High and dry

I have spent most of my life on or around the water, where I often see those small aluminum boats. I picture one with a hundred little pinholes in its hull. A guy is fishing, and every so often, he stops to bail water out of the bilge. As new holes appear, he spends more time bailing and less time fishing. To me, these holes are like my defects of character and the water in the bilge, my shortcomings.