She was probably lying-to ahead of them, perhaps between them and the land; and when, a little after midnight, the wind chopped up to the west, and blew stiffly till day break, they felt sure that, unless she had attempted the desperate expedient of running past them, they had her safe in the mouth of the Bristol ❋ Unknown (2007)
Every man lying-to at his work, with a will that had all his heart and soul in it. ❋ Unknown (2007)
Here and there upon the sea, a black speck marked a herring-boat, drifting with its line of nets; and right off the mouth of the glen, Amyas saw, with a beating heart, a large two-masted vessel lying-to — that must be the “Portugal”! ❋ Unknown (2007)
It was the most beautiful yet fearful sight I ever beheld; and the sea was surging over our little vessel so as to threaten to fill her: but the hatches were battoned down; we were lying-to on a right tack, and a hawser had been passed round the bits in order to sustain the foremast, in case we lost our bowsprit, as we expected to do every instant. ❋ Maria Graham (N/A)
They were two 'long, low, black-looking schooners, 'lying-to very quietly, about three miles ahead. ❋ Various (N/A)
Singularly enough, our brig, which had been lying-to with her head to the northward and westward, since the commencement of our disasters, went about the evening previous to our quitting her as well as if she had been under sail, -- another providential occurrence, for had she remained with her head to the northward, we should have seen nothing of our deliverers. ❋ Marmaduke Park (N/A)
It was lucky for us that the wind, by the way, did not shift once while we were lying-to, blowing steadily from the same quarter it began in, from the south-east. ❋ Unknown (N/A)
We've not pulled up -- only lying-to to take in supplies. ❋ Various (N/A)
It was only a short scrawl which the sailor lad had written off hurriedly to take advantage of the opportunity of sending a message home by a passing ship, as his brother had surmised -- Eric not expecting to have been able to forward any communication until the vessel reached the Cape; and, the stranger only lying-to for a brief space of time to receive the despatches of the ❋ Unknown (N/A)
No sooner were the hands down from the topsail-yards, however, than he had them up again to take in the courses, which had already been clewed up and were now furled; the _Josephine_ lying-to under close-reefed topsails, with the fore-topmast staysail set to keep her in command of her helm. ❋ J. [Illustrator] Schonberg (N/A)
The wind was south, and so very severe that the main trysail was blown to atoms, and the ship was lying-to under bare poles, and laying beautifully to the wind, with her helm amidship and perfectly tight. ❋ Joseph Darvall (N/A)
We would have been up to her before if she had been lying-to; but she's going ahead too, like ourselves, and not making bad way either, considering the state she's in aloft, and her yawing this way and that. ❋ Henry [Illustrator] Austin (N/A)
White Star tug lying-to in wait for one of their liners inward bound, and saw in the distance several warships with attendant black destroyers guarding the entrance from the sea. ❋ Lawrence Beesley (1922)
At first stopping and lying-to was tried, but it was soon evident that the big bergs were moving and would soon hem us in: probably in a position from which we should be unable to extricate ourselves this season. ❋ Douglas Mawson (1920)
From La Rabida now you can no longer see, as Columbus saw, fleets of caravels lying-to and standing off and on outside the bar waiting for the flood tide; only a few poor boats fishing for tunny in the empty sunny waters, or the smoke of a steamer standing on her course for the Guadalquiver or Cadiz. ❋ Filson Young (1907)
He understood that the coast was being carefully watched, that the sight of a ship lying-to a mile or two from the shore, would certainly excite suspicion; that it might be very difficult for him to take his boat round to the cave where Neal lay hidden without being followed. ❋ George A. Birmingham (1907)
Thames on our port-bow, and some English smacks lying-to right ahead of us, the moon showing them brightly in a lake of light, their men busy at the nets, or huddled at the tiller as the smacks rolled to a choppy sea. ❋ Max Pemberton (1906)
Then I looked across the sea, and I saw a long black steamer lying-to a mile away, and the men dragged me into their craft, and shouted hearty words of encouragement, and they put liquor to my lips, and fell to rowing with great joy. ❋ Max Pemberton (1906)
