The information about the fleeing boat was interesting and unknown to me.
I have read about Yousef and how he came close to causing a center fuel tank explosion on an Asian airline prior in preparation for the Bojinka plot. It was in Peter Lance's book, "Cover Up".
And I agree with you both as well. The Navy could not have kept a secret of this magnitude. I believe a bomb took down TWA800 based on the following comments.
The first comment, by George Stephanopoulous, I heard live on 9-11-01 in my office shortly after the planes hit the World Trade Centers. Close to panic, speaking quickly and off the cuff, and referring to the situation room at the White House, Stephanopoulous said:
"In my time at the White House it was used in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, in the aftermath of the TWA Flight 800 bombing, and that would be the way they would stay in contact through the afternoon."
The second set of comments were by John Kerry:
Appearing on "Larry King Live" on Sept. 11 of this year, Kerry suggested that TWA Flight 800 was brought down by a terrorist act. The second admission took place on Sept. 24 on "Hardball" with Chris Matthews. On this occasion, Kerry casually recited a number of terrorist attacks against the United States, among them TWA "Flight 800."
Souce of Kerry comments: http://prorev.com/twa800.htm