27:17a

hoisting it up: This refers to lifting it out of the water and onto the deck of the ship. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

pulled it aboard (Good News Translation)
-or-
brought it onto the ship

27:17b

the crew used ropes to undergird the ship: The Greek clause probably indicates that the sailors dropped a loop of rope at the front of the ship and let the water push it back to the middle of the ship. This would allow them to encircle the ship with rope around its middle. They would do this several times and then tighten it to help hold the ship together during the high waves. If the purpose of undergirding the ship in this way is not clear, you may want to include some of this information as in some of the following translations:

then fastened some ropes tight around the ship (Good News Translation)
-or-
they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the sailors wrapped ropes around the ship to hold it together (Contemporary English Version)

the crew: This verse in Greek does not say who did this action, but it probably refers to the sailors. So, the Berean Standard Bible adds the phrase the crew. Other ways to translate the Greek phrase are:

they (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
the sailors (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the men (New International Version)

27:17c

run aground on: This refers to the ship hitting the ground under shallow water. Other ways to translate this Greek phrase are:

hit (God’s Word)
-or-
land on

the sandbars of Syrtis: The name Syrtis refers to a place near the coast of Libya where sandbars were. So the Berean Standard Bible and some other versions add sandbars of to explain why it was an important place to sailors. They knew about Syrtis and were afraid of it. For example:

the Syrtis banks (New Jerusalem Bible)

sandbars: This refers to a lot of sand just under the surface of the water. The ship could hit a “sandbar” and stop suddenly. This could damage the ship. Waves pounding on it as it was stuck in the sand could also damage the ship. Other ways to translate this word are:

sandbanks (Good News Translation)
-or-
shallows (New American Standard Bible)

27:17d

they lowered the sea anchor: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sea anchor can be translated literally as “gear” or “things.” There are three ways to interpret it:

(1) It refers to a sea anchor. For example:

they floated out the sea–anchor (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), NET Bible, Revised English Bible)

(2) It refers to the main sail. For example:

they lowered the sail (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, King James Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

(3) Do not interpret the word. For example:

they lowered the gear (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because they traveled very slowly to Malta. To travel that slowly in a gale requires something to slow the ship in deep water. Only a sea anchor can accomplish that. Also they would want the front (or possibly the back) of the boat to point toward the waves, and so sailors put out a sea anchor from the front or back of the ship to accomplish that. Interpretation (1) assumes that the sailors had already gathered and tied the sails so they did not catch the wind and possibly break the mast.

sea anchor: This refers to something that drags in the water to slow the ship. At that time for ships that sailed the Mediterranean Sea, it was probably a large piece of wood tied to a long rope with a weight at one end of the piece of wood and an empty barrel at the other end. The weight caused the wood to sink and the barrel prevented it from sinking too far. The other end of the rope was probably tied to the rear of the ship. The wood would drag through the water and slow the ship. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

drift anchor
-or-
the anchor that drags through the water
-or-
the device that slows the ship ⌊in a storm⌋

and were driven along: This phrase refers to the wind to pushing the ship in the direction of the wind. The clause were driven is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

let ⌊the wind⌋ drive the ship along
-or-
so ⌊the wind⌋ blew the ship ⌊in the direction it was blowing⌋
-or-
so ⌊the wind⌋ pushed the ship ⌊in the direction of the wind⌋

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