Sierra South had a chance to sit and chat with Woody Calloway, Mr Ambassador for Perception Kayaks at the recent free demo clinic held in Riverside Park on the Kern March 4, 2000. Some excerpts from that chat:

SSI: Wow! Look at all these new boats...the river trolls have been busy at the Perception factory over the winter.

Woody: Clay Wright and myself parked the party van at R&D in South Carolina for two months and just kinda went wild...

SSI: So tell us a bit about the new boats. Amp, Shock, Method, Method Air, Ultra Clean, and Stikine.

Woody: The Amp and the Shock are the new Pro Rodeo boats. Clay spent a lot of time on these. The Method and Method-Air are what I call the "Tweener boats"; in-between a pro rodeo boat and a general river running boat.

SSI: The answer to the RPM paddler wanting to play a bit more?

Woody: Yep.

SSI: And the Ultra Clean?

Woody: It's a new & improved big-guy Mr. Clean The big-guy's pro- rodeo boat. The Stikine is the expedition boat for runs such as the Headwaters of the Kern, overnighting, and runnin' far away exotic places where everyone wants to go.

SSI: You are a big guy, what, about 6'3"/225lbs?

Woody: My fightin' weight.

SSI: Dagger, your sister company, has a new boat called the "Ultra- fuge" ? "Ultra" to them means smaller than the Centrafuge. What's up with that?

Woody: Listen man, I just help design, I don't name 'em. Besides, we came up with the name first.

SSI: So, it sounds like there is still competition between Perception and Dagger?

Woody: My checks still say Perception on them, so yeah, were competing. I let you know when I get a Dagger check. (laugh)

SSI: Everyone sure seems to be smiling after paddling these boats. We can't wait to get our new shipment in a couple of weeks.

SSI: What's with this new outfitting? Looks cool.

Woody: I got inspired one night at the factory and decided to design a new thigh brace. I went down and bought all the plaster of Paris I could find and began to slap it on the outside of my thighs. All the pro rodeo paddlers were foaming up the outside of the walls, so I thought they were up to something...I call it the "Thighmaster".

SSI: It feels great! Best innovation in outfitting we've seen in ages...does Suzanne Sommers know about this?

Woody: Your datin' yourself...

SSI: The new expandable bulkhead and new backband are really cool too. Gee, welcome back Perception...we've missed you.

Woody: Thanks. I've been paddling for 20 years and I'm really excited about all of the changes. Hey, didn't I see Kernville listed as the top Paddling Town in America in the March Sports Afield?

SSI: Why yes you did.

Woody: This is a pretty fun place with some great paddling. I'll see ya'll in April at the Kern River Festival.

SSI: We will hold a campsite for you.