After our superb luncheon it was time to return to the bank of the Dee where the ebb tide was already running. We were not the only ones heading for the sea. B449, FV Mytilus from Belfast had already embarked from Kirkcudbright quay.
Once on the water it was apparent that the morning's wind (which we had battled against) had dropped...
...now we were going its way. However, we did have tidal assistance and it was not too long until we...
...passed St Mary's Isle and caught sight of...
...Little Ross Island again.
The weather was really quite exceptional for October in Scotland.
The Dundrennan Range was still firing so we kept well over to the west shore of the bay.
Ian called the Range boat the MV Gallovidian III on the VHF to confirm our route.
In the Solway bays trees often descend right to the shore giving the impression that you are paddling in...
...a pond in a park but appearances can be deceptive as the open sea and 4 knot tides...
...are just round the corner.
As we approached the mouth of Kirkcudbright Bay the wind picked up again but not one of the Robin Rigg wind turbines was turning. I wonder why...?
We entered The Sound at 8km/hr without paddling but there was no sign of any tidal action and so we decided to stop...
...on a rare pebbled beach opposite Little Ross for a short break. Due to the cliffs and reefs we would not be stopping again until we reached Castle Haven Bay some 20km from Kirkcudbright.
Because the north wind was with the ebb tide, the water in The Sound was flat as a pancake. This was a bit of a pity because...
...normally the ebb runs against the prevailing SW wind which stirs things up rather nicely like on this occasion...
...with Tony a couple of years before.
As it was, there was only the slightest riffle on the water as we cleared Fox Craig and left the sheltered waters of Kirkcudbright Bay for the open waters off the Solway coast.
