I find the June radio contact reported in the article, wherein the captain reported that they were not in distress and expected to make land fall the next morning in Tahiti, to be pretty damaging to their story.

Also, reports on tv news this am claim that she said that she would have used the EPRIB only if they were in immediate danger (or words to that effect). Yet on rescue, she also said that they "would have been dead within 24 hours" if they had not been rescued. What?????? dead in 24 hours is not immediate danger???