{Because the haven was not commodious to winter in}
(aneuthetou tou limenos huparchontos pros paracheimasian).
Genitive absolute again present tense of huparch(935c): "The harbour
being unfit (aneuthetou, this compound not yet found elsewhere,
simplex in  Lu 9:62  14:35  Heb 6:7 ) for wintering"
(paracheimasia, only here in N.T., but in Polybius and
Diodorus, in an inscription A.D. 48, from paracheimaz(935c)). {The
more part advised} (hoi pleiones ethento boul(886e)). Second aorist
middle indicative of 	ith(886d)i, ancient idiom with oul(886e), to
take counsel, give counsel. Lysias held a council of the officers
of the ship on the issue raised by Paul. {If by any means they
could reach Phoenix and winter there} (ei p(9373) dunainto
katant(8873)antes eis Phoinika paracheimasai). The optative
dunainto (present middle of dunamai) here with ei is a
condition of the fourth class with the notion of purpose implied
and indirect discourse (Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 1021). "We vote
for going on the chance that we may be able" (Page). Phoenix is
the town of palms ( Joh 12:13 ), the modern Lutro, the only town
in Crete on the southern coast with a harbour fit for wintering,
though Wordsworth and Page argue for Phineka which suits Luke's
description better. The verb paracheimaz(935c), to winter, is from
para and cheim(936e) (see also  28:11 ). Used in several _Koin(825f)
writers. {Looking northeast and southeast} (leponta kata liba
kai kata ch(9372)on). There are two ways of interpreting this
language. Lips means the southwest wind and ch(9372)os the
northwest wind. But what is the effect of kata with these
words? Does it mean "facing" the wind? If so, we must read
"looking southwest and northwest." But kata can mean down the
line of the wind (the way the wind is blowing). If so, then it is
proper to translate "looking northeast and southeast." This
translation suits Lutro, the other suits Phoenike. Ramsay takes
it to be Lutro, and suggests that sailors describe the harbour by
the way it looks as they go into it (the subjectivity of the
sailors) and that Luke so speaks and means Lutro which faces
northeast and southeast. On the whole Lutro has the best of the
argument.