The sound of heavy guns and a mushroom cloud rising over the Solway.

As we turned to the west we left Little Ross Island and the sound of heavy gunfire at the Dundrennan Range far behind.

The dramatic cliffs, stacks and skerries of this stretch of coast make an amazing contrast to the sheltered wooded coastline, which we had just left in Kirkcudbright Bay.

 We were now sheltered from the north wind and the sun on the rocks made it feel almost balmy...

...though in the shade of the narrow passages it was already very cold. We came across...

...this lion rampant mimetolith as we emerged into the sunlight again.

More gunfire from the range accompanied our return to the open sea. Even though we were now some distance away, the reverberations of some particularly heavy rounds shook the channel walls and our chests.

Once clear of the cliffs at Fauldbog Bay we looked back to discover a huge mushroom cloud. What on earth were they firing?

 Beyond the boundaries of Brighouse Bay the breach...

 ....in the cliffs ended and the rocks reared up again.

  The wind swung round to the east and we benefited as it was no longer being broken up by the cliffs.

The wind assistance was most welcome as...

 ...we still had a long...

 ...long way to go. Once round Ringdoo Point we made for...

 ...Castle Haven Bay where we had left a stash of firewood.

The tide was dropping and the day was fading fast as we paddled into the bay. Our stash of firewood was actually a wooden pallet and we did not have long to demolish it. Ian broke the main timbers with a boulder before tackling the smaller pieces with a saw. I removed the nails so that they would not puncture our dry bags, which we attached to our back decks. The whole operation had taken just over 15 minutes but the bay had rapidly emptied. We really needed to press on. An 8m tide in the Solway goes out a long way...

The Little Ross "tide race" was like a stroll in the park!

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.