Shaping the keel.

With the keel permanently fastened to the frames with 3M5200, it's time to work on the shape and the rabbet for the bottom. Used the same method on my 17' barrelback and is well described in Dannenberg's book.

First thing to do is to shape the keel to the correct V shape that changes over the length of the boat. Using a block, same thickness as the intended bottom, plus 3 mm (1/8") or so to be on the safe side. Then the a score is made on every frame on the keel. 12 mm for a 9 mm thick cold molded bottom. The extra 3 mm (1/8") will be faired in once the bottom is in place.

Next up is to use a plane, in my case an electric plane, to remove wood down to the score lines on the keel.

Once the keel has it's correct shape, a board with the same thickness as the wood block earlier, is temporary screwd into the frames to hold the same shape as the intended bottom later. By marking how wide you want the rabbet to be, you screw in a second moulding to be used as a depth stop for the hand router.

Then it's just to climb up and start routing. The rabbet is quite wide on this boat, 30 mm up front and 46 mm at the stern. Holding a hand router with a 35 mm diameter router bit is a little "hairy", so I opted to make the 12 mm deep cut in 3 passes, 4 mm at the time.

Matches the rabbet on the original forefoot/stem perfectly.

Keel works.

The old solid piece keel is really warped out of shape, and I will be laminating a new one. Three pieces of mahogany will be glued together with 3M5200, making a much stronger construction.

 Rough cutting a 15' (4.6 meter) mahogany slab into manageable pieces.

With the measurements taken from a string over the boat, the curvature of the keel is recreated on the work bench for gluing.

Back end keel to transom joint.

The keel is attached to the stem/forefoot with a scarf joint. carefully cut with a "japan" saw.

New and old keel side by side.

All framed up.

Over the last month, half of the frames and "knees" has been replaced, and the other half has been repaired, sanded and treated with CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer). The knees has been replaced on these as well. Riva did not use screws in this assembly like the American builders, but used copper rivets and burrs. I have replaced these rivets as original.

Once all the frames are inn, it's time to adjust the seats for the new keel.

I have plugged all the old screw holes in the chine, both from the bottom screws and from the outside 2 x 20 mm brass trim moulding they used to protect the chine/bottom corner. Don't want any cavities where water can collect and create problems in the future.

Next up is the new keel, where I will laminate 3 pcs. of Sipo mahogany with 3M5200 adhesive. This will be many times stronger than the original keel.

Bottom up (or off)

With the boat rolled over, it's time to remove the original 9 mm (3/8") molded, one piece plywood bottom. There are some old repairs to to the bottom, with sheets of plywood riveted to the inside. There is used epoxy as well for this repair, and there is rot around the frames in this area.

First business, find and wire brush all the screws holding the bottom to the frames:

The keel may look good on the picture, but it has a big bow in it where the engine is placed and will be replaced. The chines are in OK shape, and I will keep them.

Here is the "dutchman" repair to the frame, and where the bottom was repaired.

About 2/3 of all the frames will be replaced. mainly because splitting and cracking of the frames.

Rolling over.

Always exiting rolling a boat over. My barrelback I rolled over with two chainfalls from two A-frame structures. In this workshop I have a 10 foot/3 meter ceiling height and a steel beam to hang one chainfall from. Used an engine hoist for the stern end. With help from my father and a friend we rolled it over slow and safely.

 Now the fun begins. Off with the old bottom and see what surprises there are....

Getting started

This summer the previous owner delivered the boat to me. Is a little strange really, of the very few Riva projects available in the world, of the 426 Florida's built and with only 80 remaining, I stumble into one a half hour from where I live.

First thing was to remove all the trim, windshield and interior fixtures and give the bilge a good power wash. It had a good coating of oil and grime.

Moved into the new workshop and getting the hull brazed for the roll over. You can also see the "zebra" stripes across the sides. This is a 1958 model Florida, the first year they used molded plywood sides. The theory is that they did not get the seems in the core layers of the plywood completely tight, during the form pressing. And when presented with humidity, the lines appears. My hope is that a complete stripping and rough sanding, followed by bleaching of the wood will remove these. We'll see...

An old Riva in a barn.

Welcome to this journal documenting the restoration of a 1958 Riva Florida, an Italian mahogany boat. With a 1940 17" barrelback project only half way done, it's somewhat crazy to start another one. But I have always wanted a Riva, and I just could not pass on this opportunity.

The boat had been with the same family since 1987, and is a well used boat. Somewhat tried but all complete, except one bow cleat and a oar-pin. The boat had the leaky original bottom, and took a dive 4 years ago. The engine was removed and preserved, and the boat was placed in a barn awaiting better days. 

My plans are to restore the boat to a correct but "user" condition, no trailer queen. I want to take my kids out tubing and have fun. It will be back to original colors and interior for 1958. It needs a new bottom, keel and frames, and I will do this the original way. Single piece molded plywood bottom and copper rivets in the frame knees.

Check in for updates!