 After Girl Pat left Corcubión, there was speculation in the port that Orsborne intended to fish in the waters around Gibraltar, but there was no sighting of the vessel in that vicinity. Stone later recalled that after sailing for some time, they arrived at some uninhabited islands — this is consistent with a probable sighting by the British liner SS Avoceta, which on 17 May reported seeing a vessel closely matching the trawler's description, anchored in the Savage Islands. This small uninhabited archipelago, roughly 170 nautical miles (310 km) south of Madeira and roughly the same distance north of the Canary Islands, had long been associated with stories of pirates' buried treasure, and news that Girl Pat had been seen there gave rise to press speculation that she was engaged on a hunt for treasure. Lloyd's of London sent a representative to Las Palmas, to investigate the sighting; meanwhile Girl Pat made an unobserved call at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where she was repainted.
