Acts 27:17

And when they had hoisted it up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and so were driven.

Undergirding the ship ... Luke's medical word "bandaging" the ship describes accurately what they did. In modern times this is called "frapping" a vessel, referring to the passing of cables around the exterior of the hull to give it greater strength and keep it from breaking up during a storm. All ancient sailing vessels carried supplies for such a purpose. Howson, as quoted by Hervey, tells how "The ship ALBION was frapped with iron chains after the battle of Navarino."[17]

The Syrtis ... These were the great African quicksands. "The greater and lesser `Syrtis' were on the north coast of Africa, one west of Cyrene, the other near Carthage."[18]

They lowered the gear ... Most commentators suppose that this refers to lowering sails and spars; but it is possible that the mast also was lowered. Susan and Michael Katzev, writing of the recovery of a ship of that same vintage from the sea off Cyprus in 1969, detailed the construction of the mast, observing that:

The mast step allowed the mast to pivot backward for easy lowering. When upright, small wedges locked the mast's heel in position.[19]

In all probability, the mast also was lowered to prevent top-heaviness.

[17] A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 295.

[18] H. Leo Boles, op. cit., p. 419.

[19] Susan W. and Michael L. Katzev, "Last Harbor for the Oldest Ship," National Geographic Magazine (Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society), November, 1974, p. 623.