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were sailing

  • past progressive
    of sail.
    sail
    noun
    an area of canvas or other fabric extended to the wind in such a way as to transmit the force of the wind to an assemblage of spars and rigging mounted firmly on a hull, raft, iceboat, etc., so as to drive it along.

Example Sentences

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All three ships were sailing out of the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday with their location trackers active.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

As Odysseus and his ship were sailing by the Sirens, he knew the Sirens’ song would be irresistible and — if he didn’t resist its allure — fatal.

From MarketWatch ● May 2, 2026

GSF's tracking data showed that most of the remaining 36 boats in the flotilla were sailing close to Crete's south-western coast.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

"If there was overloading or overcapacity, it's possible cargo shifted ... inside the vessel," Lopez said, adding it was "highly probable" other ships in the archipelago nation were sailing overweight.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

I kept spinning the rack faster and faster until it was a postcard tornado and the cards were sailing out of their holders and skidding across the floor.

From "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" by Jack Gantos