6.2 Bravo 3 Shifting and Overheating Problems

I am new to this forum so first a little background: I am the original owner of a 2008 Formula 280SS we keep at our house on a lift on the Potomac River. It has twin 6.2 320HP MPI Bravo Three power with 105 hours and no mechanical issues to date. I noticed last year that shifting was becoming difficult. Today, I took the boat our for a brief ride to ensure everything is working after 8 months of sitting on the lift. Both engines started up easily and I putted about until they warmed up and leveled off at 165 degrees. I cruised for about 5 minutes but kept the engines at 3500 RPM or below. Pulling back into the lift, the gear levers would not go back into neutral so I shut the engines down and noticed smoke pouring out of the shift console and every compartment connected to the bilge. I thought I had an engine fire so got an extinguisher and opened the hatch to find massive smoke pouring out but no flames. It took about five minutes for the smoke to clear before I could see that the smoke was coming from the rubber exhaust joints on both engines. I switched on the keys to see that both temperature gauges were pegged at 220. I flushed the engines with cold water using the factory flush ports but that did not seem to help cool them down any quicker. Drive are stuck in forward so I can't restart the engines to try and determine the cause or whether they have been damaged. Any insight into what I should do next is appreciated. I know I am going have to call a mechanic but I want to be better educated about what to expect so I can make the right choices in getting things right again, thanks.

What has happened is that the shift cables inside the boat where they pass close to the exaust Y pipe have melted and fused solid. Very common with engine overheats. Depending on your situation you need to verify your impeller can still pump water. look under the dash or control box for 2 yellow/red stripe wires. these are the neutral safety switch wires, melt off or strip off some insulation and twist together, lower the boat back in, try starting motor in gear, and check engine temp. If normal you can motor to the ramp.
If throttle position is affected ,disconnect shift cable from inside the boat at the shift bracket instead of twisting the neutral safety wires together.

Bt Doctur said:

What has happened is that the shift cables inside the boat where they pass close to the exaust Y pipe have melted and fused solid. Very common with engine overheats. Depending on your situation you need to verify your impeller can still pump water. look under the dash or control box for 2 yellow/red stripe wires. these are the neutral safety switch wires, melt off or strip off some insulation and twist together, lower the boat back in, try starting motor in gear, and check engine temp. If normal you can motor to the ramp.
If throttle position is affected ,disconnect shift cable from inside the boat at the shift bracket instead of twisting the neutral safety wires together.

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One shift cable is definitely kinked but I can't see by the manifold well enough to see if cables melted but I will bet they are because the exhaust manifold rubber boots are all brittle. Those will have to be replaced; it looks like I can handle that. It doesn't look as if replacing the lower shift cable is easy because of the lack of access

Try my cell , check your messages.