Ralph W. Stanley, 92

Southwest Harbor, Maine

Ralph W. Stanley died unexpectedly Dec. 7, 2021 at Mount Desert Island Hospital. He was born in Bar Harbor, on Maine’s Mt. Desert Island. His mother was a registered nurse, and his father was a lobster fisherman who also skippered yachts for well-to-do summer residents. Stanley descends from a long line of mariners who first settled on the island around 1760. He grew up in the small island community of Southwest Harbor. Commercial fishing boats and pleasure boats have always been a prominent part of the local landscape, and he was attracted to them at an early age. As a youngster, he made toy boats out of wood and played with them in the harbor. He also enjoyed drawing boats. When he was old enough, he accompanied his father when he went out to haul his lobster traps. During his high school years, Stanley became interested in boatbuilding. World War II was in progress, and since the local boatyards were humming with activity, he observed the construction of large fishing boats and other vessels. After earning an associate degree from a college in northern Maine, Stanley returned to Southwest Harbor. Not sure what occupation he wanted to pursue, he decided to try to build a boat. He earned the money he needed to buy wood and other construction materials, and during the winter of 1951-1952, he built a 28-foot lobster boat. The boat turned out well, and a local person bought it. This led to orders for other boats. Stanley learned how to build boats – not by apprenticing himself to another boatbuilder – but by using boats and keenly observing the activities of several professional boatbuilders who specialized in the Mt. Desert Island version of the Maine lobster boat. In designing his boats, Stanley used locally available wood.

Stanley built many traditional boats throughout his career: approximately 70 vessels – from small sailboats to large offshore lobster boats, most of which are still in use. He designed his boats either by drawing scaled-down “lines plans” on paper, carving scaled-down wooden half-hull models, and then drawing out or “lofting” the boat’s full-scale lines on the floor of his shop. In addition to fishing boats, Stanley also built numerous pleasure crafts. These included engine-powered pleasure boats derived from the lobster boat hull form, sometimes called “lobster yachts.” Other pleasure boats he built were single-masted sailing vessels called “Friendship sloops.” Originally built in and around the coastal village of Friendship, Maine, in the 1880s, they were used by commercial fishermen. Eventually they were replaced by engine-powered boats that gave greater speed and range. However, during the `60s and `70s, there was a revival of interest in Friendship sloops by recreational sailors. Stanley played a significant role in their revival by restoring old sloops and building new ones in the old style. Stanley was one of Maine’s few remaining professional boatbuilders solely engaged in wooden boat construction. “Building wooden boats is like climbing a still-growing tree where you never get to the top,” he said. “I keep finding new ways of doing things and new things to do. You can always improve; you’re always looking to improve.”