A sketch from the deck of the 'Birkdale', showing cloud formation and the effects of weather and light. The artist has concentrated on the cloudburst on the far right, falling from clouds shown as a block of blue colour. A darker blue mass is painted above it in the sky and both are outlined with a dark blue line. The sky on the left is streaked with diagonal lines of vivid pink, orange, yellow, red and lilac. A range of coloured dots close to the horizon help endorse the painting's concern with form and colour. The dark blue of the sea contrasts with the vividly coloured sky. 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.