acts 27:40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. - Free Bible Online

      40. taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea--The Margin is here evidently right, "cut the anchors (away), they left them in the sea."
      loosed the rudder bands--Ancient ships were steered by two large paddles, one on each quarter. When anchored by the stern in a gale, it would be necessary to lift them out of the water and secure them by lashings or rudder bands, and to loose these when the ship was again got under way [SMITH].
      hoised up the mainsail--her, "the foresail," the best possible sail that be set in the circumstances. How necessary must the crew have been to execute all these movements, and how obvious the foresight which made their stay indispensable to the safety of all on board (see on Ac 27:31)!

JFB.