The drawing, which has been dated to around 1675, is made with graphite and grey wash which has been strengthened with pen and ink. It is signed in brown ink ‘W.V.V.J.’ in the lower right corner. Van de Velde has used washes combined with areas of white paper to suggest dramatic light effects in the sea, and the drawing, although small, is full of baroque movement.

If the dating is correct, van de Velde would have been living in Greenwich at the time that it was made. The Dutch subject of the drawing might raise the question of whether the Younger was continuing to carry out Dutch commissions while based in England. The ship is identified as being Dutch by the flag flying from the foremast, and also by the shallow draught of her hull. On the left is a port-broadside view of a galjoot in the wind, and there are other ships in the distance. In the left foreground two small objects, possibly buoys, appear on the choppy water.