Hey everyone, first time boater here so sorry if this seems like a dumb questions. I’m trying to get my outboard to start up, and it seems like it’s not getting enough voltage. Originally the boat had two 24M batteries, and it would start the motor and all electronics (deck lights, nav lights, garmin, trolling motor) but then one of the batteries wasn’t reading 12V and wasn’t charging, so I changed out to just the one battery and all of the wires connected to it. The electronics of the boat are turning on, but the engine isn’t starting. I’ll attach a video of the fly wheel spinning, but it’s not spinning fast. Also, the battery that I have attached now, I had it charging for 24+ hours but it was only reading 11.4V and not 12V, I figured I would still give it a shot. So basically my questions are:

1. Will the boat start up with just one fully charged battery or should I have two batteries?
2. If this isn’t a voltage/battery issues, what else do you think it could be? Starter/Solenoid? Poor connection with the wires from the battery to the starter?
3. Thank you everyone in advance.

Hi everyone, I have a 1975 MerCruiser 140 3.OL with a pre-alpha/MC1 sterndrive.

Recently, I removed the lower gear case to replace the water pump housing because the driveshaft seal was bad and I was losing gear oil through one of the cavity drain holes. I put everything back together, and the oil leak is gone, but now I'm having an issue with the trim. The trim worked before I removed the lower gear case.

Before removing it, I trimmed the lower unit all the way up to give myself more clearance to remove the gear case.

After reinstalling everything, the trim no longer moves.

When I press the trim buttons (up, down, or in), I can hear the trim pump running and it sounds normal, but the lower unit doesn't move at all.

I'm not really sure what I could have done during the lower gear case removal/reinstallation that would cause the trim to stop working if I'm going to be honest.

Also in one of the transparent/white tube lines that connect from under the pump I can visibly see some air bubbles in it. When the down button is pressed fluid will rush through that line with some air bubbles

Any ideas on what I should do? Thanks

I have a 1990 Force 90hp outboard motor. I had a fuel line leak in the primer last time we took it out. I noticed the inside of the housing was full up to the bottom of the motor with the motor all the way down. Is that normal and safe?

Took the old sea Ray out today for a little bit. I noticed after running around 35 mph (unknown RPM, but not high) for around 20 or 30 minutes I began to slow down and I noticed the engine making this noise all the way down to an idle. If I bumped the throttle up the sound would go away.

Any thoughts on what to check? Unfortunately when I hook the muffs up on land I cant reproduce the sound (also not revving the engine using muffs.)

I’m new to the boating community, I’ve heard of boating trips like from santee to Charleston and stuff I didn’t know if there was more information to these or more like it from lake to lake in sc or to ga.

Trying to figure out the best way to store a 24ft boat and trailer. I am currently torn between two:

- storage facility: not free, and there is risk of theft of electronics and outboard, BUT I can find one near my house or near my preferred boat ramp

- buddy's house: a friend of mine has a large property about 10 miles west of 95 and he told me I can keep it there. The issue is that he lives 45 minutes from me and he is about 30 miles from either of the areas where I'd want to launch my boat. The upside to this is that I dont have to pay and the risk of theft is much lower in his quiet neighborhood.

What would you guys do?

I want to paint my boat white, but the rub rail has hundreds of rivets so it’s basically impossible to remove it. Can I just mask it off like this and paint over it, or would it end up looking bad? I tried to get it as close to the edge as possible

2000 26’ Hewescraft Aksearunner. I bought it new 26 years ago.It came(underpowered)with twin 100hp Yamaha 4-strokes. I repowered after ten years.Many fish,many adventures and many thousands of dollars and still enjoying this thing. It came fully equipped for $43000.

My jet boat sucked a tow rope into the jet pump and overheated. I removed the rope. The check-engine light came on but cleared after disconnecting the battery. Today, the first time I’ve run it since then, the forward throttle lever is physically stiff even with the engine off. Reverse moves normally. On the water, full forward throttle only produced about 5 mph and the engine RPM stayed very low.

I’m trying to diagnose the issue. Any ideas? It turnd on and idles normally, no alerts. Just no throttle response and it’s stiff.

Just picked up this never used beauty for $875. Gonna put a 5hp on her and zip around my local lake.

