Sandbars are very shallow areas in the sea where ships can get stuck in the sand. Syrtis is located on the coast of Libya, northern Africa. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names]])
# they lowered the sea anchor
They put the ship's anchor in the water in order to slow down where the wind would blow them.
An anchor is a heavy object attached to a rope that is secured to the boat. The anchor is tossed into the water and sinks to the bottom of the sea keeping the ship from drifting about. See how you translated this in [Acts 27:13](./13.md).
This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "had to go in whatever direction the wind blew us" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])