A word of caution, and maybe advice.
Sounds like the boat has been sitting for a while. Before loading up and heading to the lake for a fun day, it would be advisable to do the annual maintenance recommended for that drive and motor. Doing the maintenance would give you a much better chance of having a fun day instead of a bad day.
Maintenance on a sterndrive should include removing the outdrive - a 10 minute job to remove. Draining and inspecting the oil that comes out of the sterndrive. Inspecting the condition of the rubber boots from the inside where you can see if any cracks are present and water was present the last time it was run. Greasing the u-joints and inspecting them for operability. Inspecting the gimbal bearing and in some, greasing it. Gimbal bearings should be smooth as silk. Check engine alignment and reinstall and refill outdrive. Attach water muffs and check that everything operates properly.
That's the minimum annual servicing. There is pretty much no one on these forums who doesn't do that maintenance on their sterndrives. Yeah, one can throw the dice and skip this one year and usually get away with it if everything was perfect and maintenance was done well last year. But a parked boat is asking for trouble on the water and can turn a fun day into a dangerous nightmare. Too easy to have something stop working at just the wrong moment. And you can't just pull over to the side and call a tow truck.
My 2¢.
Rick
