When Santa Barbara diving pioneer Bob Ratcliffe was 16 years old and in the 11th grade, he snorkeled into the major turning point of his young life. Ratcliffe, who died on October 29, 2024, had started his diving career in 1948 in San Diego when he was just 12 years old, snorkel-diving for abalone, which he sold door-to-door.
While he was hunting for abalone off La Jolla, Ratcliffe met commercial abalone diver Jerry Todd, who was working from his boat in the same area. Todd dived with standard surface-supplied helmet equipment, and stacked high on his back deck were 104 dozen abalone. To the young Ratcliffe, with his day’s catch of three dozen abalone, this was a truly amazing sight.
He was still in the water when Todd offered to buy his entire catch for $4 per dozen, which was the price Ratcliffe would get for them once he swam to shore, packed all the abalone in gunny sacks, and then sold them door-to-door. Right then and there, he decided to become a commercial abalone diver.