65HP Johnson Sea Horse No power to Starter not engaging

"Hi all ,
Hope someone can h

"Hi all ,
Hope someone can help.
Got my boat back a few days ago (after having been stored for a few years)and have spent some time getting the motor running etc before launching in the local lake.
Charged both batteries (boat is from the coast and has twin batteries with an isolation switch) for a day each, took out spark plugs, cleaned them up, dumped old fuel out of tanks and mixed clean fresh fuel / oil mix of 50:1.
Motor started fine several times in the backyard, impeller working fine with the rabbit ears on, spitting water out where it should. Plenty of charge in batteries. Go to the local lake with my nearest and dearest, launch the boat, start it up and so we board ready for a couple of laps to give the motor a run.
Knock the boat into gear at idle speed to clear the shoreline, when I go to open the throttle there is no increase in revs at all. With the throttle full on it just keeps idling.
I turn motor off and lo and behold cannot start it at all now. There is nothing going to the motor, starter is not spinning, let alone engaging. Anyway start the old ROW, ROW ROW your boat until a good samaritan came to our aid.
I have checked the in-line fuse which was broken (indicates a short to blow the fuse I presume) and have replaced, there is still nothing going to the starter.

I require some help as from what I can ascertain:
1: The lack of throttle may of been from oil buildup in the carbs from the layoff / storage.
2: The in-line fuse must of blown due to a short somewhere, have a new one in there now and still no go.
3: There is battery power as the nav lights are working, as is the sounder, power tilt etc, just cannot get the starter to engage, or work for that matter.

Any help would be appreciated, I have no multi-metre and am not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Thanks
Scott"

"u need a meter, or a test lig

"u need a meter, or a test light
or u could try jumping the starter with jumper cables, but gasoline and sparks are no good"

"Throttle won't advance so

"Throttle won't advance sounds to me like a broken or detached throttle cable. With hood off, move throttle back and forth & see if it moves under the hood. As for the starter, find the starter solenoid on the side of the engine. There is a large cable going to the starter, a large cable which goes to the battery, and two small wires. One of the small wires goes to ground. Take the other one, carefully, and hit it with 12volts. Enginge should turn. If not, jump the battery cable to the starter cable. Engine should turn. If not, bad connection, wire, battery, or starter."

"just a few thoughts. If the

"just a few thoughts. If the boat was in storage for a few years you might need to check the wiring. Possible that rodents chewed some wires up that worked fine at first, but if the wires moved or got wet the could have shorted out. Also, no mention of wether the fuel was stablized 2 years ago. Although fuel stabilzer probably won't last that long anyway. Possible carburators are clogged up??? need rebuild or cleaning? Once started I would try seafoam cleaning."

"I assume the new fuse blew al

"I assume the new fuse blew also? If so, you'll need the expertise to find the location of the short circuit. Did the second fuse blow?"

"Update:

Issue was / is a

"Update:

Issue was / is a faulty control box, or more to the point a faulty micro switch, thus disabling power from key on "ignition".
Control box is where the key goes into et al...

Thanks for the help guys, turns out my father has one and is sending it via the post tomorrow morning our time, with a bit of luck should be swapped out and operational by Wednesday evening.
Will let you know how I get on re the fuse (possibly the fuse was not blown and it was damaged when I released the inline fuse holder) and carby issues.

"Experience is what you get after you need it"

Thanks again
Scott"