Thanks to everyone for suggestions so far. Stay tuned tomorrow or over the
weekend.

I think part of the overall problem is that I've been stuck in an apartment
for the past couple of years, and the boat's stored 2 miles away. This
arrangement doesn't lend itself to my normal way of learning to fix things I
don't understand well. Get out the manual, take a sandwich to the garage,
read, poke the motor, talk to myself, go to the library, come home, make
another sandwich, curse at the motor. Eventually, things get fixed, or at
least maintained better than when I have to bring the boat back to the
apartment, listen to the friggin landlord complain because we're not
supposed to park boats or camping trailers here blah blah blah....

Two weeks - moving back into a real house again. Job #1: Putter with the
motor, and clean & wax the bejeezus out of that boat in an environment
that's proper for a civilized fisherman.