You did not say but I assume this is a newly discovered issue. In other words, you have been using the boat all season with no issues and one day went to the boat and strong smell of gas and discovered the puddle in the bilge. Is that correct? Also was any maintenance or other work done recently?
Not sure what year boat but rubber fuel lines do not last forever. When you checked them for dampness, did you notice any hairline cracking of the hoses? If there is sufficient play, try bending any hose with hairline cracks to see if they are really deeper than they appear. Also check the tightness of any / all clamps. Note if they are the perforated worm gear type clamps, the perforation of the clamp can cut into the hose and cause premature hose failure, so look carefully there as well.
The evaporative nature of gas is probably what makes it hard to find wetness when feeling around on the hoses, etc. given it’s a very slow leak. Thus, one way to capture the culprit is to wrap the area with a paper towel and then also put a wrap of cling wrap (fm the kitchen) around it too. With these multiple diapers around the components (including the fuel pump) ‘sealed up’ by the cling wrap, any leaking component should have a wet diaper after some time (overnight).
If all else fails, talk to your local garage that has an emissions tester. These testers can detect unburned hydrocarbons (ie unburned gas). Idea here is with their help they can wave that wand around inside the boat and hopefully get a high reading around the source of the leak.
And to reiterate what Scott said: do not use it, heck I would be even reluctant to start it!
Good luck and please post questions and finding.
