Dear Ms. Ropp:
Sounds like you're thinking of Winslow Homer's painting "The Gulf Stream,"
(1899); it's in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There's an interesting
general account of it at:
http://www.prs.k12.nj.us/Schools/PHS/History/World_History/GulfStream/index.html
James Moore
Director
The Albuquerque Museum