Looking at a couple of boats....Opinions?

[pair of jacks]

I have a 2000 21 that I bought new with a 200 Opti on it. It's a great boat- very versatile- I fish shallow bays and offshore up to 25 mi. here in NJ. It's got nice high gunwales as opposed to the fairly low ones on the older 20 skiffs- that's a big plus when in the ocean. You would have to remove the t-top as I've never seen a 21 that doesn't have one. I did have some problems with my Opti as mine was in the well known "lemon" years of 2000/2001 and I've since repowered with an E-Tec. but you should be ok with a 2003 as I heard they debugged the problems. I love the 21 and have only two minor complaints about it- one, the in-deck livewell fills with rain water/washdown water and needs to be drained or it becomes a nasty mess- would have much preferred a leaning post above deck well- second, no anchor locker access from above- you have to crawl on your belly to get the anchor out from it's holder. I live with both of those pesty situations and love the boat and its versatility. I know I know it's not a "classic" but I love the lines on it- like others have said it's a mini 23. My 2 cents.