I have the same year hull as you and it also had twin 150 Mercs on when I bought it. With two people standing in the stern while fishing it would take on enough water to cover the bilge access hatch. Some of this water would seep into the bilge through the hatch. I replaced the seal around the hatch with a much larger one and that kept almost all of the water from entering the bilge. These Armstrong hatches warp some over time and I have it on my short list to replace the whole hatch with a new one. The scuppers also need to be checked as some have been known to leak between the inner liner and the transom and may need to be resealed at that point. Mine were not leaking.
My permanent solution (and also the most expensive one) was to ditch the Mercs and install a 300 4.2l Yamaha single on a 6" hydraulic jack plate. I had two batteries in the aft section of the console and added another but moved all three to under the front seat of the console. To do so I just cut out the small, worthless un-insulated cooler insert that was there.
Huge difference in the way she sits now. At one point there were three of us in one corner of the stern while offshore snapper fishing in 2 to 3's this past weekend and only had enough water come in to get my toes wet. That was the only time all day.
Another thing that helps is I now carry way less fuel. I only half fill the 150 gallon tank unless I plan on going out 50 miles and then it is only filled 3/4. My typical fishing trip is only $100 at the pump and after two or three the next one is free because I have to run some fuel out of the tank. Was always double that with the twins.
My point to all this is that it sits in the water and also handles like a completely different boat with the single. It took a little while to get used to it but I would never go back to twins unless someone came out with a 300lb 150hp.
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