wrote
I try to start it today, and all I hear is tick,tick,tick...

When my boat had the tick, tick, tick, it turned out to be corroded contacts
in the starter solenoid. Mine's an I/O, but your outboard probably has some
sort of equivalent part in its starting system. (The solenoid is a
electromagnetically operated switch that closes some big contacts to apply
power to the starter motor when you close the little contacts in your
starting switch.)