Wood Hull, Fiberglass Top
Combines Best of Both for
New Lobster Boat Design

by Laurie Schreiber

Richard Stanley in front of his shop on Little Island in Bass Harbor. Stanley recently moved from the Southwest Harbor yard his father had since the 1950s. Laurie Schreiber photo

TREMONT – Richard Stanley has wooden boatbuilding talent built into his DNA.

Now he’s moving ahead with an idea he’s had for a long time – to custom-build wooden lobsterboat hulls to be fitted with fiberglass tops.

Earlier this year, Stanley moved his operation, co-owned and operated with his wife Lorraine, to a spacious shop on the Bass Harbor shore that will give him all the room he needs to pursue his craft. His company, Richard Stanley Custom Boats, is now in the middle of the community’s busiest activities, from the year-round lobsterboat fleet to summertime tour boats and restaurants. The yard is equipped with two marine railways, TraveLift, forklift, trailer-launching ramp and marina facilities.

Partly renovated and partly new buildings, the shops have ample room for new construction of boats up to 36 feet and repair work on boats up to 40 feet. There is additional new indoor space for storing and maintaining a small number of long-time customers’ wooden boats.

Since the recession, Stanley has been concentrating on the storage, maintenance and repair end of his business. Now the time is right, he said, to get back into new construction.

Richard Stanley discusses his concept for a lobsterboat built with a wooden hull and a fiberglass top. Laurie Schreiber photo

Stanley learned his craft from a young age by working on many of the classics built by the likes of Wilbur Morse, Charles Morse, Bobby Rich, Ronald Rich, Nevins, Herreshoff, Bob Direktor, Raymond Bunker, Hinckley and Farnham Butler, as well as his father, Ralph Stanley. He ran his father’s shop, in Southwest Harbor, for 30 years before striking out on his own, first as Great Harbor Boatworks and now under his own name.

The wooden hull/fiberglass top concept offers the best of both worlds, he said.

“There are a lot of fishermen who got out of wooden boats and got new fiberglass boats, and they aren’t very happy,” he said. For one thing, fiberglass hulls have a quicker motion than wood, and they slap the water. Wooden hulls have an easier roll to them. “And fiberglass, even the same hull as a wood boat, doesn’t perform the same. The wood hull gives you a much nicer ride and it’s easier to work out of. A fiberglass boat is harder on the body. A lot of fishermen are finding they’re not happy with the fiberglass boats, and they’re hurting.”

Stanley plans to offer his wooden hulls with the platform and engine fitted in. The hulls will then go to fiberglass manufacturers, who can custom-fit the deck by building with fiberglass panels. The tops will require far less maintenance than a wood top.

“A wooden top is a lot of work,” he said. “A wooden boat usually rots from the top down because freshwater gets through the top.”

Stanley said he plans to work closely with customers to achieve their custom specifications using traditional wooden boatbuilding methods. For more information, call (207) 244-3795, email info@richardstanleyboats.com, or visit richardstanleycustomboats.com.