His approach is based on a mutual appreciation of boats. As a teenager growing up on Martha’s Vineyard, Williams worked summers in a marine store, running a fuel dock, operating a launch service, and learning to be a rigger. At 15, he bought his first sailboat. He soon took up racing, eventually competing in the Bermuda Race, two transatlantic races, the TransPac, and almost every major ocean race in the Northeast.

During the Vietnam War, Williams served on a U.S. Navy Geodetic Survey ship charting the South China Sea, then at the U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Office in Annapolis. Discharged in 1967, he moved to Denmark to apprentice in wooden boatbuilding at Paul Molich’s shipyard in Hundested. Upon returning to the United States, he joined the Hinckley Company in Southwest Harbor as a fiberglass production manager.

Back then, Stanley was an accomplished builder of wooden boats with a shop in the Mt. Desert Island village of Bass Harbor. He had no interest in fiberglass. But, Williams recalled, Stanley realized more fishers were buying fiberglass boats.

As it happened, Stanley’s wife, Norma, worked with Williams in Hinckley’s fiberglass department. At Norma’s urging, the two men joined forces. Williams set up his first shop in Manset but soon moved to an old granite quarry building on Somes Sound’s shore, where the yard remains today. He was impressed with Stanley’s innate sense of shape, proportion, and performance characteristics, and he was eager to collaborate.

The yard quickly had orders from local fishers, then from recreational boaters. Both markets appreciated the design of the 36 and subsequent models for their stable platforms, easy handling, and comfortable midship sections. Rich woodwork offered an elegance rooted in yachting’s golden age.

The designs produced by Stanley, who died in 2007, have remained popular. In recent years, additional interesting projects include the construction of a Douglas Zurn-designed Williams 38 model that’s a modern take on the popular Stanley 38. It features a classic Downeast superstructure, a fast V underbody, and a high-performance power package.

Today, the yard focuses on service and storage, which has grown considerably in the past two years since other local yards have closed or downsized. Notably, Williams absorbed much of the local International One Design fleet and other classic wooden boats when nearby Mt. Desert Yacht Yard scaled back. The team handles repairs, retrofits, restoration, maintenance, and systems work for wood, cold-molded, and fiberglass construction.

The yard had 175 boats in its care this winter. Infrastructure includes a 50-ton Travelift, a 14-ton hydraulic crane with a 60-foot boom, and a 12,000-pound forklift. Plus, waterfront facilities and a mobile marine service during the boating season.

Today, at age 80, Williams has edged back from the business, leaving General Manager Jaime Weir, Operations Manager Lyndsy Clough, and Service Manager Will Ratcliff to run day-to-day operations. On a warm August day last summer, about 20 employees worked in various bays around the yard, performing service and repairs before the decommissioning season started. Down on one dock, Walter and Kate Rush were chatting with Ratcliff. The Rushes had sailed in for some service work. They were delighted with their experience.