As we gaze though nature's sunny smile we see her teeth fully barred ... and, as any sailor will testify ‘to be at the mercy of the sea and to survive is to be born again.' So is the purpose of this work using warm darks to indicate the infinite depths of the southern ocean – and warm greens show the hopelessness of the situation as the waves rush up to block the light. In his ‘snowstorm at sea' Turner painted his maelstroms by joining sky and water and all but obliterating the ship. Here and in ‘Bounty's' launch from Tofua to Timor' the vessels are quite clearly depicted, hopefully without the sense of peril being diminished. (In bad weather fires were sensibly banned so hot food was rarely available to he crew – or the many injured sailors on board Bounty. The ship is rigged with minimum sail fore and aft and the wind is from the starboard quarter. After three freezing weeks Bligh finally gives the order to come about and sets a course for Capetown.)