Surveying the crowded docks of the Las Olas Municipal Marina at today’s opening of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, your eyes wander over a sea of gleaming-white megayachts, each more expensive and tricked out than the one next to it.

But then your gaze falls on the weird-looking, gun-metal-gray contraption docked in Slip 226, and you utter an involuntary expletive. It’s the 78-foot Earthrace boat — a cross between Jules Verne and Star Trek. As one observer put it, “It looks like something the Romulans would travel in.”

Owner/skipper Pete Bethune, 41, loves the stares and attention. For $5, Bethune, a former oil exploration engineer-turned-adventurer from New Zealand, will invite you in for a tour.

”You look around — all the boats are all alike,” Bethune said. "You see this boat and it’s by far the coolest-looking boat at the boat show.”

Its science-fiction looks aren’t the only facet of Earthrace’s uniqueness. It likely is one of the few at the show capable of circumnavigating the globe using biodiesel — fuel made from trans fats, animal fats and vegetable oil — to propel its twin 540-horsepower Cummins MerCruiser engines. Better Biodiesel of Spanish Fork, Utah, recently signed on as the fuel sponsor. Biodiesel advocate Willie Nelson is supposed to write a song.

Earthrace is appearing here as part of an international promotional tour to drum up financial support for a planned attempt in March to break the eight-year-old speed record for racing around the world in a powerboat. That record is held by the British boat Cable & Wireless Adventurer, which covered 26,000 miles in 74 days, 20 hours, 58 minutes in 1998. Bethune believes he can beat that by up to 15 days using only biodiesel fuel.

But he and his crew are running low on funds, so they’re charging $5 for boat tours. For another $15,000, you can sign on as a crewmember for one leg of the around-the-world race.

It’s an adventure that definitely would require extensive mulling over. For despite Earthrace’s futuristic appearance, it is neither comfy nor posh inside like the rest of its Las Olas dockmates.

The boat was designed and built for speed and endurance, made of carbon/Kevlar composite materials by Calibre Boats of Auckland, New Zealand. Its narrow tri-hull is meant to pierce waves — punch right through them instead of ride on top, with twin sponsons providing lift and stability. The horns on top are to ventilate the engine bay. Earthrace can do 40 knots, but its 3,000-nautical-mile range can be extended by cruising slower.

”We refueled once between Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale,” Bethune said.

The interior resembles the spartan cockpit of an aged military carrier plane — two seats; few windows; a forward bunk room with Navy-like racks that can sleep six in a pinch; portable toilet; sink; microwave oven; no shower; fans — no air conditioning.

Oh, and if the boat starts sinking, the only way out is to knock a hole in the bow with an ax.

”You couldn’t get out the hatches in the stern because they’d be under water,” Bethune said nonchalantly. "It’s a lot more on your own.”

Fortunately, the boat holds two six-person life rafts.

On the way from Costa Rica to Fort Lauderdale last week, Bethune and his crew of three thought they might have to use the life rafts.

Trolling a couple of fishing lures along a reef about 150 nautical miles east of Nicaragua on Friday, the crew noticed a rusting boat drop a skiff in the water a short distance away. At first, they didn’t pay much attention to the small boat heading directly for Earthrace — until it began shooting at them.

”We heard a pffft. Everyone is hiding behind the thick spars in the deck,” Bethune said. "`Then we heard three shots in a row, so I stopped.”

A half-dozen men armed with M-16s came aboard, introduced themselves as the Colombian Navy and spent about 20 minutes searching Earthrace for what Bethune suspected were drugs and guns, he said. Finding none, they left.

”It was very scary,” Bethune said.

He is still inspecting the hull for bullet holes. A member of his crew who is a documentary filmmaker is expected to post video of the Colombian encounter on the boat’s website, Earthrace.net.

You can hear these tales and more if you stop by Earthrace today through Monday. For a few more dollars, you can buy a T-shirt or a hat.