Starting and idling issue Merc 40 outboard

Question. Some times my boat if it sits for an hour or more has trouble starting. It will turn and turn but won’t actually start. After a couple minutes it finally does start but idles high. When I drive, it runs fine but does smoke a little and smells of gas. I was going to replace the starter but that doesn’t solve the other issues. So I’m wondering if there’s a different solution that covers everything?