Hey! I'm 57 and one of the fun things is running at a sea with a bit of breeze, pulling about 35 knots with the nose trimmed ever-so-slightly up. Boat starts popping up out of the water and the trimmed up drive pulls the stern down slightly ahead of the bow, so instead of slamming as the boat re-enters the water, it sort of 'squishs'... Lands very softly... As the engine was still in the water I'm still pulling my 35 knots, but every now and then, a slightly bigger wave, and we catch air... Engine bottoms out on the rev-limiter, hull does it's squishy thing again and we're all good.
You're never too old to enjoy WOT!
Chris..........
BTW, your igntion problem. If you buy a new module and for S & G, also get a new sensor, you will have replaced the either system electricals. As long as the distributor shaft doesn't have any wear in it (and it shouldn't as boat engines see very little use in comparision to the automotive brethren)... You'll have a virtually brand new system, and one that licks the pants off Delcos and Mallorys...
1,000 hours in a boat at an average of 3,500rpm is about 15 years worth (average use). Cars average about 2,000rpm, so that's the equivalent of 1,750hours, and the average speed of a car over its life is only about 40mph (at best)... 40mph for 1,750 hours is 70,000miles. About 6 years of a car's life. Do the math and you'll see that most boat engines die from external causes (freezing, rusting out, water ingress), few, very few ever wear out.
