I awoke in the middle of my off-watch this morning and I could have sworn I heard the cooing of a mourning dove, but decided I was having a land dream of a summer morning in my backyard and fell back asleep.

Robin reports that on her watch, a Eurasian Ring Collared Dove landed on our stern rail and deck. Robin put some corn meat out for it and played it's call on her Merlin app, to make it comfortable. Hence the cooing dream. But when I awoke that bird had flown.

It is hard to describe what a very pleasant day Friday was, impelled by a gentle breeze on a liquid reflection of the blue sky, streaked with intense blue wavelets. Crystal clear skies and brilliant sunshine, pleasant temperatures. The wind diminished all day as we sailed deeper into the ridge of high pressure. And yet we persisted in sailing south long after I had expected to be becalmed this afternoon, even into the evening.

I had promised Robin a becalmed swim stop today, so we rolled up the jib near sunset even though we were still ghosting along at three knots in the right direction. After the swim stop I served a savory sweet potato and chick pea curry, with zucchini, apple, and raisins, served with an Italian red wine someone from the boat club gave us as a parting gift. We never got the boat moving quite right under sail after the swim stop though, in the dieing breeze.

In other news, I discovered the 35 year old hot water heater was leaking today. I should have replaced it before we set sail, as the heating element failed years ago, but it was a low priority project since we rarely plug into the dock or run the engine for hot water. So I disconnected and drained the tank today and plugged the feed line.

And here I am uncharacteristically motoring on a mirror still ocean at 0100. Running 5he engine for eight hours tonight to cross the high pressure ridge will save us two days of drifting, so I made an exception to my usual rules of engine engagement. By morning, south of the ridge, the easterlies should fill in and blow steadily all the way to Panama.