So, we left Dakar an hour or so before dawn which might sound very early but in fact was about 0530. As we headed south the wind died and our engine was back in use because we wanted to reach the anchorage in the River Saloum before it got dark again. At lunchtime a patrol boat appeared out of the haze and it soon became clear he was coming across to us which was a bit disconcerting - looked a bit sophisticated for pirates though so that was some reassurance. When close to us a charming voice in English came over the radio to say that they were the Senegalese Navy and to ask permission to board. We told him we were British and ruled the waves so he could bugger off. Dream on - we readily agreed of course and soon a black RIB was coming across. Once it was a few yards away I could make out two guys in woolly hats, one wearing plastic sandals and one in military fatigues and carrying a rifle - a right motley crew and I thought our time was up. Needless to say it was the Senegalese Navy and very nice they were too!

Delayed by our boarding experience it was very dark by the time we were dropping anchor in the Saloum at Djifere. There is a new buoyed channel into the Saloum that is marked on the charts and is where the river has broken through what was a long narrow sandy peninsular with the sea one side and the river the other. However, the exposed sandy peninsular is now eroding away so quickly that the landform shown on the charts has changed significantly. Added to the fact that the main navigational feature, a water tower near the anchorage appears to have gone and that there is a radio mast with a bright red light on the top that is not shown on the charts, we had little option in the dark but to trust the GPS waypoints set on the chart plotter. Fortunately these proved to be pretty accurate and just as well because we were close to a long wooden disused jetty that we hadn’t seen when anchoring.

The following day we motored up river for a couple of hours but, given that the river is wide and lined with mangrove, the land flat and featureless there wasn’t a lot to see. We strolled back down under genoa to Djifere to find our friendly Senegalese Navy patrol boat at anchor. As we had checked out of Senegal in Dakar and told him we were headed for Banjul we waited for a call but none came although we could see we were under binocular scrutiny from the bridge. Annie and I were keen to visit the nearby town of Dionouar where there is supposed to be a good sheltered anchorage but two gentle groundings suggested that the channel had changed since our 2009 cruising guide description so we headed back up to Djifere and nonchalantly dropped anchor behind the patrol boat.

Before we left Djifere we made what was for us an early morning visit to the village and bought a couple of fish - Annie hopes to post some good photos as soon as we can find some wifi. The most significant nautical event was to discover how quickly we can row our dingy into a strong headwind when we think the anchor is dragging and the boat getting very close to the beach. The oars were a whirling blur as we planed across the waves.