Engine’s not getting fuel.

Had the boat out for 3 days this weekend and it ran great until Sunday when it just stopped running. I'd just filled it up 30 min. before hand so I had plenty of gas. We pulled the hose off of the fuel filter and let it dump into a water bottle that we'd cut the top out of. There were some black specs in it but it didn't seem that there were enough to clog a filter although inside it may have been another story. The line out of my pump is pliable. The main fuel line going into the pump looks to be about 7/8" OD and has fairly thick walls. It is not pliable. It's pretty hard. Is this normal? Do the thick walls make it hard or is it time to replace this line? Do the black specs mean the line is breaking down? I'm trying to figure it out before Friday. Any help would REALLY be appreciated. Thanks.

I pulled the inlet hose. The pump is electric. If I flush the filter through a cloth, how much is too much (or is any too much)? Is the line supposed to be that rigid?

Tate,
If you take the fuel line and bend it does it crack? If so, replace it even if it's not your current problem. Pretty inexpensive from skidim.

I have the exact symptoms that Atmspltr described on my 82. I took off the bulb to the water seperator and it was full of water that smelled like gas. My thought is that I probably got water in my gas tank some how. I am thinking tonight that I am going to try to drain the gas.
Is there anything else that I should do other than just put fresh gas in it after I drain all of the old out and check the screen on the fuel pump?

I'd remove the hose from the "out" side of the fuel pump or from the carb and crank the engine a few times to see how much fuel comes out (catch the fuel in something).
If there's flow, I'd suspect the gas you put in 30 min earlier. Maybe it had water in it? Maybe it was Diesel Fuel

duffnit wrote: All of above. Does your boat have the screen filter at the carb? I'd check that also. FWIW, on our older family boat we had a similar problem with the boat running and then shutting off. You didn't mention if it cranked up again or not. If after some elasped time it started back up and ran, I'd say you have the same problem we did. Replacing the fuel line solved the problem. Apparently after running at a constant speed the line would collapse and shut off the flow. After the boat sat a while it would crank and go. The warmer it was, the more frequent it would happen. As jimbo mentioned bad gas could definitely cause the problem as well. Just my .02

Maybe that's what is wrong with my boat! I have been chasing this problem for two years. It will run fine at a constant speed for about 30-45 minutes and then it will sputter and die. After cooling off for a few minutes, then it will crank up and go for about 5 minutes and repeat for the rest of the day every 5 minutes.