Newbie 1999 Maxum 1800 SR 3.0l Alpha I Gen II questions

[bbush44]

Hello all,
My name is Brian and a newbie boat owner from Nebraska. I recently purchased a 1999 Maxum 1800 SR, with the 3.0L Mercruiser, Alpha I Gen II. The previous owner used the boat for three seasons, and recently upgraded to a bigger boat. While looking at the boat, I got to test drive it on the water and everything seemed great, and the owner was upfront with any repairs/maintenance he had done since owning the boat. We bought the boat and took a 3 day weekend to get out on the water and get our sea legs.
The first and second day we spent about 4-5 hours on the water, mostly cruising along, and stopping in different spots to throw out the anchor and swim. The last day was the same as the first two, besides the water started to get rough and we decided to head to the dock and come home. I was heading to the dock at about 15mph, and the motor stalled. I started it back up and it ran for a few minutes before stalling again. Now when I went to turn the key, it would click and crank the wheel all the way to one side. I brought prop out of the water to make sure nothing had wrapped around it, and then lowered it back in the water. I tried the key again, with the same result. We ended up getting towed back to the dock, and after I got it on the trailer, I tried the key again, with the same result.
I pulled the boat back to my parents, and checked the lower unit oil. The oil was about two inches down from the vent hole. I then pulled the drain plug, and noticed a lot of metal shards on the magnet. I called the only boat place in town, and they said it could have sheared a gear off in the top unit? Or the bottom unit went out? They wouldn't be sure until they looked at it. Understandable, but the first time they have available is 3 weeks away. I found this forum while searching for possible answers to my problems, and thought this would be a good place to start.
Thanks in advance,
Brian