Nautique Nr.7/2008 “Riva uit Monaco”
text: David Bakels
Photography: David de Jong
About old boats and new times
Warm shimmering waves lap quietly under the dock of a small shipyard in Amsterdam.This afternoon you not only feel the heat, you smell it, that distinctive smell of water and old and new wood.
Inside the boathouse, in the dim light, waits a quiet armada.
Almost sated with the sight of vintage boats, clinker built, with lavishly enamelled curves honed by decades of care and costly renovation, the eye spies, in the back, on high trestles, in the half-light from the open doors, the impressive shape of an enormous old speedboat. We get closer: a high, sharp bow with a wide deck merging into a narrow hull with convex sides, razor sharp, made to pierce through water. Unmistakably this is a Riva Aquarama. What a boat! Such a symbol of power, speed and expensive beauty. Then, and surely still, an iconic symbol of wealth. It looks new. The enamel thicker and richer then ever. We climb steps and look inside: Brand new shining instruments, a white and turquoise steering wheel; the upholstery as flashy, vivid and tightly stretched as if it had just rolled out of the world famous shipyard in Sarnico, Italy.
No matter how beautiful, we did not come for this mighty Aquarama.
Somewhere here, in this small Amsterdam shipyard, must be the ultimate boat, the Riva Tritone, that once belonged to Prince Rainier Grimaldi, of Monaco. The present Dutch owner, who lives in Switzerland, has had the TR62/1958 restored here. And now, after three years, he will surely have it brought back to Switzerland for a second life. But, before this Royal Riva leaves our waters, we have the opportunity to look at and admire the result of three years of work, that is 3.500 hours!
Apparently the Tritone is not in this building, but already outside in the small harbour. We try to get out of the place, bending down, slipping between and under boats in the direction of the open doors, when suddenly someone appears in the dim light behind the Riva. Shyly he says hello in English and, smiling, hides his digital camera behind his back, as if ashamed of his admiration for this Italian beauty. He soon disappears.
Outside is a tiny harbour with small docks. On the other side dilapidated houses and fishing-boats, and drowsy ducks.This is West Amsterdam, this lake not far from the A10, an enormous contrast to the traditional environment of the Riva!. It belongs on the blue waters of the Swiss or Italian lakes, or in the Mediterranean along the French or Italian Riviera. There it cuts through waves with thundering, spouting exhaust pipes and the mighty roar of two fully powered engines. On board, beautiful people from the international jet-set heading for the sunny landing-stages of princely waterside villas and restaurants, where bowing servants in crisp white linen meet and take over: Locarno, Ascona, Lugano, Cannes, Monaco, St. Jean Cap Ferrat. Those kinds of places.
But here we meet Tom Hemelaar, owner of ‘Classic Boat’. He looks tall and friendly as he walks across the dock in our direction. He tells us about his work and the staff with a typical Amsterdam accent. As we walk back to his small office he tells us the history of his company and the Tritone. Behind this boathouse, there are many other buildings, small ones, big ones, workshops with equipment to work on famous boats and ships from all over the world. You would never expect to find them here.
While we drink a cup of tea, Tom tells us the story of this ‘ex-Rainier Tritone’. The boat was built in 1958 for its princely pirate-descendant with the beautiful name, Grimaldi.
The Tritone is 8m20, the same length as the Aquarama, but different because it has a closed deck in the back instead of a sun bed; a sign of more serious use, and two six cylinder engines instead of a double V8. It is even ‘special’ in the world of Rivas. Between 1957 and 1966 only a small number of Tritones were built. In the roaring sixties prosperity rose and members of royal families, captains of industry, artists and actors, rose to be international stars, the south of France and thus Monaco was “the place to be”. And a Riva was “the boat to be seen in”. The Riva Tritone TR62 must have received many VIPs and celebrities, guests of the Grimaldis, on its deck.
And of course, Grace Kelly, the American actress, who became Mrs Grimaldi.
The TR62 was always perfectly taken care of by an engineer of Riva Monaco Boat Service in Monte Carlo. When years later, the Grimaldi family no longer used the Riva, the prince gave it to the engineer who considered the boat as his own child. Delighted, but financially unable to restore it, the engineer finally sold the boat to an enthusiast who had been badgering him for years to buy it, always promising to restore the boat personally. It took this person twenty-five years of work before realising that he could not finish, was tired of it, and did not actually want it anymore. So it was sold to the present Dutch owner.
‘What my client payed for this boat?’ Tom asks with a smile. A lot! At the moment, a Riva in unrestored condition, if ever there were any, would at least fetch a hundred thousand euro. And of course the boat’s history is unique.
Meanwhile, after a three year complete restoration of the Tritone, regardless of costs, the value of this Royal Riva has been estimated very high, also because of its magnificent condition and its royal history.
‘Even if an older Riva looks good, the worst thing is that the joiners’ glue between the timber and planks becomes hard and crumbly and ceases to bond. The joints break and the boat slowly falls apart. You always have to strip a lot when you restore an older Riva.
