A scene from the deck of the 'Birkdale, showing sail-mending on a sunny day. The painting shows figures on the deck attending to the sails laid out on the surface. A seaman sits on a bench on the far right, working on a sail stretched out in front of him. He wears a straw hat and his sleeves are rolled up. The ship's boat can be seen on the deck on the right. A fid, or wood bar used in masts, is shown embedded in the bench. The artist has exploited the shape of the canvas to exaggerate the height of the masts to give the impression of being on the deck. Everett has used colour and form to convey the scene. Proportions of the pictured sails show their dimensions and also the rhythmic shape of the sails with the horizontals of the sails and the ropes and pulleys and stitching. Strong shadow is picked up in the colour of the sea and sky, and the strong verticals of the two masts are emphasized. The painting may have been taken later using some of Everett's photographs taken on an earlier voyage.

Everett joined the barque, 'Birkdale', and sailed from Bristol to Sabine Pass, Texas, April-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 with an indistinct signature lower recto.