![riva runabout riva runabout](https://www.thecollectorscompany.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/46da94780d82624567f02ef5647e135a/w/p/wp_20180907_13_18_43_pro.jpg)
I’ve always loved runabouts, “gold cup” racers, and Gatsby-era speedboats, and designers and designs like Gar Wood and Hacker and Chris Craft. Springtime work pressed itself upon us, and this project was set aside for later consideration.īut by then I had gained redoubled affection for the Riva mystique. He thought that 3M’s 5200 Marine Adhesive might’ve been a better choice. He believed that judges might look askance at epoxy, since it didn’t look like the hide, casein, and resorcinol glues used when the boat was built. Once the glue hardened we thought we’d achieved an unlikely success.īut when the owner heard about our use of epoxy, he voiced concerns. Elk and I and several helpers came up with a way to take a single big square section of mahogany, run thin saws through it lengthwise, goop it up with epoxy, then hold it loosely with metal hose clamps and distress it into position-all of this frustrating process accompanied by commentary not fit to print.
![riva runabout riva runabout](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/9c/ff/d39cff62024789100ed8c532ef9a3247.jpg)
The boat’s owner went back home to New York. It was generally held that if anyone could do the impossible with a Riva chine, this was the magician who could do the job.
![riva runabout riva runabout](https://img.nauticexpo.com/images_ne/photo-g/64574-8852943.jpg)
After several hits and misses, he kept hearing about some guy named Rudi up on Lake Tahoe. Elk decided to get on the phone and seek outside advice. The owner, himself a seasoned yachtsman and woodworker, weighed in.
Riva runabout how to#
Many lively discussions ensued as to how to replicate this process. Adding confoundedness, every fourth frame was notched a little differently. The original full-length mahogany chine was twisted and likely steamed into place, and then notches were cut for each frame. Elk has encountered, and overcome, many challenging situations in his boat restoration career, but these boats were not designed for easy rebuilding. This Riva’s chines were in rough shape-a chine is a length of wood to which both the sides and the bottom are fastened. Our 1959 Riva Super Florida needed to end up sound and seaworthy, while also looking like it had just emerged from a factory in Northern Italy after the close of World War II. In America, such judging has taken place for more than 57 years at mid-summer shows such as Lake Tahoe’s Concours d’Elegance. Classic runabouts are often displayed, judged, and awarded prizes based on authenticity, by how nearly identical they appear to their original condition. We also encountered an important constraint not normally factored into yacht restoration. The ribs, chines, and sheer clamps all needed replacement. But when we began removing the skins (the semi-intact sides and bottom), it became clear that we faced a lot more than re-planking. The first challenge was handled by the boat’s owner, who located full-length mahogany boards, wide and clear and beautiful, to clad the topsides. When the boat arrived one snowy day on a trailer, we surveyed her and quickly realized the job would be daunting. While we are predominantly sailboat people, we love working with wood-especially pretty wood. Jim Elk and I were excited about the privilege, and challenge, of working on a classic powerboat. Word came that we’d been hired to re-plank a mahogany runabout. It all began at Jim Elk’s Spar and Boat Shop on Mount Desert Island, where I am employed part-time. Recently a Riva powerboat restoration prompted me to travel 3,500 miles to attend the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance Wooden Boat Show. Sometimes yacht restoration requires going the extra mile. This classic Riva Super Florida was one of many gorgeously restored wooden runabouts on display at the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance Wooden Boat Show.