What river? The 3.0 pushs my boat well, but one time I had four adults plus myself[the majority were porkers]and it struggled to get up on plane, aside from that it's usually my wife and I and our two dogs plus gear and it does fine. If I had that engine on a 22', I would probably put a hydrofoil on the drive which would help it get on top more easily. It's a light boat as you said, and because of this can be a little skittish at speed on light chop with strong wind, easing the throttle pretty much cures that problem. Nice deep interior on the rear deck, so you don't have any fear of someone falling out. I've had many positive comments from other boaters about the looks of the boat while dockside and the thing most liked was the low weight of the boat vs. fiberglass as almost all had much larger engines to push their heavier boats. Bottom cleaning is easy if you keep up with it, otherwise use muratic acid at the end of the year, or a product called slimey grimey which used with hot water removes all the crud on the bottom very well. My engine is carbed, don't know if the new ones went over to fuel injection yet or not. Starts easily and has a nice low idle for trolling. I had side and rear curtains made for mine, along with a hanging drop behind the convertible top with the plastic window material in it so we can get out in inclement weather. If I still have it next year, I'm going to have a cover made along the lines of a shower cap for it, loose fitting, with an elastic band to cover the gunnels and above, keeping out the spider webs and bird poop which accumulates at an unbeleiveable rate, along with fish flys in season. The islanders are quite popular on the great lakes for salmon and trout fishing, easy to add downriggers and rodholders to the tracks that come factory mounted on the boat. If you buy one, the 1st thing you want to do is recaulk your windshield bases, every one I've seen came leaky, and starcraft doesn't seem to address it, though they pay the dealer to do it as warranty work. It's not a glitzy boat, but it is comfortable and far cheaper than many, I like the aluminum hull, which was a major factor in buying it. The interior is comfortable to lie down in for two, plain but useable. We use the fishwell for a cooler, it is under passenger seat in mine and carry a cooler in the back for fish. If you have specific questions about the islander, I will try to answer them.