Michael Robinson proposed a date of around 1640 for this unusual drawing on vellum, which may be one of van de Velde’s earliest and is the earliest in the NMM Ingram Collection holding. Given the sophistication of other drawings thought to date from the early 1640s it might, however, be justifiable to suggest it is even earlier. It is believed that this is the type of work that van de Velde first practised, and it may be from drawings like this that the later pen-paintings or grisailles were to develop in the 1650s, given the strong technical similarity.

Although the main craft in the foreground, with her sail lowered, is described as a weyschuit (a small Dutch open boat with a raking stem), it is possibly a Norwegian type that van de Velde may have encountered on one of his northern voyages. The three men in this craft are all fishing using lines. In the background there is a Dutch ship becalmed with several wijdschips and galjooots round her and on the right there is a rocky coast, which further suggests that the location is northern.