A Nautical Nightmare

ACTS 27:1-20 (July 9)

Have you ever watched the movie Titanic? I have watched it several times. And while most of us watch it for the incredible love story, the ugly villain, and the dangerous situation, I have noticed another storyline that runs along the edges of the film.

Captain Edward Smith (played by Bernard Hill) is happy with the way the ship is performing. He sits and talks with one of the major investors of the ship, and they are discussing the time it will take to reach their destination. This investor would really like to make headlines. The more fame ... the more passengers. The more passengers ... the more money.

He asks Captain Smith to "crank it up a notch", "put the pedal to the metal", or "let 'er rip". In other words, GO FASTER!!! (When I was a little girl, I used to ride on the motorcycle with my dad. He would laugh because all I would say is "Faster Daddy, faster!"

Captain Smith doesn't think this is a good idea. Why push it when things are going well? He argues against increasing the speed of the ship, but the investor (wish I could remember his name) insists. It's all about the headlines for him.

Captain Smith orders the speed increased. And we all know what happens next. They spot an iceberg (at the last moment) and are going too fast to get the ship turned around in time. And the rest, as they say, is history.

There is another little piece of history we might never have heard of if Paul was not on board. This thrilling story of the apostles' journey from Caesarea to Malta, on the way to Rome is recorded in Acts, but only because of who was on board.

Paul, Luke, and some others set sail for Italy, supervised by a captain of the Imperial Regiment of the Roman army whose name was Julius. The next day they docked at Sidon, and Julius showed much respect and kindness to Paul by letting him go ashore to visit with friends and get what he needed. When they set sea again, they encountered some strong winds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course. Because of this, they sailed north until they landed at Myra, where the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship bound for Italy. So aboard the ship they went.

It was several days of slow sailing due to the high winds. They finally struggled along until they arrived at Fair Havens. It was late into the fall season, and not a typical time for sailing because of the weather.

Here is where the scene from Titanic comes into play. Paul (playing the part of Captain Smith) warns the officer that it is not safe to continue on in this weather. They could be shipwrecked, lose cargo, or even drown at sea. (Now this would have been enough to stop me in my tracks!)

The officer consults with the captain (playing the part of the investor) who convinces him it is okay to continue on. The crew didn't want to be stuck at Fair Havens because it was an exposed harbor and not a good place to spend the winter. They were trying to make it to Phoenix, which was a better place to stay.

So, they didn't listen to Pau's warning, and set sail again. They didn't encounter an iceberg, but what they did encounter was a northeaster, also known as a Euroclydon. And this bugger tossed them around so terribly. I can envision it now (after watching many episodes of The Deadliest Catch).

Trying to survive, the hoisted the lifeboat that was being towed behind on board. They bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship. But nothing was working.

The next day, the gale-force winds continued to batter the ship. The crew threw the cargo overboard, and then even threw some of the ship's gear. But the storm raged on, blotting out the sun and stars.

It is interesting to note that in those days, ships had no compasses. The crew depended on the stars to navigate. And when they had weather like this, it was almost impossible to know where you were sailing.

So not only are they being tossed about, they are also confused, with no idea which direction to go. This had to be terrifying!

But the story isn't over yet. The Nautical Nightmare will continue tomorrow as we see what happens next.