Yes, indeed, it sounds like Winslow Homer's Gulf Stream (c.1890s) at the
Metropolitan.  Alas, many of us read the sailor's fate more bleakly than your
sense of the picture; I don't think salvation comes.  However, this is the
stuff of good paintings. People, from erudite scholars to careful first-time
viewers, have been debating this point since the picture appeared.
Best wishes,
Annie Storr, University of Virginia