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...