Ain't that the truth! - Appreciate the many comments - definitely will surface regardless, with a buddy, next time the DM be damned.
Interesting thing about the buddy though, as when you go out on a group dive in OW as a newly certified diver, I noticed that you are not "buddied" up, you are just told by the DM "stay with me and make sure I can see you at all times". This happened with the 3 first different outfits I have been out with (1 in Europe, 2 on Hawaii). In my inexperience at the time, I really didn't question the implied no-need for an identified buddy
On this particular dive, #25 overall or so, I was diving with my son and wife and we had not been asked to, nor pre-arranged, who was buddy for whom, and we sort of went our separate ways within the dictate of being in sight of the DM, so in me trying to decide wehether to stay with the DM as my air fizzled out, or go up with enough for contingencies, it included the assumption that I would have go up on my own, which I knew was another no-no! - Now that I am a little more experienced, I know I need to clarify pre-dive with my own diving group (we were 3) that we need to pre-arrange that if one of us have to defy the DM and need to go up, before the entire group is ready, it will be with a buddy that we identified pre-dive (or all 3 stay down together or surface together). We were just to inexperienced to have figured that out at the time.
dumpsterdiver hit it on the nai with the quote above!!
(None of this has deterred me and my son from continuing to dive our lungs thin together!)
