Fiery matters at a Barlocco dawn.

 Dawn over Barlocco proved to be more than a match for the previous evenings sunset. It was as if...

 ...our fire from the previous evening had some how set the clouds alight.

 Before the first sun of the day fell on our beach...

 ...the Galloway Hills of Cairnharrow, Ben John and Mill Knock were illuminated in beautiful red light.


 We went down to the boats to collect our breakfast things as the sun slowly but steadily...

 ...dropped towards sea level, lighting successive layers of the land and seascape as it did so.

 There was not much sign of life at the caravan site across the bay as...

 ...we warmed ourselves by the embers and warm stones of the previous night's super fire. Note that the large round log which formed the back of our fire has completely disappeared! This year has been a good year for fires. We are not just talking size but also about heat output. Crispy trouser bottoms are a sign of a good fire but are not in themselves a measure of how good a fire is. However, we now have a rough scale to judge future fires by: ten Inchmarnocks (Ix) make one Cara (Cx) and ten Caras make one Barlocco (Bx). It might be some time till we have another Barlocco (Bx)! A key feature of this fire had been Ian's large log fireback which acted both as a reflector and a generator of heat..

In the background we saw the tide was coming in but we were in no rush to carry the boats far. So Mike toasted his toes by the embers and Ian went hunting for shells.

Jennifer had found a groatie buckie (cowrie) on this beach and given it to me for my 60th birthday. Ian did his best to spot one but there were none to be found.

I went looking for lichens to photograph and gradually the tide came up to the boats...

The folly of not bringing a trolley to Barlocco.

 Well laden with wood, we paddled out of Castle Haven under...

 ...the watchful yellow eye of the local heron.

 The sun was sinking fast, almost as fast as the sea level and...

 ...despite our best efforts the bar which connects Barlocco Isle to the mainland had dried. Our destination at Barlocco beach (the one with the fort folly) was 320m away on the other side. We could paddle 2.5km round Barlocco but the carry would still be 250m. A trolley would have been most beneficial but as I already knew there was little fire wood on the beaches, I had advised Ian and Mike to leave the trolleys and bring wood instead. In retrospect we should have brought one trolley and only two of us should have brought logs.

Anyway the retrospectoscope is a very powerful instrument so we had no choice but to get on with it. We left our bags of wood at the bar and carried the three kayaks up the beach. That was 1km of walking and 1km of carrying! We discovered that burning logs is not the only way to get warm. We just managed to beat...

 ...the sunset which was truly magnificent.

 The Solway skies really are wonderful whatever time of day...

...but this sunset was something special to behold.

My knees were absolutely killing me after the carry so I dropped my things and set up my tent just at the top of the beach beside the folly. The ground was not exactly level but my knees were done and I didn't care.

Ian and Mike found a much better camp site just 150m further on. Ian then very generously went back to recover the logs during the best bit of the sunset. I was particularly pleased about this as I just could not face a fourth trip back down the beach and back.

 While Ian was doing this I took some more photos with...

 ...his camera so that he would not miss out on photographs to help remember the wonderful Solway sunset by.

On his travels Ian had also found two very large logs which he rolled into place. One provided a back for the fire the other provided a seat. I used one of our ignition aids (bag of barbeque coals) and got the fire going with one match.

 As the giant star Arcturus slowly set in the west behind the Sun, we roasted sweet potatoes and Ian rushed off to replenish the supplies of Jura, which had run perilously low. My knees began to feel better and we chatted long into the night. On the far side of Wigton Bay the lights of the Machar's villages twinkled as meteors streaked and satellites cruised through the myriad of stars in the Milky Way above.

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.