Re: Boat owner/operation information.
My first recomendation would be to look into a new boater/safety course, this will cover just about everything you wont to know, plus it will introduce you to other boaters in your area.
http://nws.cgaux.org/index.html
I assume you are trailering your boat so there is some (not so common) etiquette involved. First when you get to your launch location don't go straight for the ramp, find an out of the way place to get your boat ready for the water. Disconnect the trailer lights, remove the stern straps, install the bilge plug, remove trailering clips from the drive(if you don't have these, you should get a set, they take the stress off of the hydraulics while trailering, which could save your lower unit from dragging on the highway). Load all of your gear into the boat(cooler, towels, dogs, kids etc...) Turn on the bilge blower and head for the ramp. If you are alone and need assistance launching, ASK, most people would rather give you five minutes than wait while you do it all by yourself.
In the water underway:
you should run the blower to clear any gas fumes from the bilge before starting the engine, also whenever you are running at idle speed, it is probably not needed at higher speeds(depends on the effectiveness of your vents)
Drive trim is very important to safe and economical operation of your boat. When running, the propellor seeks an attitude that is parallel to the surface of the water, so by adjusting the trim(the angle of the drive in relation to the boat) you change the running angle of the boat and the height of the bow. When first starting out you want the drive trimmed all the way down, this helps to lift the stern and get the boat on plane faster. Once up and runnig though, this is very inefficient as the entire running surface is in the water, and on some boat it cane be dangerous, as in a turn, the bow can dig and cause the stern to swing around quickly. So now you want to slowly "trim up" a little at a time until the boat starts to porpous(the bow starts bouncing up and down) then trim down to stop this, this will be close enough to your most efficient running angle.
When crossing wake, trim down slightly to let the bow cut through and cross at about a 45degree angle, for larger wake you will also want to reduce throttle some(or alot) This will all eventually become second nature.
Running lights are required from 30 minutes before sunset until 30 minutes after sunrise. Test them before you leave the house, and carry spare bulbs.
There are a million other things that could be added here but I still think the best option is a boater education course(besides it may give you an insurrance discount)
One last thing, if you plan on doing any of your own troubleshooting, maintenance and repairs check out the I/O forum on this site, there are some very knowledgable people over there, and they will save you a ton of money.
