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i would check your tank before u put anymore money into it. i found water in my tank last year and went through the same things you did. i thought there was condinsation and water from the ehanol at first, so i had the tank pumped. i then put about a 1/4 tank of fresh fuel in and the boat ran great. then i lerft the plug in the rear sump during a crazy rain storm and found my tank had filled up from the rain water, so i knew there was a hole somewhere. i found a hole underneath theconsole along with hundreds of tiny little pinholes. i would just make sure your not taking in any water into your tank before you do anything else.
One of the first thigs i asked was, how much water was in there.
They told me out of 17 gallons, less than a half pint was water. They also told me that there no oder of fuel in the bilge at all, no fuel residue either. So i'm fairly confident that my tank is solid.
Also, i don't run plugs in y drain holes. I keep them open. Infact, i don't even have a bilge pump either. Not sure if this is good or not, but i've read here, and my marina is a factory authorized BW dealer (actually i beleive they are the oldest BW dealer in the Country) they tell me that the right way to store and run this boat is to not use plugs. Ihave been thinking though of putting plugs in it and installing a bilge pump though.
What a great link!!!! I was mining for info on a 1989 Mercury and found out what the gunk was in my Snow blowers fuel separator, go figure!! In a previous life I ran across more than one diesel tank that was left dormant and anything but full. There was all manner and form of wild life living in the layer that formed between the fuel and the water. So there I was, 25 years younger and a whole lot smarter than I am now in a repo’ed boat that I knew next to nothing about. It was dark at 0100 when some genius decided to run OUTSIDE AT NIGHT (hit the coast at Mayport, bang a left, next stop Charleston, no problem) with an untested VERY green crew, old broken down boat and a rig that gave the USCG fits (NOTE: I was asleep when the decision was made)… So, all was well until USNY (US Navy sailing Yacht) Gannet, making her offing, calm winds, about ten miles off, when the evil diesel bugs made their presence known. The only way that the engine would continue run was if you bled the injectors and reprimed the fuel system about every ten minutes. The best decision made was to beat feet for shore because it was airing up from the S’west.. It got even better when the primer quit when we were halfway up the channel into Fernandina Beach with shrimp fleet out bound and no place to go...
I have no clue wheather you can get bugs in gas and don’t really want to find out.. I have proven however that if a gas tank is not full you will eventually end up making water. With all the crazy stuff happening today who knows what kind of drunk super bugs are around now that might take a liking to an E-10 Martini. Phil T’s great link has word on it that points out that on the good bad scale, E-10 and water max out on the bad side. MFG recommendations are dry tanks (good luck with that) or full but not overflowing, the same advice my Old Man gave me 40 years ago (funny how long it took to follow it)... I have a feeling it will be an interesting commissioning season this year and we are all gonna learn some more..
!! In a previous life I ran across more than one diesel tank that was left dormant and anything but full. There was all manner and form of wild life living in the layer that formed between the fuel and the water. So there I was, 25 years younger and a whole lot smarter than I am now in a repo’ed boat that I knew next to nothing about. It was dark at 0100 when some genius decided to run OUTSIDE AT NIGHT (hit the coast at Mayport, bang a left, next stop Charleston, no problem) with an untested VERY green crew, old broken down boat and a rig that gave the USCG fits (NOTE: I was asleep when the decision was made
)… So, all was well until USNY (US Navy sailing Yacht) Gannet, making her offing, calm winds, about ten miles off, when the evil diesel bugs made their presence known. The only way that the engine would continue run was if you bled the injectors and reprimed the fuel system about every ten minutes. The best decision made was to beat feet for shore because it was airing up from the S’west.. It got even better when the primer quit when we were halfway up the channel into Fernandina Beach with shrimp fleet out bound and no place to go... 
