The boats we sail in

Its quite interesting the number of metaphors that involve the sea and humans sailing in it, that we end up using in the English language, even on a fairly day to day basis. From "sailing in the same boat" to "fleeing a sinking ship" to "That ship sailed a long time ago" to "sink or swim" to "tide over" to "on board" to "all at sea". It's interesting to think why such a large number of phrases have their origins in the sea and humans traveling in it.  Maybe it has something to do with England being an island

Or maybe because sea travel, unlike travelling on land and in modern times,  in the air, really offers a lot of useful parallels with real life. 

When you are traveling in the air,  for all practical purposes, you are at the pilots' mercy.  No kidding,  you really are. There is little control that you actually have!

Land is the opposite, almost everyone can walk, distances, small and big,  maybe slowly or maybe fast, but walk most can,  and on most terrains

The sea,  the river and the water bodies however are different. Yes , you or me cannot control modern ships but several men ( and women) have sailed in less complex boats since time immemorial. Not everybody is capable of steering a boat ofcourse,  nor does everybody know to swim. Nor is every sea or rover amenable to swimming. And in certain seas, the best of those who can steer the boats, can flounder. The sea can punish hubris, ala the titanic, but it can also if you are lucky and in the right spots, push you onto the shore from hopelessly stormy waters.  The broader point is that you have some control ( unlike say, over air) but it depends

So, the boats we sail in are a good metaphor for life in many ways. In the middle of the sea,  you simply cannot decide one fine day, that I want to stop or catch another boat. That's true of life as well, isn't it? 

The shore is the place where might be able to do that.  But shores aren't nearby all the time.  And if you are on a boat with multiple people,  even assuming all of you know how to steer a boat, you can't simply just override everyone else. 

Take the wrong boat and go adrift, and you can't really move back that easily on to some other path. Maybe you can early on,  when you just start your journey and are close to the shores. See the parralels with life there again?

And you sail in different boats and in different directions from a point of reference, then you might end up in wildly different positions.  The ships aren't going to keep waiting for you forever either when you don't arrive , and you have to make do with the ships and boats that you realistically have access to at any point,  not the ones that have sailed a long time ago or the ones that might never arrive

And maybe that's infact the point.  The seas make sure you are anchored ( the irony of using another ship related phrase here!) to reality, there is just no other option.  And you have the option to enjoy it,  the  vast nature around you,  or be overawed by it. On the seas, there is always choice, though there isn't unlimited unanchored choice

Then there's the ultimate scare of traveling in the sea that has probably haunted humans forever.  Being washed up onto a lonely deserted island. In the sea and close to it,  there is always strength in numbers. Being washed away by rough seas might be brutal but scarier is the prospect of making your way to the shore only to find that there is no one or very few around.

Because on the ships or outside of it,  you need some anchors after all.