Bought a boat that hasn't been started in 3 years. What should I do?

It's an Evinrude 115 1985 Phantom Bass boat. The old fella I took this off hadn't started it in three years, but when he shut it down, it ran fine. Now, there is no compression in the number 1 cylinder, the gas gauge reads pretty low, and the oil is super old. I took it down to the dock and dipped it in the water to see what it would do. Got it started but it started smoking pretty bad so I shut it down after about 15 seconds. After that, I tried starting it again but it wouldn't ignite.

Also the trolling motor does not appear to be working, nor the fresh tank aerator. And the transom is a little loose.

What are some things I need to do before I try starting this thing again? Could the loss of compression just be caused from sitting for so long? Or do you think I should just sell this thing for $800 and go buy a kayak?

FYI this is my first boat and I know absolutely nothing about boat motors... Small block Fords, yes... boats, no.

Re: Bought a boat that hasn't been started in 3 years. What should I do?

I bought a 94 javelin with a 115 evinrude, had some running issues. You mention quit a few so in no particular order here goes. find out what's up with the transom, is it rotten, may need to concentrate time, energy on this. the motor could be fixed but if there is nothing to mount it on because of a rotten transom, would be bad to have a motor sitting on the bottom of the lake. change all the fluids, get gas tank, oil tank, hoses, etc. Mine has two cards on it, I bought both kits here on iboats, at the shop the are 35 bucks a piece, here they were 16, pretty easy to rebuild, getting them off was a pain, but easy enough. wouldn't hurt to start there. Check plugs, all else fails check with a mechanic. There are tons of youtube videos as well that can guide you along with people on here.

Re: Bought a boat that hasn't been started in 3 years. What should I do?

There's some good info about what you're doing in the top secret files at the beginning of this forum.

Re: Bought a boat that hasn't been started in 3 years. What should I do?

hmmm....zero compression on 1 cyl, loose/rotten transom? if that info is correct......unless you have deep pockets and lots of spare time, the kayak option may be the better of the two!!