A sketch from the 'Birkdale'. Everett has used colour to demonstrate the light effects of the sun on the sky and sea. The sea is shown in tones of mauve, purple and lilac and the sky with a bank of light coloured cloud with layers of blue, mauve and pink paint above to indicate the sun's reflections in the sky and sea. 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.