keep an offing under easy sail

[shootingstar]

. . .
Reality was his romance; he gloried to be thus engaged; he wallowed in his business. Suppose a man to dig up a galleon on the Coromandel coast, his rakish schooner keeping the while an offing under easy sail, and he, by the blaze of a great fire of wreckwood, to measure ingots by the bucketful on the uproarious beach; such an one might realise a greater spoil; he should have no more profit of romance than Pinkerton when he cast up his weekly balance-sheet in a bald office.
. . .
(The Wrecker by R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, Chapter vii)

Please, what does keeping an offing under easy sail mean?

 

[probus]

This language pertains to sailing vessels and has largely fallen out of use today. To keep an offing is to remain sufficiently far from shore to avoid the dangers that exist near a coast. Easy sail means that the vessel has not raised so much sail as to make its progress dangerous or uncomfortable.

 

[emsr2d2]

In future, when you quote from this book, please add the year of publication to the source information. The fact that it was written in 1892 is very relevant when talking about its use of language.

 

[shootingstar]

This language pertains to sailing vessels and has largely fallen out of use today. To keep an offing is to remain sufficiently far from shore to avoid the dangers that exist near a coast. Easy sail means that the vessel has not raised so much sail as to make its progress dangerous or uncomfortable.

Thank you very much.
Could it mean the schooner is beating about sufficiently far from the beach? I am asking cos it reads under easy sail?

 

[teechar]

I am asking cos because it reads says under easy sail.

 

[Piscean]

I am asking cos it reads under easy sail?

probus told you what it meant.