Moreover on this TR62/1958 there were many places on the hull that were badly damaged irreparably dented and warped, because of all those years of lying on trestles. Compare it to a whale: it cannot survive for long on shore because it squeezes itself to death. ‘We had to replace several sections completely. We have a great stock of timber in lots of colours and sizes that have been aging for years. This is important for the structure and the colour. We used a special mahogany from Africa, called ‘sipo-mahogany’. Most of the planks are 13 meters long, the height of an adult tree. But we can only use the part in the middle of the trunk. So we sawed off ‘banana peelings’ of 8 meters length and 13mm thick.
‘But what took up most of the time during this 3.500 hours restoration job? You have to sand, sand and sand again… That is what takes most of the time; sanding.
To get this famous Riva shape back, you cannot use primer because you never paint a Riva. We had to spray it with at least 30 layers of two-component enamel. That’s what gives it the characteristic Riva glow. You would see priming almost instantly.
The bottom was also expensive: 30.000. The interior was even more labour intensive. It determines the look of the boat. It has to be perfect. The inside and the upholstery are new, thanks to a network of suppliers, often from Italy, where I was able to get the original materials. If what is needed no longer exists, I have it made. The same goes for the instrument panel and the cabin floor. Exactly the same as they were. Look at the cabin and the floor. All hand-made.
I called on our specialist for the nine clocks and gauges on the instrument panel. Dials, hands, glass, all new and often hand-made. Do you see the steering wheel? Handmade! More beautiful than when it was new. We even turned the gold-plated screw in the middle ourselves. As far as the condition of the engines and controls was concerned, the Tritone was in good shape, for a boat that has been out of the water for a quarter of a century. The Tritone has two side valve six cylinder engines in-line, each engine 175 BHP. With Hercules under-blocks. We read in the logbook that the engines had only run 900 hours, and that even the grease was original and had not yet dried out. So, we only took of the cylinder head and cleaned the valves and the valve seats, and put new gaskets in. After pumping clean oil through the engines and changing the oil several times, it started running immediately. Finally, we had to tune and synchronise both machines and adapt them to modern fuel. So, let’s try it out!’
We take a motorboat out to a kind of peninsula. From a distance we can see the Riva lying in a covered berth. We are speechless! This world famous boat. Shining, radiant! ‘The Tritone had had its ‘shake down’ yesterday, a first hour and a half trip to test engines and controls. Now with the help of several mechanics we untied the Tritone and pushed it out of the berth. You could see the tension on their faces, especially Tom seemed nervous. All eyes riveted, everyone frightened of scratches and damage, of sailing it, even. Once the boat is in the water we go on board. Stocking feet, of course. Our imagination runs away with us….sacred wood… All the people who have gone before us on this boat. Who were they? Guests of the prince? Royalty? In how many forgotten books and magazines could we find pictures of this Tritone and its guests?
Sitting in the front-seat behind the window with all of the chrome gives us almost the same feeling as sitting in an American car from the sixties. The upholstery is in two different colours; there are vinyl and chrome strips on the instrument panel and cabin-floor. Under the bow a small cabin with inlaid orange-brown woodwork. So Italian! So beautifully handcrafted, crafted by true artisans!
Tom starts the first engine and we can hear its characteristic roaring sound. We feel goose bumps all over when the second one bursts in. A double staccato of sound and vibrations. Since the Tritone has two engines it has two ball-shaped chrome throttles, one for each engine. And each engine has its own drive-shaft and propeller. So it is important to steer with precision. Tom handles them to get out of the harbour. A bit more on the left, and then on the right. We are gliding, swooping roar-spouting towards the open water of the New Lake. We have to get used to the Tritone sound!
Then he manipulates the chrome throttle balls and accelerates, opening the throttle completely. Avanti! The noise rises to a frightening roar that makes us think of a Lancaster bomber. It is even more impressive when the boat bursts from the water like an angry sea-monster. And we too are lifted some two meters above the water-surface. The only things we see, our backs firmly pushed into the back of the front-seat, are the bow and the blue sky. The Tritone is leaving six tracks of foam behind. Three on each side!
Incredible. This power! We reach 70 kilometres per hour.
The Tritone leans above the water, walls of foam rolling away, and with deafening smacks it skips over its own waves. We smell the heat of the engines, the oil, and we can hear the wood settling, solidly creaking. A shake down indeed!
Tom brings the throttles down and, majestically, the Riva sinks back into the water. He opens the hatches to have a look. It is OK. He finishes with some cut-capers, tests and sprints. It is time to go back to the harbour.
The sun is setting. The yellow light turns the colour of the bow into orange-gold… This famous Riva Tritone TR62/1958 will soon go back to Switzerland. Here? Never again.
As if Tom reads our thoughts, he says: ‘I am always glad to get rid of such a boat. You know, they are so beautiful after restoration, such a lot of money goes into it, I am so afraid of scratches…So heigh-ho, away with it!
‘By the way! I have to deliver a boat this evening. An Aquarama. Ordered by a Swede. Did you see him? In the boathouse? With his camera? I see it this way: One Riva less in my shipyard, the world one Riva richer.’
