Anyone ever hear of a Keaton boat?
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: General Correct Craft Discussion
Forum Name: Off Topic
Forum Discription: Anything non-Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15474
Printed Date: December-22-2024 at 10:01pm
Topic: Anyone ever hear of a Keaton boat?
Posted By: Riley
Subject: Anyone ever hear of a Keaton boat?
Date Posted: October-03-2009 at 8:28pm
I discovered these today while doing some research on a Ford 312. Hot looking boats. Looks like they were made from around 1960 into the '80's.
|
Replies:
Posted By: bkhallpass
Date Posted: October-03-2009 at 10:30pm
What do you want to know 
Keaton Boats were built by Jack Keaton in Sacramento California. Jack is still around and attends some of the Keaton reunions. They have a website but it's not very active. Keaton boats were a hot ticket for competive waterskiing on the west coast in the early 60s. This was before specialty boats like the Ski Nautique or Mastercraft came along. Interestingly, most of Jack's hulls were sold without engines. You put in what you wanted. 455 Olds was popular. There were a couple of Champion water skiers who put together a business buying Jack's hulls, outfitting them, and reselling. Jack sold off his original hull at one point to a company called Mastercraft Plastics. They built a few hulls. I came across a guy last year looking to find out information on his new "Mastercraft" that he intended to restore. I let him know he actually had a Keaton, and put him in touch with their fan club. Not sure what became of the boat. In the Seventies, Jack put together a new hull design. Mostly jet drives. I believe 460 Fords were the popular engines. Growing up, most serious skiers I knew had wooden inboards, Chris Craft, Trojan, Century, Philbrick, etc. The Keaton was the first fiberglass inboard I saw. A guy in our boat club bought a solid purple Keaton. At the time I thought it was incredibly cool. The lines on the boat were similar to the wooden Besotes brand, which was manufactured about 40 miles from Keaton in Stockton, CA. Still very good looking boats in my opinion. BKH ------------- Livin' the Dream |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: October-03-2009 at 10:37pm
|
Interesting story. The first 2 pics are an older boat and because it's all white, the lines don't show that well, but they are beautiful. The last pic is a 1980's ski boat. A lot better looking than a lot of the '80s ski boats. ------------- |
Posted By: bkhallpass
Date Posted: October-03-2009 at 10:41pm
|
A more detailed history for your reading pleasure. Mine was from my limited memory capacity BKH
http://www.keatonboat.com/History.htm - Keaton Boat History ------------- Livin' the Dream |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: October-03-2009 at 11:24pm
|
That's the site where I got the pics. His early boats had Interceptor 312's in them. Gorgeous boats, especially from the stern. I'm surprised they weren't more well known. ------------- |
Posted By: eric lavine
Date Posted: October-04-2009 at 11:01am
|
maybe thats where i got the latest 460 from it was rigged to a jet drive and the waterpump (circ) was replaced by a flat plate that read Harman performance.
nice looking hull that guy built, it has a touch of Euro looks ------------- "the things you own will start to own you" |
Posted By: GlassSeeker
Date Posted: October-04-2009 at 7:31pm
|
It's a West Coast/ Calif thing...kinda like Sanger. That history is very interesting...in 1995 they built 1 20 ft Tournament/ Barefoot boat which did not get much attention and was dropped, the whereabouts of that boat is unknown. I found it interesting that Sanger was not mentioned throughout the history and they had to have competed against each other for business. Sanger started in 1954 and is still relevant today. ------------- This is the life |
Posted By: besotesboatclub
Date Posted: October-29-2009 at 9:15pm
|
The attached is from Joe Balco a great water skier in his day.
His son Drake took this info about his Father and Keaton boats. http://www.keatonboat.com/Joe_Balcao.htm ------------- Besotes Boat Club |
Posted By: storm34
Date Posted: October-29-2009 at 9:33pm
|
http://www.keatonboat.com/ - Keaton Boats
Pretty cool site, looks like they had a gathering this summer! ------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: October-29-2009 at 9:35pm
|
http://www.keatonboat.com/Joe_Balcao.htm%20 - http://www.keatonboat.com/Joe_Balcao.htm
Great story. Thanks for posting. ------------- |
Posted By: bkhallpass
Date Posted: October-30-2009 at 1:38am
|
Link does not seem to work. I'd be interested to read.
