Hi again,
Thanks for the responses to date.

As far as the spluttering is concerned, I don't know that it would
necessarily be a problem with the ignition system, especially given
the way the engine seemed to run fine after I refueled. The former
owner stated that he last ran the boat about a month ago, so I don't
think the fuel could have been stale. I'll run some cleaner through it
though and see how I go next time out.

As far as the steering is concerned, how can you tell if a boat has
power steering or not? I know with my father's old outboards it was
easy enough to spot the cables running to either side of the boat, but
this is a different kettle of fish for me. Looking under the console
of my boat all I can see is the steering wheel connected to a four-
sided pipe running left and right. And how can you tell if you have a
bad cable or not? With the boat sitting on the trailer, is there a way
I can run some standard checks, visual or otherwise, that should tell
me if I have problems with the steering?

Lastly, thanks to Jim for the tip about the trim tabs. I was a little
confused on their relationship to the stern drive trim. And by the
way, what the heck is the anti ventilation plate? I know what anodes
are supposed to do on a boat, but I can't place the one you're
referring to. And by the way, the boat does indeed have a tendency at
speed to want to pull to the left.

Thanks.....Tim