A sketch from the deck of the 'Birkdale', showing the sea and sky. The sea has been loosely painted as bands of horizontal colour with a few waves implied by short brush strokes in the foreground. The main point of the painting is the sky streaked with colour on the right. The vivid pink and red slashes of colour dominate the image. The artist is drawing on a long tradition of artists, such as Turner, who were concerned to show the effects of weather conditions and sunset in the sky in maritime paintings. Everett joined the barque, 'Birkdale', and sailed from Bristol to Sabine Pass, Texas, April to June 1920. It was his first journey after World War I. The 'Birkdale' was due to take sulphur from Texas to the Cape, but when she arrived in Texas the ship was re-chartered to Australia and so Everett reluctantly left her and came home by steamer. The 'Birkdale', built in 1892, was the last barque to fly the red ensign and spent nearly all her working life in the Chilean nitrate trade. For a short time after World War I she switched to taking sulphur from Texas to the Cape. The 'Birkdale' went back to the nitrate trade and was wrecked on the Chilean coast after catching fire in 1927. The painting is inscribed 'Birk' verso.