Kiene's was one of the first Metal Head dealers in California.

I remember one day when the founding owner of Metal Head boats drove into our parking lot with a 10' Metal Head pram.

Our staff and customers went wild at the site of this beautiful jewel of a boat.

The design and quality was world class and many were sold right away.

MH had an 8 foot and 10 foot to start with and they did design and produce a few 12 foot mini jet sleds.

A good friend ordered one of these rare 12' Jet sleds, but George really never used it much.

He told me after some years that he just wanted to move it on to someone who would use it.

I told another good friend, Bruce, that it was available and how special and rare it was so he instantly bought.


Attachment 16263

It is not for sale but it it was the price would be substantial.

Do you remember who owned Metal Head?

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Originally Posted by Bill Kiene semi-retired

I remember one day when the founding owner of Metal Head boats drove into our parking lot with a 10' Metal Head pram.

Our staff and customers went wild at the site of this beautiful jewel of a boat.

The design and quality was world class and many were sold right away.

MH had an 8 foot and 10 foot to start with and they did design and produce a few 12 foot mini jet sleds.

A good friend ordered one of these rare 12' Jet sleds, but George really never used it much.

He told me after some years that he just wanted to move it on to someone who would use it.

I told another good friend, Bruce, that it was available and how special and rare it was so he instantly bought.


Attachment 16263

It is not for sale but it it was the price would be substantial.

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That’s an awesome rig

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BruceB

Do you remember who owned Metal Head?

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He went by an alias, Richard Parker, that everyone knew him by but his real name was Peter McFarlane.

He ended up in prison for drug related crimes in his previous life.

Bill,

I knew Richard very well, and had actually been to his house a few times picking up boats. He was a straight up guy (no bullshit) and he keep his word on any and all deals we had together, I liked him. I was surprised as everybody else about the real truth about the guy. Very interesting how he got caught.

Carl Blackledge

We heard he was away from his shop and left a gal friend there.

Had a burglary and the police took fingerprints and that is how he was caught.

My friend has a bunch of newspaper clippings about the whole thing.

Bill,

Pretty much the same story I heard. Him and his girlfriend broke up and a few days later somebody broke into his house, so the police were called and as you said they took finger prints found out somebody there was a fugitive, pretty stupid move from a very smart guy.

Carl Blackledge

Actually, I was the original owner of that 12' sled in the photo. Richard brought it down for me on spec and I bought it. He stayed at the house a couple of days. He was a bit odd, but seemed like a good guy. If you didn't track the articles, he wasn't just any drug dealer, he was international and a pretty big deal.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/03...7260764139600/

The big question is why boats? Few make money in that business and it's a lot of work. Applegate Valley is certainly popular for drugs, so maybe it was a good cover for him in a place that worked for his business.

The Metalhead sled was pure artwork. Most of the welding was done by guys working for larger operations that were moonlighting. I had the trailer built under the boat. The Tomco guys were so enamored with the sled they practically gave me that trailer.

For me it wasn't a great fit--it was truly a specialty boat that I didn't use much either. Great on the American but totally flat bottom and any chop was a spine crusher. I remember two of us got stuck on Crowley one afternoon in those winds about a mile from the marina. Every wave was torture. Still a little stud, love it for what it was.

Thanks John for the added history and correction.....I did not that.

What motor did you have on it?

PS: I think you have had more boats than I have?




PS2: Wonder if he is still in prison?

Bill, I had a 15 HP Johnson 2S short shaft on that boat that I pulled from the 14' aluminum Delta brand boat I had previously. That OMC motor was the only 2S I've ever had that I actually liked. Bombproof, always started.

I believe my next boat was my second Whaler, a first gen 13' Dauntless I bought from Kevin Doran. I loved fishing with Kevin on it previously, he is the one who introduced me to the Delta, but I found it to be quite tender on the Delta, somewhat similar to a Classic 15' Whaler but actually worse for secondary stability, especially with two people. A very cool looking craft with a great design on paper, but with some issues corrected later on in the model years.

I think I am on boat #26. I might be a few numbers off. The Whaler 150 Sport may be the last fishing boat I'll ever own, it is PERFECT for me. Between this one and Kevin's I had a 170 Montauk that I didn't like at all--too big and too far off the water, enough to lose intimacy as a fly fisher, in anything smaller than the Delta. Great boat for the D and for the salt, but a classic Montauk would have been much better.

I had a custom 17' CC HD aluminum skiff with 10 degree bottom made up in Oregon with a new 4 stroke FI Yamaha 90/65 jet.

Andy Guibord designed the interior with storage and long rod lockers. All accessories were top of the line.

I realized after only two trips that I was too old for a jet boat.

It was fairly heavy so it was slightly underpowered, but fine for Valley rivers.

For $2,000 I could have put a prop on it for the Delta and Bays and would have kept it.........dumb.


I had receipts for $35,000 and sold it to a wonderful customer for $15,000 with 8 hours on the motor.........WTF?


"Buy high and sell low?".........one of my biggest blunders.

Buying a new boat is expensive but having one custom built is worse. Slight used boats is the way to go.


Attachment 16293

Looking at this picture makes me sad.......

It was evident what your were doing with the design--essentially creating an aluminum hull with similar lines to a cathedral style glass hull that would be OK in stillwater and on rivers too. I have crawled all over it and thought it was a good idea, and the workmanship was great. Bill, you've never played it safe. You invested everything you had to create a fine store. You've bought some real estate. Losing a couple of bucks trying to be a pioneer is to be expected. You're a smart guy and I know you have moved on to the next boat!

So, to fill in the missing chapter on that 12' Metalhead sled...

After buying it from John, I promptly put a Mercury 25 Jet on it. It was a great little boat and I ran it up and down the local rivers for several years. With one person, it would go 25 mph through 3" of water all day long, on 3 gallons of gas. But add a second person, and you'd need a long run-up to get on plane. After a while, my interests/hobbies changed, and one day I realized that I had not even put the registration stickers on, for two years. That boat deserved to be used, so I put her up on Bill's "for-sale" page and she sold in 1/2 hour!

As a new member of the Semi-Retired club, I'm back fishing the local lakes and Delta,from a 17' Alumacraft center console.

Back to the Metalhead. I swear, EVERY TIME I took that boat out on the water, someone asked if I wanted to sell it. (One time, by a DFG warden!)

Bruce, I hope you're still enjoying the coolest little boat ever made!

George B

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steelie18

So, to fill in the missing chapter on that 12' Metalhead sled...

After buying it from John, I promptly put a Mercury 25 Jet on it. It was a great little boat and I ran it up and down the local rivers for several years. With one person, it would go 25 mph through 3" of water all day long, on 3 gallons of gas. But add a second person, and you'd need a long run-up to get on plane. After a while, my interests/hobbies changed, and one day I realized that I had not even put the registration stickers on, for two years. That boat deserved to be used, so I put her up on Bill's "for-sale" page and she sold in 1/2 hour!

As a new member of the Semi-Retired club, I'm back fishing the local lakes and Delta,from a 17' Alumacraft center console.

Back to the Metalhead. I swear, EVERY TIME I took that boat out on the water, someone asked if I wanted to sell it. (One time, by a DFG warden!)

Bruce, I hope you're still enjoying the coolest little boat ever made!

George B

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Hi George......I remember when you and some of your friends were all going to Sac State and coming into my shop.

Now you are retired.....so good.