Another thing I didn't mention, these OBs have to drink at least 10gals/hr. Where would they carry enough fuel to make fishing trips an economically viable proposition.
Even if the report of 9 meters is correct. That's a 30 footer. Slower than a 24, but not exactly a scow either.
Then we get into the time element, nine months of exposure in the open ocean. If a 24, the best they would have is a Bimini top. How long would that last? The wave action alone would rip out the fasteners in the first month. If a 30' even with a cabin, wave action alone for a couple of months would have stuff breaking all over the place.
This just doesn't ring true to me Joe.
It's all cool. I'm just releating what I've seen in my travels delivering yachts and fishing the coasts from Washington to Panama. I know that Mexican fishermen are a simple people, in a simple world, and the simplest explanation in their case is probably what happened. Mexicans will hang whatever they can get their hands on on the end of a skiff, and perhaps they only used one engine at a time, so when one goes belly up they have another. We're both speculating here, so I guess we'll have to wait for the rest of the story. :)