'85 SN Starting Issue

I have a relatively new Holley Carb on the 351W engine. Have difficulty on initial start. Using ether, it starts. I'm Ok from then on. Boat had sat for multiple years with previous owner. Suggestions??

Some Carbs bleed down when parked. So the Bowls slowly drain into the engine after you shut it off.   If that is the case you are starting with no gas in your carb.   Easy to check, remove your spark arrester off the carb top after the engine has sat at least overnight, maybe for a week, whatever time frame has been causing your starting issue.
While looking into your carb open the throttle all the way and see if you have any squirt of fuel down into the engine from the accelerator pump.   If it is dry you found your problem.
If it squirts great as it should with 2 streams of fuel with each pump of the gas your problem is somewhere else. Only the forward two carb throats will have the accelerator pump jets squirting unless you are running a Double pumper carb which are normally sold for very high performance engines.
You may just be waiting for fuel to fill your bowls.   The ether gives it a quick turn over which cuts down the time to replenish your fuel.

A weak spark can also affect cold starts and ether can fire an engine cold with a weak spark sometimes. A couple more things to ponder. You will figure it out.

EDIT: Bowls now corrected.

I guess I should have attended school instead of chasing girls?   
Try checking the float Bowls if your bowels are all good.
Hey, at least Spell Check liked the spelling!

Awww, Ken.... Always good for at least a quick chuckle    Well, and occasionally he's full of a lot of other stuff too - sometimes even useful stuff (just kidding Ken. Got to get one in every now and then since the opportunity doesn't present itself too often)

Anyway, in the problem above I don't think anyone has suggested yet to thoroughly clean out your fuel tank. If it sat for many years with fuel in there merely draining and refilling it with fresh may very well not be sufficient to get out all the contaminates and sediment, etc.
I know mine wasn't cleaned well before I bought it and when I flushed mine a couple years ago .you wouldn't believe all the crud that was floating around in there   

The current starting sequence is to pump throttle 5-6 times. Then attempt to start. This has not been effective. I bought the boat from someone who had not used it for multiple years. I then put a new carburetor on. Same problem. I have not yet taken flame arrester off to visually see if gas is being squirted when I pump the throttle. I am planning to do that next. I am going to ASSUME that I am NOT going to see this. IF this is the case, what should I check next. I am thinking the anti siphon valve back to the gas tank. Agree? What else? Also, once the engine is running, it performs well including accelerating speed. Thank all for their input.

As usual Gottaski is spot on. Please re-read his post several times until it’s fully understood- it sounds like the issue is with your method and nothing else. Or at least we can’t move on until you fix that first.

NottowaySkier wrote: I know the start method-I had an '88 SN for 15 years with the same engine and carburetor. I failed to include all the details you have included. My interest is in knowing what to go after if i do NOT see gas squirting in the carb when pumping throttle. I need to verify this is the case but I'm highly suspicious and want to understand possible causes of this. Gas tank has been emptied and refilled with non-ethanol gasoline. However, I did not clean anything. Another clue is it runs fine once initial start albeit difficult.

The accelerator pump would be the obvious first thing to look at, but if it runs fine when it's running the accelerator pump is probably working otherwise you'd have a bog on takeoff or it might even stall on takeoff.

More details might be needed after you do your check

There are 'check valves' throughout the carb. One in particular is in the passage that delivers fuel to the primary-side 'squirters'.
You could remove the float "bowl" side plug, and verify if there's fuel
If so, it may be a stuck check valve.
The additives in today's fuel can break down in as little as 2 months, The gasoline is ok, the additives cause sticking and gumming of carbs, etc.

I have resolved this issue. I kind of "shot gunned" it by replacing the fuel hose all the way from gas tank to filter/water separator and from filter to the fuel pump. I replaced the anti siphon valve at the fuel tank. I changed out the filter cartridge in the filter/water separator. i removed the gas tank and drained and replaced with new non-ethanol gasoline.   And lastly, I replaced the fuel pump. After evaluating the parts that were replaced, I believe the problem was a back leaking anti siphon valve. After starting it, I did identify a very small fuel leak at the carburetor to intake manifold interface. I tightened the fastener and it was corrected. Thanks to all for your input.