Well, finally got to pulling the carb on the motor today. When all said and done, for a twenty plus old motor the carb looked great when we pulled it apart today. the needles looked good, and there was no dirt/buildup anywhere in there. Still sprayed everything down with carb cleaner and put the steel wool to the needle. Bottom line, I don't think its any type of carb issue.
My buddy did notice when removing the fuel pump screws that they were very loose. Its possible that it was sucking air from there...but not sure why it would collapse the bulb if in fact that was the issue???
On a sour note, when we took the carb off we looked into the intake manifold (I'm assuming thats what its called) and noticed some rusty buildup on the bottom left side. We unbolted that and tried to clean up the piece of metal that was rusted. we got a bunch off but it still looks pitted in certain areas. however, we were able to install the piece back 'upside down' so the pitted side was not facing the carb side. I'm assuming this occured when the guy i bought the boat/motor from had it sitting in his back yard for years on end.
did not get a chance to get the boat back into the water to see if anything we did was a correction to the problem. we were able to place back in a big barrel and start her up and she actually sounded a little quieter...i dunno dumb luck or wishful hearing i'm guessing.
also...i took a bunch of pics of my buddy and i pulling the carb (and the starter..found a bad relay on there...but thats another topic!!) so if anyone needs pics of a 90/91 mercury two stroke carb removal and dissassembly i have them...realize not many or any people at all are going saltwater with a 9.9 but i do have it.
again thanks for all feedback and don't be afraid to chime in with any others ideas that may pop up.