BKH ------------- Livin' the Dream |
Posted By: 75 Tique
Date Posted: February-11-2018 at 11:54pm
Picture of a Keaton I stumbled across today. ------------- _____________ “So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
Posted By: Air206
Date Posted: February-12-2018 at 12:41am
|
Crazy coincidence this weekend, the fellow restoring the AT Skier's wheel, just finished a Keaton wheel. He was saying how he had only seen one before and that was over 20 years ago. ------------- https://tinyurl.com/y6t5e3bu" rel="nofollow - 04 Air206 http://tinyurl.com/9urzgls" rel="nofollow - 91 Barefoot 78 SkiTiq |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: February-12-2018 at 5:11am
|
Jack Keaton was a class act. He passed a couple years back, I went to his funeral. Met him a few times, my brother owned a Keaton for many years. Jack was very active keeping his flock of customers happy. A small mostly one man shop but Jack built very high quality boats. May he rest in peace. Look at the Keaton website. When Jack switched to making jet boats he won Powerboat of the year honors I the 70's. Not bad for a small shop hidden in Sacramento. I don't think Jack ever made more than one boat per month. Jacks jet is the best jet ever built for water ski use. In the 80's as tournament boats really took off Jack designed a barefoot inboard with a 350 GM that had top speed of 55mph. Jack built what people needed and made his boats very well. Great man, wish he was still with us. ------------- |
Posted By: smithwn
Date Posted: September-30-2020 at 10:02am
|
Met Jack in 1983 and he subsequently built a modified V jet boat for my wife and I in 1984. Back then it was a $500 up charge for the 454 so we went with the more torque Ford 460 option. I can verify the man was a legend among the water skiing crowd in the Sacramento area ( I grew up in FL skiing 250 days/yr+ from 1971-1973, and continued heavy recreational skiing once I relocated to CA and purchased from Jack). Everyone wanted one of his boats, but he was a funny guy, he really chose his customers. In other words if he didn't like you he didn't sell to you. I'll never forget that about him. While not as good as a typical prop ski boat I grew up with in FL, the jet was just fine for recreational skiing and provided loads of barefoot fun.You could easily deep water start 3 barefoot skiers with all that hp and tq (I did it) and the thing would go well into the mid 60's top end. The hole shot was something in of itself, 0-35mph in 3 sec flat. 50mph in 5 sec. I still have my Keaton but at 65 I'm not gonna do much skiing going forward. I plan to gift the boat to my son an son in law in the next few weeks who've promised to care for and enjoy that Keaton classic during the coming decades here in NC.
|
Posted By: 75 Tique
Date Posted: September-30-2020 at 11:40am
Keaton made a nice looking direct drive inboard.  When looking at the pictures when this thread first came up, (I hadnt heard of them before that) I didnt pay much attention to the jets. Also good looking boats. Your's look something like this? Where in NC are you?  ------------- _____________ “So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
Posted By: smithwn
Date Posted: September-30-2020 at 4:22pm
| My boat appears to be an exact match to the jet boat, colors and all. Nice! |
Posted By: MourningWood
Date Posted: September-30-2020 at 10:23pm
|
A friend of mine was a Nautique rep on the West coast for years in the early 80's on up into at least the late 90's. Taught me how to run the course behind his '83 promo 2001. Before Nautique his boat of choice...Keaton. They have great lines, very sporty looking, much like the Besotes of the same era. Another NorCal boat.
------------- 1964 Dunphy X-55 "One 'N Dun" 'I measured twice, cut three times, and it's still too short!" |
Posted By: smithwn
Date Posted: October-01-2020 at 5:49am
| Oh, I’m in Summerfield NC just outside Greensboro. Sorry didn’t see that first time. |
Posted By: 67 ski nat
Date Posted: October-01-2020 at 8:11pm
|
Yes. I was in a gas station and saw very cool inboard very classy all white beauty Owner said it was a Keaton Told him one of best boats I’ve seen |
Posted By: 67 ski nat
Date Posted: October-01-2020 at 8:13pm
|
Hey mourning wood The Keaton I saw was in Sebastopol So cool to hear your history in NorCal |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: October-02-2020 at 11:36pm
|
The Keaton Inboard Ski Boat shown above was built in the 80's. There was a competition barefooter in Sacramento at the time that asked Jack for a faster Ski Boat for his barefooting. Jack had the Keaton Utility that he built in the 60's mold, he updated it and used a Chevy 350 in the new Ski boat like the one pictured above. The beach we skied at in the early 80's had 2 of these Keatons on it almost every weekend. I raced them both in my 78 Nautique with the modified 351W, I know these guys had 55 MPH top speed, I was just a hair short of that. When we launched and drove to our beach at that time there was about a 4 mile straight with great ski water and pretty much zero traffic because it has many shallows that you had to know to avoid hurting your boat. In that very long straight I raced them for most of it. Out of the hole I could pull a good boat length or more and then we