Is a boat with an outdrive motor easier to work on than an outboard?

I'm looking at a boat, and the straight 6 engine looks like a car engine. Carburetor on top, a distributor cap, spark plugs, wires. Would tuning up and repairing this boat be like working on a car? I'm a beginner with boating but I have worked on cars a lot and can do pretty much anything short of rebuilding an engine. If I can get this boat to start up would it be like the old car I always used to keep running?