to move it again, and I have to admit, I never used the feature myself. It was a lot of extra weight for very little gain.

I saw more and more of our pro-boaters, staff and friends who are coming through the factory, ripping out the complex adjustable system, and replacing it with our lighter creeking seat. It worked pretty well too, so when we designed our new seat system, we kept that well in mind.

Our mission, to build a better, lighter, faster and harder, seat than ever before… and that’s just what we did! Here it is, all kitted out in one of our boats...... Absolute bliss.



(Courtesy of Bliss-Stick)

Live the Dream!

Motivation. Something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act. I was needing a little this morning, then I saw this...



Then I saw this...



And as a result of that, I got in my car and went to work.... But I will continue to dream while I am there! Remember! The Spring Double Deal in the US ends May 31st. Check out Bliss-Stick.com for more details.

Bliss-Stick colors and spare parts....

Here is the Bliss-Stick color chart for all the boats except the SCUD. There is also a spare parts list in the event that you may break something. All prices are in USD on the spare parts sheet. Scud color range is a little different than the rest of the boats. We’re keeping it simple with our stock standard SCUD color range. Only available off the shelf in solid colors for 06. Off course we will mold you whatever you care for if you’re prepared to wait or are lucky enough to be coming by the factory. We’re always happy to do that!!!! We do prefer to mold these babies in single color as they looook so good as well as we can guarantee a perfect surface finish this way. Standard colors are, Blood Red, Hot Lime, Shiny Yellow, Sky Blue and Bright Orange. Custom colors are an extra $200 NZD per boat. Let me know if I can help you out in any way.

Mystic reviews....

Here are a couple from around the world...

Mystic Review just in from the pacific northwest, USA. Of course it’s a good one so I’ll let you read it. More reviews coming in soon. We have the grand total of three Mystic’s in the entire States right now and apparently we aren’t making to much of a dent in the market place. A real shipment due in soon, but would you know it, they already have homes!!!!! People have been really impressed with this boat. It’s the complete package, all class, if I may say so myself.....

Jonathan Blum from Seattle, WA here...

I had the opportunity to be the first person in the pacific northwest
to take out the demo Mystic sent to the OAC, and after a few days of
paddling it, I think it totally rocks and can't wait to get one. It
has edge but isn't edgy, surfaces fast coming out of drops and holes,
and is tough as nails. I ran it through holes I normally would
paddle around and it kept me out of trouble. The extra volume
surfaces so fast, and gives me a lot more confidence running bigger
water and steeper creeks. I can't wait to get my hands on one. I
didn't think you guys could make a boat better than my Huka, but I
suppose I was wrong. Keep up the great work down there! Hope to be
back in NZ to visit soon,

Jonathan Blum
Seattle, WA
http://www.daysontheriver.com

And one more...

Here’s a good independent review from the kayaking legend himself. He might be getting a bit old in the teeth, however Mick keeps up with the program and all the developments of the kayaking industry and he’s still out there on the rivers, giving it heaps. We respect his commitment to kayaking, and being a very independent and discerning character, it’s fantastic to have him saying nice words about our new product. If you know Mick, you know he’s a very proud man and impossible to bribe!!!! Mick is the founder, and director of the world renowned, NZ kayak School based in the South Island. .

Back to front

A back to front season in Murchison…..In September I was doing laps on the lower Matakitaki on windless days with low water. Unusually these conditions persisted right through the season and our normal diet of Mangles and Glenroy trips was not to be.

Ironically as season drew to a close in March and April the spring rain finally arrived and the Buller hit 3000 cumecs. Ben Jackson and Zak Shaw celebrated by paddling the Buller from Lake Rotoiti to the sea in 10 hours 35 minutes.

We squeezed in a couple of good runs on a high water Glenroy and I got to try out the new, long awaited Bliss- Stick Mystic.

Great Fun. The boat looks sharp, has chines and seems to go faster than its length ( 245 cms) would suggest. It stayed on line easily and the front deck appeared, miraculously, after every drop.

A touch of rail and the boat carved sweetly into and out of eddies with a bit more speed than the Huka and the conscious knees up needed in the MAC. And at the end of the trip the boat was dry inside..always a good sign! I was hooked, (as opposed to Hukaed and hucked)

I wanted to paddle it more but time ran out and sadly I had to leave the boat behind as I packed up for the season. But right now I’m sat in Jackson, Wyoming and the local boys are all excited. It’s a big water year over here in the US. Olaf (Olly) Koehler has six Mystics coming his way. More reports to follow as Olaf does battle with the Poppagia River at 600 ft per mile and Big Timber Creek at 720 ft per mile………Maybe I’ll go climbing!!

Cheers
Mick Hopkinson

Make sure you check out Bliss-Stick.com for more exciting information on this amazing boat. I will have a demo in about a week or so. There are currently only three of these in the states and we are selling them as fast as they get here. Please contact me if you want to demo this boat, need information or if you want to put your name on the list to get one. (reviews courtesy of Bliss-Stick, Mick, and Jonathan)