I believe you chris-s.
Truely amazing that you got it back.
Amazing that he could find an object that small 62 miles out.

You live by the sea, or a bay?
Because where I used to live in NYC I used to watch the same debri go in and out of the bay for months, they get trapped in the tide.
Thats how we got our first boat, a smashed up row boat that no-one wanted. We watched it go in and out for a month, until it got close enough for us to get it. Ah the good old days, Huckleberry Finn wanna-bes lol.
I forgot about the air tank, that would have kept it floating, and an empty fuel tank too.

Good luck with the engine, as salt is pretty tough.
Truely amazing.