Cauda

Cauda (also spelled Clauda in some manuscripts; modern Gavdos) was a small island south of Crete, mentioned in Acts 27:16 in Paul's account of his voyage to Rome. The ship on which Paul traveled was caught in the violent northeastern storm called Euroclydon or Euraquilo; while running before the storm they managed to pass under the lee of the island of Cauda, where they barely secured the ship's boat, undergirded the hull with cables, and took in the sea anchor. Cauda provided a brief shelter that allowed the sailors to take emergency precautions before the storm drove the ship across the Adriatic Sea toward Malta. The island is identified with modern Gavdos, the southernmost island of Europe, about 25 miles south of Crete's western tip.