Back the sails
Back the sails : To back the sails, is to arrange them in a situation that will occasion the ship to retreat or move astern. This operation is particularly necessary in narrow channels, when a ship is carried along sidewise by the strength of the tide or current, and it becomes requisite to avoid any object that may intercept her course, as shoals, or vessels under sail or at anchor: it is also necessary in a naval engagement, to bring a ship back, so as to lie opposite to her adversary, when the is too far advanced in the line
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