While you're 'steering' that ship back to safer waters see if any of these would right the botched metaphor :

Definitions of stir on the Web:

* move an implement through; "stir the soup"; "stir my drink"; "stir the soil"
* move very slightly; "He shifted in his seat"
* stimulate: stir feelings in; "stimulate my appetite"; "excite the audience"; "stir emotions"
* stimulate: stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of; "These stories shook the community"; "the civil war shook the country"
* touch: affect emotionally; "A stirring movie"; "I was touched by your kind letter of sympathy"
* raise: summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic; "raise the specter of unemployment"; "he conjured wild birds in the air"; "call down the spirits from the mountain"
* a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event; "he made a great splash and then disappeared"
* arouse: to begin moving, "As the thunder started the sleeping children began to stir"
* emotional agitation and excitement
* mix or add by stirring; "Stir nuts into the dough"
* bustle: a rapid active commotion