Very dramatic and with an unrestrained color palette, Koopman puts an aggressive take on the preemptive act of preservation, where fishing boats of all sizes would actually go out on open water and ride out a rough storm, rather than risk getting driven from their anchorage to crash on shores and breakers. The artist motifs the wave shape within the single masted ships with the pitch of the hulls and their sharp bows, parallel sails and deep cockpit helms. Fishing in Etaples is a primary industry, and the independent fishermen belong to a collective that operate the local fish market and restaurant still to this day.
