In honor of the 100th anniversary of the very first Tom Swift novels, the first 4 were rewritten to make them more accessible--and more appropriate--for today's readers. Racial slurs were replaced although the speech cadence of the only Black character was retained. Additional mechanical and science information was added and sentence structure was modernized and tightened.
In this 2nd novel, Tom Swift bid on and buys an older motorboat because he would like to race up and down Lake Carlopa in it. After making a number of adjustments and enhancements he finds his old rival, Andy Foger, has talked his father into buying the spoiled boy a bigger, faster and newer boat. But Andy isn;t Tom's only trouble.
The same group of thieves who he believed had been foiled in the first story are back, this time they are up to no good involving the theft of a large jewel. They steal Tom's boat in an attempt to hide the gem.
During all this Tom rescues a balloonist whom he befriends and who will play a great part in several further adventures.
