en_tn_condensed/psa/107/026.md

They reached up to the sky; they went down to the depths

This describes the ships rising and falling with the waves. The extremes of rising to the sky and falling to the depths are an exaggeration to express how horrible the windstorm was and how large the waves were. Alternate translation: "their ships would rise very high on the waves and then they would fall very low between the waves" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole)

Their lives melted away in distress

This idiom describes the sailors' great fear. Alternate translation: "The men were terrified and greatly distressed" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom)