I always travel with my kicker attached.
I put the the motor in the down position and in reverse so it won't bounce up.
I also strap the kicker leg to the transom to help with bouncing.
I'd check it against another tach.
There might be a selector switch on the back for different pole settings.
Try clicking it slowly through all the positions a few times.
Sometimes that gets them working properly.
I'd have no trouble running it. Just make sure you drain the block and
manifold afterwards.
You can run a water hose directly to the motor.
You should be able to see a hose running from the transom over the intake manifold to the thermostat housing area.
The hose is the size of a heater hose on...
I'm not familiar with that model but that's a lot of boat for a 3.0 and I'm a fan of that motor.
It might not be enough motor depending on what you want to do with it.
Maybe try a different oil.
I know when I switched to synthetic the apparent smoke at startup was less.
Could also try putting eau de bacon in the oil. Then no one would complain.
I haven't checked Vessel View but I know other devices such as GPS/Fishfinders as well as ECU's on cars the voltage shown is often .5 volts lower than my multimeter'.
With proper maintenance you will be fine.
Will need a good quality automatic bilge pump.
I'd have 2 auto bilge pumps set for slightly different levels and 2 batteries on separate circuits.
