My new Boat:

We might as well start with the hull. The Skeeter is fully imported from the states as a competition bass boat. It is a one trick pony designed to go as fast as you want between spots and to allow anglers to efficiently fish with lures while using an electric motor. I can already see that the boat does this in luxury and comfort and just driving the boat is a ton of fun. I guess I should run through a few of the features to show you how much thought and design has gone into this boat.

All hatches are waterproof and the boat has central locking of all hatches through a touch pad on the dash. All hatches have lights inside. The livewell has an underwater light so you can see your catch in the dark! The rod locker takes twelve rigged rods. The tackle hatch comes with twelve plastic tackle boxes in a rack. There is a line spooler on the boat. The boat comes with a comfy fishing chair and a leaning post that both screw into the deck.

The boat comes with a 101 pound thrust electric motor complete with gas strut to ease it into the water. The batteries charge with an inboard Guest charger - all you do is run the lead to the boat and everything happens automatically. Your driving and passenger seats work on gas struts for a softer ride. I could go on but I guess you are getting the picture - this boat is very well appointed. It is also a pretty quick boat that is rated for a 250 Hp motor. With my E Tec the boat has done 75 mph and in fishing trim with plenty of fuel, fishing gear and two anglers it still does 70 mph.

I must say that my E Tec Evinrude motor has been a bit of a revelation. I guess everyone has heard the message on the latest generation two stroke outboard technology. If anything the claims just sound too good to be true - quieter than a four stroke - less moving parts than a four stroke, so lighter for a given horsepower. Great fuel efficiency. Less emissions than a four stroke, hence a clean smelling environmentally friendly engine. And there is one thing that hasn't changed with a two stroke - the extra power. As a bit of a clincher these E Tecs don't even need a service for three years.

I'm certainly no outboard mechanic and my needs with an outboard motor are simple - I want it to start first turn of the key - I want it to be quiet so I can travel without an irritating whine in my ears - I want it to get me there and back, preferably quickly - and I don't want to spend time and money pissing around with servicing when I could be fishing.

I guess it is early days yet but my E Tec starts every time I turn the key - and I mean instantly - it is just uncannily quiet for a big motor - it has incredible performance and torque that suits my high performance boat to a tee - and it is good on juice. I guess we live in rapidly changing times - wooden aeroplanes were good not so long ago - add some cutting edge technology and now we fly aluminium and carbon fibre marvels into space. Two strokes were once noisy, smelly gas guzzlers - add some technology to iron out the bugs and now they just might be the fastest, cleanest, most fuel efficient outboards on the planet.