Hello all, My name's Terry and as the title indicates...I'm new to boating. Well, power boating that is. I've sailed for a number of years, but it just didn't hold my wife and daughters interest so I folded, sold the sailboat, and just bought a VERY cheap powerboat. It's a 1972 17' Trisonic I/O with a 165hp 6cyl and a mercruiser drive. I bought the boat sight-unseen off eBay and will be picking it up this weekend. I know it's generally not a good idea to do that...especially when you know very little about boats...but the guy trades in high-dollar commercial items and has a long record of satisfied customers on eBay so I feel comfortable with the decision and believe his description will turn out to be accurate. Here's the site for the auction if you're interested: [URL=http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4544112480&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6]LINK[/URL] That said, I also know that there is a lot I need to learn about power-boating that I don't know...so I thought it would be a good idea to ask for help. I'm mechanically inclined, and know my way around a car's engine compartment...but we're not talking about a car here. So here's what I'm asking for! Put yourself in my shoes. You're bringing home a old used boat that "runs great" and has a drive that's "in good condition". What do you do? What do you look for? As an example, I've already learned from reading here that you have to hook up a hose to the engine in order to start it up when you're not in the water. I knew I wanted to start it up and tune the engine and that it would need water but I had no idea how I was supposed to supply it. I'm happy to hear it's as easy as hooking up a hose. Basically I'm looking for a checklist. -Look at this (it should look like....) -Turn that (it should move easily/not at all) -Squeeze this (it should feel like...) -watch for that (it should do....) What I want to avoid is getting it in the water and then it sinks, or floats but does not run, or it runs but doesn't move, or it moves but then dies in the middle of the lake, or......etc, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Terry

I just enjoyed my first weekend with a pre-owned boat I purchased. The boat is an 18 foot Glastron, with a 140 hp Johnson outboard. Overall, I thought the first trip was successful. When I pulled the boat out of the water onto the trailer, I was a bit surprised at the amount of water that drained when I pulled the drain plug. Is it normal to have a lot water drain when this plug is pulled? Water continuously poured out of the plug opening for about 60 seconds The boat seemed to perform well during operation. There is also a switch on the driver controls to turn on a bilge pump. Should I occasionally run this pump?