Our Italian speedboat, PERLITA TOO, built in 1953, was the very first Riva Tritone in the series, the first Riva delivered to the USA (1953), and as Mr. Riva says, the very first Riva sold outside Italy.

We have now added another ‘first’ to that list. She slipped into the water for the first time in over 30 years when she was launched on June 22 into Seattle’s Lake Union, after four years of meticulous restoration.

A preview of times to come….

Awaiting our turn on the travellift…

Yay! No leaks! Interior and hatches removed for easy access to all systems…

The moment of truth… will she or won’t she?

Going over our procedures before the run.

First in the series of acceleration and planing tests.

The whole reason to do a water test; carb and timing tweaks of the Scripps V12.

Clevis pin and cotter key removed from the bilge and replaced, ready to go again.

Woohoo! (quoting the famous Woody Boater line….)

Satisfied with the test, idling back to the dock past the otherwordly Gasworks .

Mike Velsher, Jim McNeilly, and Butch Dennison discuss the test.

The owner (that’s me) risks a smile while dreaming of cruising PERLITA TOO in Venetian canals – before going back to the shop to work on the never-ending task list.

If you have any comments or suggestions feel free to do so below, or please contact me directly at tritone@BarnFindRiva.com and please check out the complete story of discovery and restoration on……..JUST IMAGINE

James “Sleepless in Seattle”