It's going on.

After a week, we left Marie-Galante.
We are now in St. Martin. On the French side. Here we have to refill our gas cylinders. It didn't take long to get here, from Saturday to Monday morning.

As it seems, at least according to the captain and his agent, we won't really go ashore in Colombia. We will enter the port, take the cargo, and then head towards Horta in the Azores.
In Colombia, there should actually be a change of captain. The current first mate would then become captain. Since we are advised against going ashore in Colombia due to the security situation, Cornelius is already leaving us in St. Martin. In addition, there is the resignation of a deckhand and the departure of a shipmate in Marie-Galante. Everything happened very quickly. It feels strange when people leave, they somehow seem to be missing.
The time in Marie-Galante also passed very quickly. We worked as we did in Tenerife. Only there are anchor watches in the evenings. This means that there must always be at least four people on the ship. In case the anchor comes loose, or to transport or pick up people with the dinghy.

Otherwise, on Wednesday, November 24th, we visited Distellerie Bielle. The distillery whose rum we ship to Europe. It was okay, in the end it was more about buying rum.
On Thursday, we finally received approval from customs. We were told that the barrels were loaded in a very traditional or old-fashioned way. First, we sailed from the anchorage to the customs area. About a mile or so. But we didn't dock anywhere, instead we dropped anchor in the customs zone as well. Then at some point the barrels arrived, we put them in the water and swam them about 200-300 meters to the ship. It wasn't difficult at all. The barrels stick out 5cm above the water, we should make sure that the stopper is on top and then one by one swim the 16 barrels of over 200 liters each to the ship. To then lift them into the cargo hold with a block and tackle.
Cornelius said it was important for the barrels to get salt water.
He also said that sailed rum matures much faster. A three year oak barrel aging on land can be compared to one year of aging through ship movements. It was definitely a very funny and unreal experience. Barrels swimming.

With that, the task for Marie-Galante was completed.

Now we are already on the second Caribbean island and so far violent confrontations are never far away. The Caribbean has a very bitter taste. It is definitely very beautiful here. The water is fantastic. There are many islands that can be visited. It is warm.

But so far I haven't really left Europe! It's weird.
Marie-Galante is part of France. The northern half of St. Martin also belongs to France and the southern half belongs to the Dutch royal family.
The traces of colonial times are very present.
On Marie-Galante, people work in the three distilleries, in tourism or on the sugar cane plantations. Otherwise, little is grown on the island, the majority of the products in the supermarket are flown in or brought by freighter. The inhabitants are quite dependent on food deliveries and they are expensive. A piece of butter costs two euros. Just as a comparison.
At times, I felt very uncomfortable, not because there were warnings of attacks, but because I feel like Marie-Galante only serves as a holiday destination. There is little focus on the local population. The main thing is that I have a nice holiday destination with local currency.
I'm here for one or two weeks and then I'm gone. I have a similar feeling with St. Martin, it's even more touristic.

I have to say that I have little to no knowledge of post-colonial structures in the Caribbean. I have dealt with colonialism here and there, but never intensively or sufficiently.

In any case, the situation gives me this impression.

Today we embark on a new leg of the journey. To make it fair, the watches are mixed up. Well, I'm in the dog watch now. Nice, zero to four o'clock. And since Colombia is only a week away, we won't change watches again until Horta. The duration from Santa Marta to Horta is not quite clear. It could be 30 days or it could be 50. In any case, I won't be among people with internet until mid-January. So for now, I have the dog watch for a good month and a half.

From the fifth to the ninth photo, they are again photos by Christoph Bogner.

Now the longest leg of the journey begins.
Fortunately, the second mate is the most relaxed of all.

That's it for now, even if it's unusual, I wish you all pleasant holidays.
Until then.