Hove to, Waiting for a Pilot

Mason, Frank Henry drawing, entitled Hove to, Waiting for a Pilot, by the artist Frank Henry Mason A large three-masted sailing ship has anchored off the coast in this view. She is waiting for a pilot to come aboard from the small boat approaching the ship. The approach to river mouths was often dangerous, and ships' captains relied on the seamanship of local pilots to berth their ships. A large steam ship is leaving the port on the left of the scene. The artist Frank Mason was born in the North East, and worked as an artist all around the coast of Britain.