Story and Photos by Chris Doyle
On January 4, 2024, a single-engine plane took off from Bequia. On board were pilot Bob Sachs with actor Christian Oliver (Speed Racer) and his two pre-teen daughters, Madita and Annik. Just after take-off the engine failed and the plane crashed into the sea with no survivors.
Bequia lost a larger-than-life figure whose presence on the waterfront was palpable, like a Belisha beacon on a dark night. Many of us find Bob Sachs’ absence hard to accept. As must Oliver’s family and friends.
Bob came from New Jersey and was loud, brash, engaging, and entertaining. He could be moody: his wife, Cathy, recently posted on Facebook: “Stop by for a visit with me and grumpy Bob ”. He was open and hid nothing, including how he felt. He was generous and had no trace of meanness or vindictiveness. He lacked social inhibitions and would talk to anyone, pulling many into his orbit. We loved him just as he was.
I met Bob over 40 years ago in St. Vincent. I was sailing in my Carib 41 and writing an early version of Sailors Guide to the Windward Islands. I heard that new owners had bought the dive shop in Calliaqua. They were still unpacking boxes, and were most surprised when I walked in and said, “I have come to put you in my guide.” That’s how I met Bob and Bill Tewes, an unlikely duo who were to be pivotal in the St. Vincent and Grenadines diving industry.
Within a very short while, Bill and Bob fell out. Bob moved to the Sunny Caribee, Bequia.
Bob’s shop was hopping: divers socializing, après-dive drinks (sometimes many), laughter and lively talk. It became a magnet for me; I anchored my boat right outside. When Bob moved to the Gingerbread hotel, I followed. I took his PADI course and was soon diving; Bob’s diving enthusiasm was infectious. When I started living with Kristina, from Sweden, who I later married, he taught her. For our first night dive Bob said, “Most shops do night dives just after dark. The time to go is 4 a.m., when the night is well established, and we return at dawn.” It was great. Many Bequia diving fishermen were getting the bends, so Bob taught them to dive properly.
Years later, when we were in Sweden, our marriage broke up. It was a bad moment. Bob was in Europe and not too far away. When he heard, he drove to Sweden, and we left for some summer adventures.
Bob had girlfriends, but when he met Cathy, he got serious. Cathy had a young daughter, Willow. Bob found the combination of lovely mother and her bright and funny young daughter irresistible. They married.
Robyn, their baby, was born, and Bob’s enthusiasm for diving waned. As Cathy took over his Dive Bequia, Bob became enthused with his four-seater Bellanca aircraft. Early in his Bellanca years, Bob, Cathy and Willow flew to the U.S. to visit various places and people, including me and my significant other (now wife), Ginny, whom he also trained to dive. It was amazing to see his Bellanca so far from home, landing on the tiny light-aircraft field in our summer home in Post Mills, Vermont. I showed him our local dive shop, many miles from the sea. Willow and Ginny spent hours harvesting food in the garden.
I added color photos to my cruising guide and needed aerial photos. I bought an opening port for Bob’s plane and on countless flights took photos from St. Martin to Grenada. In the Saintes, Bob had to fly to Guadeloupe, pick up a pilot, and be trained to land at the tiny airstrip.
Long ago, Dominica’s minister of tourism invited me to a yachting conference in Dominica. I accepted, but just as I was to leave, LIAT went on strike. Bob said “let’s go!” My entrance at the conference during the strike raised a cheer. This was the first step in getting regulations changed, making Dominica a yachting destination.
Bob always helped people in need. Once I had a problem with the diesel outboard on my catamaran, Ti Kanot. I discovered that I could buy a used part in Tobago. It is a longish flight, but again Bob took me. Another time, early during Covid, I wanted to get to the U.S. but was stuck in Grenada with no flights. When flights returned to St. Vincent, Bob flew to Grenada and took me up.
Bob had an outsized place in my heart. I am sure that was true for many others. Bill Tewes died some years ago. But between them, Bill and Bob were responsible for making St. Vincent and the Grenadines a diving destination. Bob also trained Glenroy, whose dive shop in Union Island is the center of diving in the Grenadines. As proprietress of Dive Bequia, Cathy is an immensely popular dive instructor who can turn anxious and nail-biting students into confident and relaxed divers. She also runs Bequia’s reef-growing project and is a vital part of Bequia’s waterfront.
I am sad Bob is no more, but the positive effect he had on the waterfront in Bequia, and in many of our hearts, lives on.
