1996 NS8B Issues

I have used this outboard since new and up until last year it has been flawless. Last year it started stalling under load so I had the carburator professionally rebuilt and that seemed to take care of the problem. This season it started right up and has worked great until last weekend. I used it on Saturday with no problems but on Sunday it started right up but than about 30 feet from the dock it suddenly died and I could not get it restarted. After two days I tried again and the engine started and ran fine. I did notice raw gas coming from the propeller hub but I assumed it was from cranking the engine so much on Sunday.

When it died it did not sputter at all - just suddenly died. Could this be the ignition starting to go bad?

Could be almost anything. You need to diagnose rather than guess. Grab your copy of the Factory service manual, and go through the 2 main systems, fuel and ignition, first.