were even up to almost wide open, then those dang boats would slowly start to pull away with a bone stock Chevy 350. Jack Keaton told me he liked his boats to be fast and he varied the prop angle to help his top speed. They ran a 12 x 15 3 blade stock. Jacks boats had less drag but were more prone to be pulled around by a hard skier than the Nautique was. My brother still has a Keaton Jet in his garage, 460 powered and bone stock it is a rocket ship. Jack certainly has a legacy in Sacramento, I am pleased he is known in the larger markets also. A buddy of mine built all of Jacks trailers in the late 70's and 80's, he was a fireman by trade which gave him several days off each week to help Jack. Jack's trailers were a work of art also. He built many other boat designs over the years and started out with Race boats. In the early days the Keaton Utility which resembled an early Ski Nautique was built and sold without the engine, I have seen a 312 Ford, Cadillac engines, Chrysler 318, 383 and 440's, Chevy 348 and 409's in those boats, a guy down the street from me had one with a 400 Pontiac in it that was Fuel Injected, pretty sure it was a 389 initially. Jack also used a skag on the bottom of his Jet Pumps, a Berkeley J pump on his Jet boats which made them ski really well. My brother bought his first Jet from Jack in 1978 so I skied a ton behind that boat before buying my 1978 Nautique in 1982. ------------- |
Posted By: smithwn
Date Posted: October-03-2020 at 6:12am
| I’m pretty sure I have the Powerboat Magazine reviews of both the barefoot and jet boats. Jack handed them out to me when I first met him in 1984. I’ll try and find them and scan copies to this thread for others to enjoy. |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: October-03-2020 at 2:40pm
|
I have not seen the magazine since it first came out but I remember one quote from Powerboat as they tested the 18' Jet Keaton. " When you floor this boat you think you are driving a Top Fuel Dragster, the acceleration is amazing " It has been 40 years but I bet that quote is very close to exact in the article. ------------- |
Posted By: adamt
Date Posted: October-04-2020 at 7:18pm
|
Here's a 1965 for sale in CA @ $3800 https://www.shoppok.com/sacramento/a,29,145443,1965-Keaton-ski-boat----3800--Oroville-.htm" rel="nofollow - https://www.shoppok.com/sacramento/a,29,145443,1965-Keaton-ski-boat----3800--Oroville-.htm  ------------- -Adam 1973 Skier |
Posted By: 67 ski nat
Date Posted: October-04-2020 at 7:58pm
|
I’m gonna try and look at it The tail on the for sale pictures has a different tail section has a concave at lower |
Posted By: 67 ski nat
Date Posted: October-04-2020 at 7:59pm
| What year is the first picture 75 tique posted |
Posted By: 75 Tique
Date Posted: October-04-2020 at 8:02pm
83. I have no knowledge of or connection to that boat. Just a random pic off of google images. https://www.smartmarineguide.com/L52483334" rel="nofollow - https://www.smartmarineguide.com/L52483334
------------- _____________ “So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
67 ski nat wrote:Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: October-05-2020 at 2:40am
|
The photo Adam posted is on old Keaton Utility, not sure what years they were produced, those are the boats sold without an engine and the owners powered them any way they wanted. In 75 Tique's photos the upper photo is the newer Keaton, not sure what Jack called it but those first came out around 1982 and all I know of came equipped with the Chevy 350 for power. The Lower photo in 75 Tiques post is the 18' Jet, Came out somewhere close to 1975 I think, my brothers is a 1978 and Jack told him his boat is a little faster than the newer year models because his Mold was still straight and made a faster bottom, Jack said as the mold got more and more use it sagged a little and the bottom shape changed slightly, those boats gave up a mile or two per hour top speed according to Jack back then. The early Keaton Jets used a 455 Olds, 390 HP, newer boats used the 460 Ford standard or the 454 Chevy was an option. I have never driven the Utility or the Keaton Skier but have many fun hours piloting the Keaton Jet. ------------- |
Posted By: 67 ski nat
Date Posted: October-05-2020 at 8:35am
|
Thanks for great info ‘75’ and MrMcd, It seems the late 70’s early 80’s is model shape I prefer The one for sale is 65 ? Looks a little more dated. But I like the 460. Holy cow Take a close up look at lower rear transom it has a bizarre cut out |
Posted By: smithwn
Date Posted: October-05-2020 at 9:39am
|
OK, found the jet boat article. How do I insert a .pdf file here? Still looking for the one on the prop boat.
|
Posted By: bkhallpass
Date Posted: October-05-2020 at 12:02pm
John Jolley? BKH ------------- Livin' the Dream |
Posted By: MourningWood
Date Posted: October-07-2020 at 11:41am
|
Dave Doidge ------------- 1964 Dunphy X-55 "One 'N Dun" 'I measured twice, cut three times, and it's still too short!" |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: October-08-2020 at 2:43am
|
Here is a nice 1965 Keaton Utility, powered by a 348 Chevy. Just an FYI for the curious, I saw it on CL tonight. https://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/d/sacramento-price-reduction-ski-boat/7209727967.html
------------- |