Bob Rydgig passed away on Aug 16, 2007 at the age of 77. He suffered a massive heart attack while ascending the dock ladder at Landing Cove on Anacapa, after a dive in the cove. Park rangers and the Coast Guard gave CPR and brought him to Ventura as quickly as possible, but he passed away before reaching the mainland.
Bob was a familiar face on the Spectre, the Condor Express, and at Landing Cove. He was a dedicated volunteer as a naturalist and diver for the the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Park. Bob had been diving in the Channel Islands for 50 years. He was one of the first NAUI instructors, and was among the first generation to explore the Channel Islands underwater using scuba. Bob also had a productive career as an engineer at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Lab. For NASA, he helped to set up the Deep Space Network, used to communicate with and track spacecraft beyond the distance of the Moon. His work took him to South Africa, to set up a tracking station at Hartebeesthoek, where he trained divers and became friends with many in the cave diving community. After his retirement, Bob continued to dive in the Channel Islands and in other spots around the world. He was a dedicated naturalist, and a truly remarkable underwater and topside photographer. He will be missed.
