Thanks for the replys. i had figured on a keel cooler since I'm not relying on the boat to do any serious planing. And, even if it did, the time spent cruising at hull speed would far exceed planing time anyway. No problem there.

My big interest is getting into a safer situation-fuel wise. i plan to have several of my sons using the boat . No one will be using the boat enough to make some of the procedures second nature enough to risk the gasoline security issue. None of them are incompetant but gasoline problems leave little room for error.

Secondly, economy. I don't need the power--350HP-- to get me where I think we're going and in the way that I envision. These hulls were designed at a time when the seakeeping ability of the round bilge was in competition with the assumed market appeal for power and speed that a planing hullform may have provided. The resulting compromise in an attempt to achieve both goals resulted in overpowered fuel guzzling things that did not really get up on top and go. The hull-speed cruising-in-comfort suffered from having larger displacement engines running at less than optimum efficiency. in 1960 that might not have been as much of a drain on a rich guy's wallet as it is for my thread-bare one. These strong 318's would be a good reliable power source for the right aplication--maybe my 25 footer with a hard chined planing bottom.

Oh, well, just dreaming perhaps, but, that is how all things get started.