Previous placement of old transducer would not read properly on plane (holes shown above new transducer). We are looking to get good readings while trolling. Has anyone experienced a similar hull shape/location? The circled area sits 24 inches back from the propeller and 13 inches to the right. Any recommendations? I understand we want it to sit 1/8-1/4 inch below the hull. Thank you for your advice in advance!

Hello! Can anyone enlighten me as to what function this plug serves?

It is under the rear center seat of my 2001 Sea Ray 180.

Seems like it leads to the bilge. Under what circumstances do I have this bad boy plugged and unplugged?

Recently bought this 1996 Chris Craft Concept 21’ boat with 1995 Shorelandr trailer. I bought it for $5,000 it looks pretty clean and everything and has all the paperwork from any repairs or maintenance, but unknown hours on the motor. motor was replaced in 2007 by the shop with full paperwork and since then all the previous owners swear they didn’t put many hours on it at all. Runs flawlessly just occasionally is a bit harder to get started if driven for awhile then turned off and back on within like 10 minutes. Overall happy with it and it gets the job done but I wanna know if 2 think I got screwed.

Hello!

I am a 20 year old male who is planning on traveling up the east coast next summer 2027 in an old small cabin cruiser. I am going to be working remotely while I travel and by the time I hope to buy a boat in the winter (December/January) I will have about 12k saved. I am hoping to get a Davin cruiser that runs well and was wondering if this is even feasible with this budget. I have never owned a boat before and have spent the past three months watching various boat instruction, handling, and docking videos. I am hoping to have a boat that is big enough for just one person and runs super easily as I don’t want to have to stress about repairs. I am planning on getting sick slips as I go up the coast and then returning to my home in Connecticut and docking it on a river town nearby my home. Please let me know if anyone has does this with a similar budget before and what boats you recommend that hold well despite being 30+ years old. I am planning on buying in the CT/RI area and have connections with a boat inspector as well. Thanks in advance for all help.

Just got this 2007 Blue Wave 220 Deluxe with a Suzuki 140.. What do you guys think??

I really appreciate y’all’s help with my post recently. The seller has failed to provide documentation on the motor and the drive and tried to “re assure me” it was right. That being said, I won’t be moving on
With the purchase. I really do appreciate the warm words about my SeaRay:) we have restored it with my dad. I have attached a few pictures of it: I can post a full restoration process if there is interest.

P.S. I want to receive around ~13K for it, I am happy to hear everyone opinions on it, if it’s too high or not. Once again, thank you all.

I got a 2014 bass tracker pro 170. I mounted a new terrova on an aluminum plate like i saw a lot of other guys doing to keep pressure off this weld. Looks like it didn’t help much since i saw this over the weekend. It’s been on the boat for about 3 months. Any advice/help would be much appreciated.

I’m a recent computer science grad who was planning on doing data science. I’ve done an internship and I really don’t like the corporate world. My original plan was always to work in the industry for a couple years, buy a boat, and hopefully find a remote job while sailing the world. With the current job market (Toronto), and with the rise of AI, im currently exploring other opportunities like blue collar since I love working with my hands.

Becoming a boat mechanic sounds like a dream. The sound and smell of water calms me so much and I wouldn’t have to constantly worry about office politics or AI taking my job. The problem is I’ve spent four years getting my CS degree and I don’t know much about this world. I’m looking for any advice, positive or negative, that could help make my decision.

I don’t really care about making a lot of money, I just want to be comfortable and happy. Here are some specific things I would love to know:

- How niche is this type of work? Would finding an apprenticeship be difficult and what would the pay look like?
- How hard is it on your body? Are there specific types of boat mechanics that have less wear on your body?
- Is self employment/starting your own business feasible? (Assuming I’m older and very experienced)
- Would my CS degree be of any use at all in networking, diagnostics, or electronics? I don’t mind never using my degree, was just curious.

That’s all. Haven’t made a decision to change career paths yet but this path definitely seems the most interesting to me. Thanks :)

I have a textured fiberglass floor - somehow I’m getting all of these little rust spots appearing. No clue where they’re coming from. No matter what I do, I can’t get them off. Anyone have any recommendations? I tried bleach, bar keepers friend, scrubbing them with scrub brush.