Carburetor question...

Forgive the stupid question, but I am not to well versed on carbs.

My boat was idling a little rough yesterday, and the exhaust smelled a little rich. I popped off the air filter and looked at the carb. I had gas dripping into the secondary (large back set) of valves, even though they were not open. When I cocked the secondary valves open just a touch (I turned the control arm on the outside less than a centimeter), the feul made it into the intake and my rpms went up to about 2000.

Should there be gas flowing into the back two barrels during idle, and if not, what would cause it to happen?

thanks in advance....

No, there shouldn't be gas dripping into the secondaries. Most likely, you have a small chunk of sediment that isn't allowing the needle valve to seat correctly. While the boat is idling, tap on the top of the secondary float bowl with a screwdriver handle. That should knock the piece free.

It's also possible that you hit a big wave and bent the float arm thus requiring a re-adjustment of the float level, but I think Jamie hit it right on the head... float issue, shouldn't be dripping, ever.