Drawings of Southern vessels (8)
I believe the answer is:
sketches
'drawings' is the definition.
(sketch is a kind of drawing)
'southern vessels' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'vessels' becomes 'ketches' (ketch is a kind of vessel).
's'+'ketches'='SKETCHES'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for sketches that I've seen before include "Short comic routines or humorous scenes" , "maps" , "Rough outlines" , "work for artists" , "Preliminary drawings" .)