A gentle south wind comes up, like those common during the summer sailing season, and the officers and crew judge, though wrongly (12:9; 17:18; 26:9), that they have gained their purpose. They weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete some three or four miles to Cape Matala. It is probably as they round the cape that they meet a wind of hurricane force, called the "Northeaster," blowing down from 8,056-foot Mount Ida. The strong cold wind that blows across the Mediterranean in the winter from a general northeasterly direction is caused by a depression ("low") over Libya which induces a strong flow of air from Greece (Finegan 1981:197).

The storm so seizes the ship that the crew is unable to head the vessel into the wind and position it so that the waves will not strike it broadside and break it apart. Though in the main they had to give way to the wind, lower the sails and allow themselves to be driven, they did not do so totally. A small sail on the mast was used to tack and make headway into the wind. Otherwise the ship would have been broken apart by the waves (Haenchen 1971:701).

When people reject the wisdom gained from observing God's natural order, foolish decisions are likely to follow. As one mountaineer said as he turned back from the challenge of climbing an Alaskan peak because his equipment was inadequate for the icy conditions, "There are old mountaineers, bold mountaineers, but no old, bold mountaineers" (Robinson 1993).

The crew takes at least four steps to cope with the storm (Acts 27:16-19). First, under the protection of the lee, the south coast, of a small island called Cauda some twenty-three miles west of Cape Matala, they hoist and secure on deck the dinghy (NIV's lifeboat limits its uses) they are towing. They do this not only to rescue a waterlogged boat from the battering of the waves but also to prevent the rough seas from smashing it against the stern of the ship (Lake and Cadbury 1979:332). Second, they "frap" the ship, undergirding it with cables running vertically under its center hull, four or five turns. This strengthens the hull against the continual pounding of the waves.

Third, they lowered the sea anchor. This was a broad piece of wood held vertical by a weight below and an empty barrel on top. It would slow the ship's movement from crest to crest and help keep it on course (Haenchen 1971:703). The lowering of the mainyard with its sail and the setting of a storm sail may also be included in this lowering (compare Lucian Toxaris: Or, Friendship 19). If some sort of course westward could be maintained, they could avoid the sandbars of Syrtis. One hundred miles off the Libyan coast and three hundred miles in circumference, this area has deep waters with shallows; "the result is, at the ebb and the flow of the tides, that sailors sometimes fall into the shallows and stick there, and that the safe escape of a boat is rare" (Strabo Geography 17.3.20). So ancient sailors sailing along the North African coast kept a safe distance and took precautions not to be "driven by winds into these gulfs" (Strabo Geography 17.3.20).

Fourth, if we may understand verses 18 and 18 as dealing with the same gear, it is probably the mainyard spar, as long as the deck, and the accompanying gear and tackle that, after a failed first attempt, they succeed in throwing overboard on the third day (Clark 1975:145; NIV's cargo in v. 18 must then be differently understood). Thus lightening the ship by removing movable gear and tackle from the deck, the crew hopes to avoid further storm-induced damage to the ship's structure.

These herculean efforts to secure the ship, its course and their safety still left these sea voyagers at the mercy of the elements. The cloud cover and darkness of the storm meant they didn't know where they were for many days. The sun and the stars—in ancient times the only means of navigation on the open sea—were out of sight. Besides all this, the storm continued raging. Finally all hope was being abandoned (imperfect passive) that they would be saved (compare Lk 23:35, 37, 39).

When do we abandon hope? When we do not know where we are but do have the terrible knowledge that we may not get out alive. And such is the condition of many people today, disoriented in emotional, relational, social or physical storms.