A Dutch man-of-war is lying off a harbour to the left in port-bow view and calm conditions, and the masts of other ships are visible in the distance. A jetty is shown on the right in the foreground, together with three figures. The stern of a sprit-rigged States yacht can be seen to the left of the jetty, with an ornately carved stern consisting of two lions holding a cartouche, and two standing figures below. The yacht is flying the Dutch flag from the horizontally hoisted sprit as she dries her sail. A man is rowing a small boat away from the jetty in the foreground on the right. Other shipping and land beyond is implied in the distance to the left.

Sillemans was probably born in England but spent his working life in Amsterdam. He principally painted grisailles in pen and ink on a gesso ground in the style of van de Velde the Elder. He applied a variety of techniques and experimented with a method of offset printing directly on to the gesso ground in some works. A conical buoy floats on the left and the artist has inscribed 'Sillimans' on a spar, lower-left, together with the date 1652.