Acts 27:13-20

When a gentle south breeze began to blow, they assumed they could make it, so they pulled up anchor and sailed close to Crete. But it wasn’t long before the weather abruptly worsened and a storm of hurricane force called the Nor’easter tore across the island and blew us out to sea. The sailors weren’t able to turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it be driven by the gale winds. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were barely able to get the ship’s lifeboat under control, so the crew hoisted the dinghy aboard. The sailors used ropes and cables to undergird the ship, fearing they would run aground on the shoals of Syrtis. They lowered the drag anchor to slow its speed and let the ship be driven along. The next day, because of being battered severely by the storm, the sailors jettisoned the cargo, and by the third day they even threw the ship’s tackle and rigging overboard. After many days of seeing neither the sun nor the stars, and with the violent storm continuing to rage against us, all hope of ever getting through it alive was abandoned.