Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 27:17

"and when they had hoisted it up, they used helps, under-girding the ship; and, fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and so were driven." — Acts 27:17 (ASV)

Driven southwest some twenty-three miles to the small island of Cauda, the ship managed to gain the lee of the island. The sailors pulled in the dinghy, which was full of water, reinforced the ship with ropes to keep it from breaking up (exactly how these ropes were positioned is not known, though most argue that ropes were passed under the ship and secured above the deck), and put out the sea anchor to keep the ship from running onto the sandbars of Syrtis, off the African coast.