Report: One Up, One Down

Headed North with JTFishing for some much anticipated underwater therapy.

On the drive up we discussed the recent "Black Out" incident that traumatized our community.

We agreed that we would implement the "one up, one down" safety technique while diving together. Initially there were a couple of hiccups but we quickly got into a rhythm and it was smooth sailing soon thereafter. 

Utilizing some basic OTW  hand signals we were able to communicate effortlessly at a safe distance and without diving on top of each other. This is definitely the way I plan to dive going forward.

It was an epic day on the water with at least 25 ft. vis.  Ended up with a dozen uni, two lings, four blacks and two fat 9-3/4"" abs.

Finished off the day being escorted back to the beach by two gray whales. 

I'm an old dog and if I can learn these new tricks anyone can. I want to thank Steve and Thomas for sharing the incident that occurred.  It  helped to open my eyes and hopefully others on the path to safer diving.

......and thanks John for being a  responsible and safe dive buddy. 

Very nice harvest, Antonio. The buddy system is the way to go!

Hell yeah! Way to go guys!!

Nice Job Antonio and JT.  Been doing the best to implement the buddy system as much as possible. 

I had two whale encounters this week.  One peaceful and one not so much.  Maybe I will put out some info later that may help others in the future.

Way to report on how you changed things for a safer day on the water. Of course, thanks for the pics, looks like a great trip.

Thanks for posting nice haul !!!

Awesome catches guys.  Good eats there.

Nice work Antonio!  Good to hear about your safety precautions.

Nice haul    Thanks for the report and pictures Antonio.

Glad to hear you guys are practicing safe diving techniques.

Nice catch too!

  right on!

You have convinced me to work on this too. If we end up diving together next week help me with the rhythm you speak of.

Wow, nice haul!

Very nice!!! alot of whales around lately.WTG

Right on! This is a great post and seeing a successful catch makes it even more compelling. Don't we all tend to think of ourselves as "lone wolf" hunters out there? But wolves hunt in packs, so why shouldn't we? Confession, my last dive was solo, probably a dumbshit move. But I totally want to get on board with this movement.

I'm curious- besides having a good catch, did it seem like you had more to share and talk about afterwards? Like you knew when your friend had a fish, or maybe found the backdoor of some structure he'd found and saw an ab or scallop in there? I know when I'm out with a friend for a hour or more, it's usually been like we were on two different planets- I don't usually see where he/she caught something, much less get any useful tips like, "Hey there's a solid wall of big abs right under here...." That kind of stuff?

Thanks again for the timely report and good luck and safe diving out there!! Hope to catch your one down/one up routine in person one of these days!