Boat wouldn't shut off

[wakeborder5]

Last night when I was being pulled the boat apparently started acting up, with the taps and other electronics not working, so we headed in.

When I went to turned off the boat, the key did nothing, and when I hit the stereo switch to turn it off, it stayed on even though the switch was off.

Next, I went to the perko switch in the back and turned it to off, not expecting it to fix the problem, which it didn't. Then after checking the switches, I noticed one was still on, turned it off and then tried the key again and this time the boat turned off.

Also, now when i turn the switch to either battery or both, there is a noise coming from the dash and none of the electronics work nor will the boat turn on.

I had been given a replacement battery because I had one that had something wrong with it, and if it was not the same kind of battery as the one I had, could it have caused this?

Also, my batteries were a little low before this, this couldn't have caused it could it?

Now my hypotheses aside, do any of you have any idea of what it may have been...a fuse, circuit breaker, etc?

[chpthril]

Sounds like a short in the alternator back-feeding 12V to the system even though the Key is off.

[dogbert]

That was going to be my guess. Did you reconnect the wires correctly? Also, it's possible that one of your batteries had a short in it. That will wreak havoc on your electrical system.