Turns out it was the batteries (whew!). Guess I should have checked
the voltage before putting them in since 1 batt was at 4V and the
other at 9V. I remember replacing these from a battery store @ a
pretty good price. Guess you get what you pay for. Picked up a
couple heavy duty sealed ones and everything ran great for a perfect
night on the Niagara River.

Thanks for the advice everyone... have a great summer!
Jason