Shipping seasons:

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them – Acts 27.9

The “Fast” was the Day of Atonement. Sailors in ancient times had no compasses and navigated by the stars.  Overcast weather made sailing almost impossible and very dangerous.  Sailing was doubtful in September and impossible by November.  This event occurred in October (A.D. 59).

(When It was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea.  Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.  The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. – Acts 27:1-3. Julius, a hardened Roman centurion, was assigned to guard Paul.  Obviously he had to remain close to Paul at all times.  Through this contact, Julius developed a respect for Paul.  He gave Paul a certain amount of freedom (27.3) and later spared his life (27.43).  Would your character stand close scrutiny?).

(Since the harbour was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbour in Crete, facing both south-west and north-west. – Acts 27.12. Although this was not the best time to sail, the pilot and the owner of the ship didn’t want to spend the winter in Lasea, and so the pilot took a chance.  At first the winds and weather were favourable, but then the deadly storm arose).

Taking soundings:

They took soundings and found that the water was one hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. – Acts 27.28

Soundings were made by throwing a weighted, marked line into the water. When the lead hit the bottom, sailors could tell the depth of the water from the marks on the rope.

(On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. – Acts 27:27. The Adriatic Sea referred to the central part of the Mediterranean Sea between Italy, Crete, and the northern coast of Africa).

(The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan.  He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. – Acts 27:42, 43. The soldiers would pay with their own lives if any of their prisoners escaped.  Their instinctive reaction was to kill the prisoners so they wouldn’t get away.  Julius, the centurion, was impressed with Paul and wanted to save his life.  Julius was the highest ranking official and therefore he could make this decision.  This act preserved Paul for his later ministry in Rome and fulfilled Paul’s prediction that all the people on the ship would be saved (27.22)).