Nicholas tried to calm the mariners with prayers for deliverance. When the storm finally subsided, they were still afloat, but they discovered that the rudder had been smashed. They drifted for days with no land in sight, until the sailors gave up hope of any fate except dying of thirst on the open sea. Nicholas refused to give in to despair. One morning as the crew woke, one of them gave a shout. There, on the horizon, lay the coast. The winds and currents pushed them steadily toward land, and as they drew near they were astonished to realize that they had drifted to Patara.
