3.0l Mercruiser Mechanical Fuel Pump

[sneakypete]

Last year to fire up my boat I poured a little gas in the carb to get it to fire and to get the fuel lines primed and it worked like a charm. This year I was not as lucky. She sputters a bit and back fires. When I look at the fuel line going into the carb there is no gas in it. When I replaced the fuel/water sep I filled it with fresh gas. No matter how much I crank it nothing happens. When it does fire it is inconsistent and bucks like crazy and just dies, and it will only fire while im cranking it. If I give it throttle while im cranking it, it just backfires and dies. Also after it backfires I notice gas dripping in the carb. At one point I had a small fire in the carb. I had the flame arrestor off. The engine is a 2005. Any suggestions?

[sneakypete]

I had the firing order wrong......duh!