Steve Killing with his in-depth knowledge of things that float, has been a valuable partner in producing the Bear Mountain Boat Shop plans. He designs new boats for us and takes the old classics and fairs then to exquisite perfection. The relationship, which began with a chance meeting at a canoe show, has grown to a solid partnership, with Steve reworking all our drawings to make building these craft simpler and more accurate.

We sent up a trail balloon when we offered to sell Steve's modern Freedom series of canoes built by Bluewater as plans in 1995. It was a success. We then moved on to new boats with the Endeavour kayak in 1996 and three more kayaks in 1998 to tie in with Ted Moore's new book.

Steve has not always been so deeply involved in canoes and continues to be one of the most diverse designers on the continent. His repertoire ranges from America's Cup racing yachts, through historic vessels to classic mahogany runabouts. We are proud to have him working with us and I know you will be just as pleased to paddle one of his boats. We also puff up our chest a bit when Steve says, in all honesty, that we are one of the friendliest and yet most professional clients he has. We think it's a case of talented folks appreciating each other's abilities.

We are always developing new boats with Steve and you will have to keep tuned for some wonderful additions. At any one time he usually has one design underway and another simmering in the think tank. Check out his new book "Understanding Yacht Design" released in late summer of 1998.