Three Mexican fishermen who said they spent the past nine months adrift at sea and survived on raw fish and dead birds feasted on home cooking in Honolulu yesterday, acknowledging that skeptics have questioned the validity of their tale.

The survival story of Lucio Rendon, 27, Jesus Vidana, 27, and Salvador Ordonez, 37, at first made them heroes in their native Mexico. But since they were picked up by an Asian fishing vessel 5,500 miles from Mexico on Aug. 15, they've faced suggestions that they might be killers, cannibals, drug dealers or all three, according to The Washington Post.

The men have said they left their hometown of San Blas on Oct. 28 with two other men to fish for sharks. But they said they encountered mechanical problems, and then strong winds swept their 27-foot vessel further out to sea.

They say they spent the next nine months adrift in the Pacific Ocean, but quickly ran out of food and water and survived on fish, seabirds and rainwater.

During that time, two of the crewmembers died and their bodies were tossed overboard, the men told reporters.

Then on Aug. 15, their disabled boat was spotted by another fishing vessel near the Marshall Islands. The rescuers said the three survivors were sunburned and thin but otherwise in remarkable shape.

Once on dry land, they willingly talked with reporters and shared their story. But the more they spoke of their struggles to survive, the more questions were raised by the Mexican and American media.

They hadn't mentioned anything about other crew members in their first interviews. Then they revealed that the two — the boat's owner, identified only as Senor Juan, and another man — had starved to death.

Mexican radio and television have been filled with theories that the men killed their colleagues and ate their flesh. And the men were asked in a TV interview about rumors that they were shipping cocaine.

"No. That isn't true," Vidana told Mexico's Televisa network.

Other reports quoted family members who said the men were gone for just three months, not nine.

And in another bizarre aspect of the story, a Mexican official told The Associated Press that Ordonez completed a survival course a year ago that recommended drinking the blood of sea animals to stay alive if trapped at sea.

National Merchant Marine Capt. Francisco Ramirez said he teaches a two-day course "Survival of Human Life at Sea" in San Blas and, according to his records, Ordonez was a student.

According to The AP, Ordonez was the only one on his boat who has said he drank animals' blood during the ordeal. "I drank it as if it was a soft drink," Ordonez was quoted as telling the Mexican newspaper El Universal. "At first my stomach hurt, but the next day I felt better and spent the day fishing in the sun."

The Mexican government said it will conduct a complete investigation into the deaths and the fishermen's account of what happened.

The men are scheduled to leave Honolulu today for Los Angeles and then head back home to Mexico. Although they face the scrutiny of a nation when they return, they appeared relaxed and healthy as they enjoyed a late lunch buffet yesterday at the Carnaval Las Palmas Mexican restaurant in Restaurant Row.

Vidana, Rendon and Ordonez were guests of the Mexican consulate in Hawai'i and dined with several members of the local Mexican community. Many brought gifts for the men.

The three also met briefly with the media, but refused to speak.

Instead, Luis Enrique Franco, head of the Mexican Embassy in New Zealand, spoke on their behalf. Franco accompanied the men to Hawai'i and will escort them home.

Franco would not allow the men to say anything, saying that they were tired of repeating their story. Franco said the men were aware that there are people who do not believe their odyssey but said the three know it to be true.

"It's normal not to believe what the story says," he said through an interpreter. He did not elaborate.

Franco said the men told him that the most difficult part of their experience was watching the two others die. He said the two "just gave up."

"Something that was really hard for them was to see how two of their partners were dying little by little."

But Franco said the survivors prayed and never gave up.

"Their faith and their values, that's what helped them to keep going."

Their prayers were answered when another fishing vessel spotted their disabled boat. He said the three were asleep at the time.

"The boat that rescued them was pretty noisy, and at the time that it was close to them, one of them woke up and he tried to let the other two know that there was a boat there," he said. "And they were like, 'Let us sleep. Leave us alone. It's not true.' "

Despite the intense questioning that they expect when they return to Mexico, Franco said, the men are eager to go home. He said Vidana has a 5-month-old daughter that he has yet to see.

"One of the most important (things that they plan to do is) to hug their families, their relatives. Just to be there."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.