How to set up your Bliss-Stick kayak

This section is to help you from the time you receive your kayak, until just moments later when you are ready to set off on your first river trip in your new Bliss-Stick.  We hope you enjoy your new boat and get as much satisfaction from paddling it as we have had making it. Our goal is to make our customers proud to be Bliss-Stick owners.

Arrival at your door.

While the driver is still at your doorstep please check the package over for any obvious signs of damage from the delivery company. If you are happy, you can thank the driver.

Pre-cautionary only ......If on the other hand you do notice obvious signs of damage to the kayak like tears to the plastic, chaffing, or forklift holes in your new boat, don't let the driver go just yet, have him take the boat back and please do not accept the delivery. Contact Andrew urgently so we can get a replacement on its way.

It's time to begin to play with your new kayak, remove wrapping (you've likely figured this step out on your own).

Before you can begin to adjust your kayak's hardware you'll need to find the adjustment key located in the rear of the backrest.

Begin by removing the Goodie Bag. You may need to use the extra shims found inside to pack out or alter the amount of hip pad support provided to give you optimal fit.

Peel the hip pad sock back and either add or remove shims to suit the fit for your hips.

Once satisfied with the fit, simply close the hip pad sock and you are done.

The seat is set in the medium setting during assembly at the factory.  We urge you to paddle the boat at least once to decide on the seat coming forward if your legs are shortish or going back if your legs are longish.  With your adjuster key turn back the seat bolts 4 - 6 turns each, be sure to loosen both sides of the seat.  Taking the bolts out completely will release the brass plate on the other side, and getting this back into place will require some language and body flexing.

This will allow the seat to travel either forward or backwards, it may need some help as indicated in the picture.  Re-tighten the seat hardware on both sides to secure the seat in its new position.

Next are the cool thighbraces, these can be set forward or backwards as well.  The factory setting is again medium, you want the thighbrace cup to be mostly on your thigh below the knee, and not right on the knee cap.

The outter adjustment is used if you want to move the thighbrace base forward or backwards, just loosen this bolt 4 - 6 turns only so the brass plate stays in place on the inside.  Completely remove the cockpit bolt that holds the thighbrace cup in place.  Slide the thighbrace into its new position and re-insert the cup bolt in the most appripriate bolt hole.  Thighten the outer adjustment bolt and you're ready to adjust the thighbrace cups to your liking.

The cups are designed to rotate in 4 directions, the cup itself can rotate from the  easy to extreme settings and can also be twisted to suit the angle of your leg position.  Use the easy setting for general river running and when you get to the playholes notch them right-up in the eddie.

The seat is fitted with a comfortable seat pad so your butt feels like it's on a sofa, rather than in a kayak.

We have made the front storage roomy enough to take a Pelican case, throwbag, or water bottle.

The rear drain plug is secured by a lanyard, make sure you screw the plug back in to place once you have completed using the drain hole, a loose and hanging drain plug can easily go astray.  The molded in design to the left is a typical New Zealand myth, this is called a Mana and is formally one of many water Spirits and Taniwha's, this one is a "good luck " and guidance one thankfully.

Playboats come with a one peice foam footblock that can be cut to suit.

Mark your cut on the footblock and angle it slightly to give you more toe freedom, the foam can be cut with a saw or a sharp bread knife, It pays to start conservative and not cut too much off  in the first attempt.

The SCUD comes with a 2 piece footblock to allow for the long front pillar. These are left and a right with the wedge shape facing downwards. Foam footrests keep the weight issue to a premium for the playboating side of the SCUD.

Again marking the footblock is required and cutting a little at a time is recommended.  Setting a slight angled cut will give more toe space on the top edge of the footblock.

With the exception of the SCUD our river running boats all come with an adjustable bulkhead footrest, these can be adjusted with ease from inside of the kayak and require no cutting. Unlike a play boat, these footrests offer a more solid foot brace system but carry with them the added weight.

These can be simply adjusted by removing the 4 tri-knobs and setting the required distance, replacing and tightening all 4 tri-knobs afterwards is essential.  This system is great when you have multipule users of a kayak.

Finally, once the seat, thighbraces, and footblocks have been adjusted to suit you in your Bliss-Stick, there are a couple of fine tune micro adjustments to be done to make your paddling day perfect.  These adjustments are done on the day and right when launching off onto your favourite run.  Behind the foam backband there are 2 buckles which allow you to roughly adjust the backband into position. The rachets on top of the thighbraces allow for minute adjustments once you're comfortably in your boat, you can relax the tension or crank them up when required at your favourite playspot.

Congratulations!  Your adjustments are all now completed and your kayak will feel as snug as you decide and need it to be. All there is to do now is to load up the car, pat the cat and go have some fun.

Actually.......There is just one more job to do........

This outfitting section will be added to as we go and get request or great ideas in from paddlers in the field, we hope you find the information useful and would like to hear your feedback and your comments on your new Bliss-Stick Kayak.

Bliss-Stick Warranty

We were going to add something flashy in here but we're not, we want you to feel that within genuine reason of time and use,  we will replace your kayak..... and get you back on the water as fast as we can. Simple as that.  Being that the factory is in New Zealand we will do what we can within reason but don't be surprised if there is a wait time for a replacement.