Robert Stanley Waters died peacefully on July 30, 2009 after a prolonged illness. Born Sept. 19, 1942, to Bob and Ethel Waters, he lived in Langley for the last 12 years.

Bob grew up in Manhattan Beach and Santa Barbara, Calif., where his love of the ocean originated. He became an avid sportsman, fishing, surfing — he was one of the first members of the Velzy Surf Team — and sailing. He opened the Greg Noll surf shop in Santa Barbara and was a charter member of the Santa Barbara Surf Club.

After high school, Bob joined the Navy and qualified for the submarine service, earning the much coveted “Silver Dolphin” status.

After the service, he became a professional crewman and skippered on several yachts. He competed in and won many races and, at the same time, accumulated exciting tales of adventure. He left that life to attend college. His introduction to geology by a well-respected professor resulted in a dramatic shift in interests, from the ocean to the underground world of mines.

He graduated from University of Nevada’s Mackay School of Mines and began a successful career as a mining engineer.

A brief marriage in the early ’70s produced an amazing son, Don Waters, who is a published author, now living in Las Cruces, N.M.

After retirement, Bob moved to the Northwest to be near his parents, Bob and Ethel Waters of Langley. He returned to his first loves of fishing and sailing and took advantage of charter trips to great fishing spots, having journeyed with a group including Langley’s current Mayor Paul Samuelson, on a dream trip to Alaska. He purchased a Catalina 30 sailboat, which he used for family outings and local events with friends and kept in Oak Harbor, where he was a member of the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. He became a Master Mariner and earned an Advanced Piloting License.

He is survived by his son, Don Waters and his partner Robin Romm; his mother and father, Bob and Ethel Waters, long-time residents of Langley; his two sisters and their husbands, Kathryn and Tucker Stevens of Langley, and Ginger Waters and Robbie Rath of Honolulu, Hawaii; nephews Brian Hodges and Jason Sarff; nieces Elisabeth Hodges and Kate Mason; and grandnieces Madison Mason and Giselle Sarff. Services will be announced.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Good Cheer Food Bank.