Robert,
Somewhere, I've seen/read about making static display stands! (It had to have been in the last two or three months, my memory isn't much longer than that anymore.) Unfortunately, I can't remember where, typical. I do remember that the builder used either a 'putty' of maybe plaster, rolled a large ball across it to make the wave troughs, then did some creative painting to make the spume/foam and various shades of water. Laid out a cross section of the hull on the stand bed, cut out to the appropriate depth/shape for the models hull, then used more 'putty'/plaster to simulate the 'mustache' around the bow and the wake. The artical didn't say what he used to keep the stuff from sticking to the hull, maybe a mold release agent (Saran Wrap)??

Your idea about the 'clear' water to see the hull is 'neat'! Why not a resin with some kind of coloring agent? LOTS of release agent on the hull and just plop the boat down in the stuff till it sets. To simulate the waves, add additional layers when the 'base' is solid, different dye in the new layers for foam, etc.? Embed a few fish, weeds? Maybe sand/dirt/rocks for the sea bed? (This is getting a bit out of hand, isn't it ? LOL)
Have fun, and I'll take two when you figure out how to do it...
- 'Doc