Exegesis:
kai kateneusan tois metochois en tō heterō ploiō ‘and they signalled to their partners in the other boat.’
kataneuō ‘to signal,’ ‘to make signs.’
metochos used as a substantive, ‘partner,’ ‘companion.’ Here it has the same referent as koinōnoi in v. 10 (which see).
tou elthontas sullabesthai autois ‘to come and help them,’ articular accusative and infinitive in the genitive, loosely connected with the preceding, with final force. The subject is to be understood from tois metochois. sullambanō here the middle form with following dative, ‘to come to the aid of.’
hōste buthizesthai auta ‘so that they threatened to sink.’ hōste with following accusative and infinitive indicates real or possible result. Here the infinitive is in the present tense which implies that the sinking is not completed.
buthizō ‘to sink’ (transitive), here in the passive with intransitive meaning.
Translation:
They beckoned, or, ‘gesticulated,’ ‘waved their hands’ (some Indonesian languages), etc., and cf. on “to make signs” in 1.22.
Partners, or, ‘those of the same job,’ ‘those who worked together with them’ (Ekari).
The other boat, or, ‘the second boat,’ ‘the boat (that was still) near the shore’ (cf. Toraja-Sa’dan).
To come, or, to clarify the connexion with the main verb, ‘trying-to-make (them) come’ (Javanese), ‘and thus requested them to come.’
Help them may require further qualification, e.g. ‘assist them to draw up (the net)’ (cf. Batak Toba 1885), ‘help them with the catch’ (Willibrord); and see on 10.40.
They came and filled both the boats. The pronoun is ambiguous in that it goes with both verbs, whereas actually only the other crew ‘came’ but both crews ‘filled.’ This ambiguity is acceptable in some languages but in others one has to differentiate, cf. ‘they came and together they filled…,’ ‘they came and the men (in the two boats) filled…’; or, shifting the subject of the second verb, ‘they came and the two boats were filled’ (cf. Batak Toba, Marathi). The emphasis is on the being full, hence, ‘the boats were loaded (so) full that’ (Javanese). It may be preferable to add ‘with fish’ (Balinese, Cuyono).
They began to sink, cf. on “were breaking” in v. 6; to express ‘almost sinking’ Tboli says, ‘just only a little left, their not sinking.’
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.