So are the motions of a little vessel without ballast tossed about on a stormy sea.

在惊涛骇浪的大海上，一只没有压舱物的小船就是这样颠颠簸簸。

youdao

There I was naturally driven within myself, and I learned that as long as I had no definite goal or purpose in life, I was, like the rest of mankind, tossed about as a ship on a stormy sea.

在那里我自然被驱使回到我自己，我学习到只要我没有确定的生活目标。那么我就会像世界上其他人一样，如同大海中的一艘船在暴风雨中被抛上抛下。

youdao

But how can it be launched quickly on a stormy night at low tide when the sea has retreated down a steep bank of shingle and out across several kilometres of boggy sand?

但是在一个暴风雨之夜，如何能在海潮退于海堤之下的时候还能穿越几公里的沼泽沙地区到海中救人呢？

youdao

But they do have their letters, and that mailbox, and some pretty convoluted plot twists to keep them company as they bob like corks on a stormy sea of time... or something.

NPR: Double Feature: Playing with Words, and Time