The sail on Friday from Cudillero had been boisterous but at least the sun shone

Gijon is a coaling port and the wharfs are situated in the north west corner of the harbour. Whilst we were back in the UK the wind blew hard (from the northwest !) and Marita was somewhat dirty. This morning in Ribadeo the boat boy washed the boat down whilst the first mate tackled the complexities of the laverie. We then put Marita’s summer hat (bimini) on to keep us cool in the cockpit.

The river here is the boundary between Asturias (East bank) and Galicia (West bank). Ribadeo is in Galicia with the village of Figueras opposite. This is mainly a ship building village.

The pilot book describes the village of Castropol, also on the east bank, "as a place where the better off merchants and ship owners lived”. 

The river is wide and fast flowing with shifting sand so we caught the ferry across. Albatros V was our transport——a bit like crossing from Falmouth to Flushing.

A lovely village and a good place for a glass of beer

waiting for the ferry—Ribadeo across the water

The village is also well known for its rowing club and in particular for providing olympic oarsmen. The pilot gig lookalike is actually rowed by 14 rowers

In Ribadeo they have a sailing fleet of wooden sailing boats——a standing lugsail very much like a lateen. However too windy for them to venture out today.

The actual town of Ribadeo is a mixture of old and new. They have built a lift from the harbour up to the town square for aged and infirm sailors. We went up it.