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Examples

  • San Pablo Bay was smoking, and the Carquinez Straits off the Selby Smelter were smoking, as I picked up ahead and left astern the old landmarks I had first learned with Nelson in the unreefed Reindeer.

    THE BRAIN MERCHANT 2010

  • During one hour, when we must have made eleven knots, the wind blew strong, and was fresh again after that; so that we set the foresail unreefed and let the great mainsail go not many minutes later.

    The Iron Pirate A Plain Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea Max Pemberton 1906

  • Instead, therefore, of yielding obedience to the signal from the cutter, all hands rushed quickly aloft -- the topsails were unreefed to their fullest spread -- topgallants and royals were unfurled, and even the studding-sails bent, till the whole rigging of the barque was covered with canvas.

    Ran Away to Sea Mayne Reid 1850

  • "A score as good hands," said he, "are gone to the bottom as ever unreefed a clean topsail or hung out a ship's canvas to the wind; I saw them all go down as I lashed myself to the jib."

    Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 (of 2) John Roby 1821

  • “By God, someone’s to pay!” he roared as he came on deck, knowing instinctively from the shattered unreefed sails that were strewn among the halyards that the ship had been carrying too much canvas.

    Tai-Pan Clavell, James 1966

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