Finding crew had become simpler with the arrival of a website where skippers and crew could connect from all over the world. Thomas found several people who came and stayed for a few weeks. Amongst these people were a photographer and fun people to generally hang out with as Thomas got to know Qi and become accustom to her little idiosyncrasies. Through his old landlord, he also met a female skipper who joined for a while to help him gather more experience. It was through FindaCrew website that Thomas met Gaylyn. He was heading to Malta to collect his ordered sails, and Gaylyn had friends visiting Malta from Australia. The objective to get to Malta became shared. After several video calls, it was arranged that she would meet with Thomas in Mallorca to prepare for the sail.
Thomas and Gaylyn hit it off straight way and their shared passion for sailing and adventure lured them together with a strong bond. A stopover in Menorca while they waited for a weather window to cross to Sardinia, gave Thomas an opportunity to share his love of the Balearic Islands with plenty of hiking and swimming. Summer romance blossomed and they became a tight knit unit. It wasn’t long before they were ready to head towards Malta, as a couple.
A strong wind was predicted and they made a quick crossing. They had arrived in sight of Sardinia, on the second night and the winds became unpredictable. It changed directions and was dying down. After finding it difficult to avoid gibing, Gaylyn checked with the skipper to see if he agreed with turning on the engine at this point so he could continue resting while off watch. To their surprise, the engine wouldn’t engage and it made no difference. Gaylyn suggested that the propeller might be gone. Thinking that was unlikely and it was probably just the accelerator cable, Thomas took over the watch and continued to sail through the problematic winds until the wind died completely. It was near midnight when he called for Gaylyn to come up on deck so she could keep watch while he investigated the situation under the dark waters at the rear of the slow-moving boat. With his underwater torch in hand, the situation was quickly assessed. Yes. The propeller was in fact detached and gone to the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. With the winds continuing to be almost non-existent, the call for a Pan pan became inevitable.
It took several attempts before they managed to co-ordinate a call locally. For some crazy reason, their plea for assistance ended up back in Spain and the local coast guard had to phone them. Very confusing. It only took the Coast Guard 45 minutes to reach Qi, but another 5 hours to tow her to a safe harbour. Exhausted, Thomas and Gaylyn handed over their passports and boat papers in the early hours of the morning to their responders. Wondering how much this misadventure would cost them, wasn’t worrisome enough for sleep to allude them.
The next morning, they were met with a beautiful sunny day and Thomas went over to the Coast Guard office to retrieve their documents and face the cost. He returned with a skip in his step as he announced that the rescue was free and all part of the service. Relieved, they set about on foot to procure a new propeller and breakfast.
Obtaining any obscure item in Italy during August is futile. So many holidays and many are on summer vacation. After many dives in the dirty harbour and days of the local boat chandlery requesting measurements of the taper of the prop shaft, direction of its spin, size etc, they finally had a propeller to put on. On the final dive to fit the propeller, a new boat arrived after being rescued and the boss of the Coast Guard visited them. Thomas, stinking of the rotten harbour water emerged from the water like a sea serpent. The boss looked with big eyes and began to yell in Italian at them. Finally, after seeing the lack of comprehension on their faces, he called out and extended, “immmmmpooossssibbbbble” They agreed not to do it again and thanked their lucky stars that the task was complete. This exclamation from the Coast Guard boss ended up being their catch cry in difficult situations as they’d stifle a laugh. Time wasn’t wasted as they prepared to continue their journey to Malta. They hiked, dinned, loved and their rescue even made the local newspaper. They had proved themselves to be a team in getting through difficult situations.
It wasn’t long after this, that Thomas decided to ask Gaylyn to become a permanent crew member. It was a very romantic proposal that left Gaylyn speechless for a day before she’d finally say yes. That evening, Gaylyn had made an amazing lasagne and had decided that Thomas would probably want to marry her once he tasted it. It was delicious. So, when Thomas finally made his request under the stars on the front deck, Gaylyn had believed that she’d put a spell on the lasagne and wasn’t sure how to respond. After another wonderful day exploring another part of Italy, she agreed to travel with him, over a beautiful dinner on a terrace overlooking the Med and Mt Etna.
With Thomas’ dilemma of sailing alone solved, their adventures continued around the beautiful islands of Malta and then back to Mallorca for the final preparations to ready for the Atlantic crossing.
