There are so many different coves in Martinique and we wanted to explore some more of the island.  So, we sailed north to Trois Ilets.  Our guidebook indicated that it would be a calm anchorage without swells.  This area is tucked way back in the Forte de France Bay, which was huge.  We anchored in the bay off of a golf course.  The guidebook was correct in that we didn’t get swells there.  However, the waves were two feet high or so because the wind had the whole bay to kick them up.  The water in this bay was cloudy, so we didn’t want to go in the water.

This town was definitely local and didn’t really cater to yachters.  The first day that we arrived was the end of Carnival.  So, many of the businesses were closed.  Garbage was strewn along the streets and the entire area looked neglected.  We did meet a nice man at the dinghy dock who understood my broken French enough to tell us it was OK to tie up our dinghy.  I felt a little guarded walking around this area.  We walked up the hill towards the church and then went in search of the best patisserie on the island, according to Doyle’s guidebook.  We found it and the patisseries were beautiful.  We also found where the laundrett was located as well as the gas station and the grocery store. 

Along this walk we came to a round-about.  There were 15 to 20 foot high statues in the round-about that seemed to depict slavery.  We had seen signs to a slave memorial as well.  So, I believe this is a strong part of the culture in Trois Ilets. 

After completing our laundry and going grocery shopping, we were back on the boat.  A small tender with “Douane” marked on the side and several authoritative men dressed in black came up close to the back of our boat.  They peered in at us, through the laundry that I had hung to finish drying.  They kept going, however, and we definitely kept an eye on them.  Later I read that they were customs.  I’m guessing that we were so far tucked away in the bay that they get ne’er-do-wells in there.  Because we didn’t love the anchorage, we decided to move our boat to Pointe de Bout.