The Riva myth starts on the banks of Lake Como, in Laglio, in 1842. One Spring day a fisherman arrives from Sarnico, a village on Lake Iseo in the province of Bergamo. Stunned by how the young Pietro Riva, born in Laglio on 12 March 1822, is repairing his boat that has been damaged by a load of bricks, the visitor proposes he go to Sarnico to repair two boats that have been damaged by the Oglio River bursting its banks and throwing them against the rocks on the river bed. Covering the seventy miles that separate the two lakes marks Pietro's emancipation and the birth of Riva's history.

Pietro's skill is noticed once again in a wooden hut on the River Oglio and his ability as carpenter finds an environment willing to offer him boats both to repair and build. The first commission he receives is for a "fishing boat and Comacine type rowing boat", probably a streamline "inglesina" for one, two and three rowers. The young Riva is able to set himself up and, ten years later, marry Lucrezia Taroni. They have five children: Angelo, Francesco, Ernesto, Erminia and Luigi.

 

Ernesto is sent to Laglio to learn the trade and on returning to Sarnico joins his father as a skilled carpenter. He senses engines are the future and proposes they build larger models. A new yard is needed, built on the other side of the bridge over the River Oglio: it is the so-called "tesone", due to the particular type of roof. Business increases rapidly.

In 1881 Ernesto Riva marries Carolina Malighetti, with whom he has six children: Francesco, Angelo, Serafino, Mauro, Anna and Pierina. In the meantime Ernesto is commissioned to make the first motorboat. Success encourages him to build one of his own. He proposes the first tourist trips on the lake with this boat that he calls Sarnico. In particular the trip to Montisola, the largest lake-island in Europe, includes a visit to the shipyard at lunchtime. Mrs. Riva's kitchen turns into a restaurant that honours the local gastronomic tradition and livens up holidays in particular.