Thanks to all that took time to share their opinions and advise.
But, today, I bought a lightly used 17' ProCraft (looks like a Nitro if you have not previously heard of a ProCraft -- like me)
Seats 5 and Big enough to get the whole family on and seems pretty stable
Will get me up to the no-wake buoys at Bartlett so I can then idle along at 5 mph for the rest of the day just like my 10' Jon Boat (actually, the Jonboat does 8.2 mph when I open'er up/flat out
)
Probably more than we need but will do everything we want it to (except maybe catch fish
)