Born in New York, my family and I moved to Riverside, California when I was a young boy. Growing up, I was a huge fan of shows like “Sea Hunt” and “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and naturally, I wanted to become a scuba diver! At 16, I earned my NASDS Open Water but did not dive as much back then. After graduating from high school, I attended school in Arizona to become a diesel mechanic.
In 1980, I moved to Oxnard, California, and started a job as a heavy equipment mechanic for the County of Ventura where I worked for 31 years; retiring early to go work for Ultralight Camera Solutions. I met Dave & Terry over 25 years ago while in the Channel Islands Underwater Photographic club which no longer exists. Their business was bustling so they reached out to me to see if I would be interested in working for them part-time. 8 years later, I am the proud owner of Ultralight Camera Solutions!
A little bit more about myself. Around 1992 I wanted to start diving again and signed up at Ventura College for the NAUI open water class. Over the course of 15 years, I worked up the ranks and earned my Instructor certification but decided teaching wasn’t for me. The one thing that was for me was DIVING which I have been active with for the past 30 years. I am a true cold water diver with British Columbia being my MOST favorite place to go!
Over the years, I have been quite involved with a number of local dive clubs as dive coordinator, served as President for a time, and even helped run a dive boat out of Channel Islands Harbor for a couple of years. In 2009, I started a side business, Channel Islands Dive Adventures (CIDA) heading up 35 to 40 local charters and 2 to 4 group vacation trips a year. I get to travel a lot and have been to other dive locations both warm and cold.
Along the way, I met my wife Tessie, got married, and have been together for 37 years. Tessie only snorkels in warm water but loves to travel with me and she is very excited about this new chapter in our lives! My wife has 2 kids and we have 4 grandkids who are all grown plus a young great-grandson who is a delightful addition to our family and another great-grandchild on the way. Life is good and our family spends a lot of time together!
Meet Ken with this video interview.
Bill started diving at 13 during the summer of Jaws in 1975. “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” was his inspiration as it was for many new divers. He says, once he had his own steel 71.2 tank and requisite 7-inch Scubapro knife it was “full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes”
During high school, he worked at a small local dive shop, and soon after he earned his instructor rating through NASDS. He would go on to become a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. Bill has introduced hundreds of new divers to the sport of Scuba diving and he says,“I have met the most interesting people and closest friends because of diving”.
Bill got involved with testing equipment for Scuba Diving Magazine and held the position of Scubalab Director in the early 2000s and worked on motion pictures as an instructor and safety diver.
Bill has been an avid user of ULCS products for years as a volunteer diver/videographer for Channel Islands National Park. He came to us during our recent growth and has jumped in with both fins.
He believes, his best dive is yet to come and he looks forward to helping you make your next photo trip the best it can be.
