7
We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone.
8
We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
9
We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.
10
“Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.”
11
But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul.
12
And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.
13
When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.
[a].
Greek because the fast was now already gone by. This fast was associated with the Day of Atonement ( Yom Kippur ), which occurred in late September or early October.