An empty horizon from the deck of the 'Birkdale'. Everett has used form and colour to create the seascape. The sea is shown as a series of loosely painted diagonal peaks and troughs. The sky is streaked with paint to suggest cloud and the sun is represented with thick impasto paint. A swathe of lighter colour across the surface of the water denotes the reflections from the sun on the surface of the water. 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', '20'.