At the beginning of each school year, the Languages and Humanities Division at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) meets to discuss first-year composition matters. Faculty leave the workshop renewed by the collaboration and buoyed by the promise and potential of a new semester. Yet, when classes actually begin, faculty may find that they are no longer riding that same wave of collegial enthusiasm as they enter the classroom alone. Those teaching online composition courses, especially as adjuncts, may feel a keener sense of isolation. On one hand, this sense of independence may be what drew them to the job in the first place, knowing they would enjoy the freedom of selecting their own texts and topics and of creating their own writing assignments. Yet, the problem is that all that autonomy can become isolating in the virtual classroom as they realize they have traded direct human contact for interaction through a computer screen. Just like faculty, online English 102 students can find themselves adrift in the virtual classroom as well. In addition to learning how to interact virtually with their peers and instructor for discussions and editing, they have to navigate the enormous world of digital sources. CGCC composition and library faculty both recognized the challenges of teaching research well in this environment and knew they simply needed to find a better way to connect with their online students. Their solution: embed a librarian into the course as a "Personal Librarian." This article describes CGCC "Personal Librarian" model and the effect on students' research. The article concludes that embedded librarian programs like the CGCC Personal Librarian program provide a framework that can make the sailing smoother for all stakeholders: the instructor gains a co-captain to share in lesson planning and assessment, and the students gain a life preserver through the more personalized connection to the library. In the end, no one is left adrift. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)