Does the live wire from the ignition key go to the bat terminal and a live wire from the starter go to the tach terminal on a hei distributor for 350 Chevy in a boat with non standard wiring?

You do need a switched live to the bat terminal, but not to the tach terminal. The tach terminal is the negative side of the coil, the bat terminal is the positive side of the coil. Normally the tach terminal is for the green wire from the tach.