I’m a little late on this one as I just found out but we lost a member of our marina community. William “Bill” Roberts died on March 5, 2021 at the age of 94. Bill had a Catalina 22 “Cariad” on J dock for MANY years. He would go sailing
at least once a week by himself well into his 80’s. I loved talking to Bill. He was very humble; would go out in any conditions alone and was quite adept at taking care of himself on the lake. I remember going out on Rescue One in five foot seas and 30
to 40mph wind to check on Bill to see if he needed a tow or assistance. I would find him anchored just waiting the wind out. In all my years working out here and him sailing out here I never had to go assist him once.
He was fun to talk to. He was born in 1926 and grew up in England with the hardships that WWII brought. He eventually served near the end of the war as a morse code operator for the Royal Navy and served off Normandy during Operation
Overlord. When he moved to Utah he struggled to figure out how he was going to stand life without sailing. He finally found a solution in the Great Salt Lake and a Catalina 22. Later, when he could no longer sail and he needed daily assistance of his family,
they would bring Bill out to visit his beloved lake.
Here is a link to his obituary:
https://www.larkinmortuary.com/obituary/view/william-%22bill%22-roberts--74/