the classic interpretations are that the Spirit of God hovering over the surface of the waters is the soul of the Mashiach... hovering like a dove... on Tisha b'Av.
And here's this man who is the subject of so much hate, a supected crypto Jew named Christopher Columbus, sailing out right after that edict on Tisha B'Av... Columbus meaning dove, just as the personification of America is named Columbia, and the dove is symbolic of the Jewish people.
L’chayim to that old sea dog. (Crappy navigator though I hear)