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SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE Easing his pain
Old and new friends come together to help ailing angler get back on the water For Bob Sangster, for just a moment, maybe two, it was as if the horrific head-on collision he had with a drunk driver back in June on Otay Lakes Road had never happened. Sangster took one glimpse at his shiny Ranger bass boat that looked like new and the repaired trailer under it and tears welled up in the eyes of a man who has felt far too much pain in recent months. Sangster was left with his arm resting on the bow of his 1985 Ranger bass boat after the head-on crash tore the boat off its trailer and slammed it into the cab of his Ford Ranger truck. It took countless surgeries and lots of tender loving care to put Sangster back together again, and now the same thing had been done for his second love, his baby, his bass boat. "This is a good day, what a day," he said Tuesday, wiping away tears of joy for a change as he stood among a group of close friends. "You guys have gone and made an old man cry." It was a wonderful dreamlike day in what has been a nightmarish five months for Sangster and his wife, Billie. After Bob turned 79 in June he was looking forward to fishing and spending more time with Billie, who had just retired, and his granddaughter, Robin Senne. Bob and Billie's 19th wedding anniversary was coming up on July 4, but their life plans changed drastically June 18 because of a drunk driver. On this day, for this wonderful occasion, there was no talk of the accident or the driver who crashed into him, only of the recovery and the incredible kindness and caring that went into putting Bob's boat back together. It started after a conversation between Kelly Salmans, a close friend of Sangster's and Art Bailey, manager at Boat Depot, when the two met up at the El Cajon Ford San Diego Team Open in August. Salmans asked Bailey if he could assist in getting the boat refurbished. Bailey took the request to Boat Depot owner Joann Paradis, who approved the project, knowing that members of her staff – Bailey, Allen "Bull" LeMay, Scott Brown and Rodger Moore – would donate their time on the boat. Boat Depot also absorbed the cost of other items such as a battery charger, stereo, CD player, livewell pump and more. "We stripped the boat down to where it was just the bare-bones hull," Bailey said. "Our fiberglass guy, Alan LeMay, donated all his time, 96 hours in all, on this. The San Diego Council of Bass Clubs paid for the paint, about $1,000." Bailey said he couldn't see putting old gauges in the newly painted boat, so he put in new gauges and hardware, all donated by Costa Haramis of Port Supply. Brian Kowalski and his wife donated the new Lowrance Flasher, and Propellers of San Diego repaired the prop, which also looks like new. Ranger Boats chipped in the hydraulic steering and new steering wheel. "It's going to be a lot easier for Bob to steer this boat," Bailey said. But a boat needs a motor, and a bass boat needs a trolling motor so an angler like Sangster can maneuver around a lake to find areas where bass hide. Former San Diego bass pro Dean Rojas, the 24th-ranked bass angler on bassfan.com's State Farm World Rankings, donated a new $12,000 150 Mercury motor and a new $1,000 MotorGuide trolling motor. "Bob did a lot for me in my life, and this is the minimum I could do," Rojas said. "He was a father figure for me and just a wealth of information for me growing up. He was there in my life when I needed someone to talk to and needed some direction. I probably wouldn't be here right now because he was the main person in San Diego who helped me through some really tough times growing up." Salmans worked as the coordinator. He said Express Muffler of Santee donated time and material to put the trailer back together. And Barry Cheskaty, treasurer of the San Diego Council of Bass Clubs, presented Sangster with a check for $1,346 to spend on whatever he wished. "I wish it was for more, but by God we're proud to give this to you, Bob," Cheskaty said. "This is a result of a lot of people pulling together to help a friend, but Bob, honestly, we're just glad you're still alive." Sangster, never one to be short of dialogue, said, "For the first time in my life, I'm speechless. What a day. What a day." Most of those involved showed up to see Sangster's face when he saw his "baby" for the first time. Bill Van Wulven of Barnacle Bill's chipped in some rods and reels and tackle. John and Vickie Cassidy of Western Plastics and Angler's Arsenal presented Bob with a rod and reel. John Cassidy gave Sangster an Angler's Arsenal shirt that said: "Here Today Fishing Tomorrow." Sangster was wearing a shirt like that the day of his accident, but it was blood-soaked and ruined, cut away by paramedics so they could save him. "When he was in the hospital, one of the first things he said to me as he squeezed my hand was, 'I lost my good shirt you gave me,' " Cassidy said. "I had to get him another one. This whole deal is a labor of love for all of us." Rich and Madeline Leighton and fellow bass pros Bill Lanier and Allen Wetter also were there. As Sangster looked at the new Mercury motor, he saw where Bailey and Crew had stenciled the same names he had on his old motor: "Billie Bob." "It's really Billie's boat," Bob said. "I wouldn't be here without her." Sangster is a member of the Boat Depot Fishing Team now, and Boat Depot owner Joann Paradis had the best line of all: "Bob, the next time you need a bass boat, you don't have to go through all this to get one. Just ask for one. We have a whole showroom full of boats." With that, Sangster and Salmans loaded the trailer onto the back of Sangster's new F-150 red Ford pickup truck. The old beloved pro left his group of good friends and headed off for some good bass fishing, glad to have his boat back, and most of all, glad to be alive. |
