Flat bottom boat keels

Thank you so much for the information on Water Wagon. I have been looking at the pictures in the National Geographic also. I have the plans in the Mechanics' Illustrated also. My thoughts now are to follow his plans. But do a lot of "Ginger Bread" decorating to give it a shanty boat look. I have a picture in my head but don't know how to put it into words. The best way to say it may be, I want it to look like it could have been a prop on the Jungle Cruse at Disney World. An example would be I want steer the boat up front the way he planed it. But I wouldn't use a beach folding chair and a horizontal steering wheel like he did. I would do something like mounting a wooden captains chair to the deck raised up so I could see will. Have all modern steering cables and engine controls but have an oversize old wooden ships wheel at the helm. Maybe make the helm into an old crate or barrel. I will have to make some drawings and see what looks best. I won't be able to start building anything until we leave Arizona in 6 to 9 months. My wife is receiving medical treatment here. But I will need that much time just to finalize drawings and plans. So in conclusion I want all the benefits of living in Rube Allen's box shaped boat. But plan to decorate it so no one will notice that. Instead they will wonder if it is an old moonshiner's or wrecker's boat that has floated out of the everglades in a time warp.