Boat soon to be history!

[DadofJolly]

Gentlemen,
I have solemnly agreed to sell my beautiful Skeeter this year. What my wife does not know is that the price is set ridiculously high as long as we are in the pre-spawn, spawn months. BUT, after that I will have to get serious about my boat-ectomy. (sniff….sniff). Why? One name: "Dave Ramsey." If you don't know who that is Google him and you'll understand. Anyway, my little Hitler…I mean wife, has reluctantly agreed to let me borrow my testicles for a short time and purchase a small, inexpensive used fishing boat after my painful separation from the Skeeter. You guys that have or do fish from an aluminum Jon-boat type boat, what is absolutely too small, too narrow, or too slow to effectively bass fish from? I'm going cheap but I still want to be able to effectively fish and hopefully not drown. In other words: Is 12ft or 14ft just too small to get-r-done? Do I want like a 20 hp. minimum? Are there any brands of aluminum boats or smaller outboards to avoid? My home lake is not huge but there are times when I will have to make a 4 or 5 mile run to a creek.
Thanks.