"I am a Native Californian as well as my father. Both of us were born in Pasadena, California. I grew up spending every summer living in a tent on Huntington Beach and learned to swim in the sea with my brother Bob. I recall looking out to sea and wondering what great mysteries lie just over the horizan. We had a cabincruiser and went to Catalina often as a family. It is no wonder that in my older age I am so drawn to water and the sea. I have worn a number of different 'hats' in my life such as: swimming pool contractor; commercial sea urchin diver/owner; drapery shop owner; plasterer (like my father and Frank Sinatra's father-in-law); recording artist (both Christain and secular); television show host and producer ("We Win Show" & "Palm Springs Gold Show");actor (took acting lessons with Arnold Schwartznegger & Tim Matheson in L.A.); charity fundraiser singer with Kathy Lee Gifford and Della Reese; treasure hunter; 976 telephone owner with Frank Sinatra and now a guano miner/businessman.

I have tried various professions not being content with a 8 to 5 job like most men. I have always been adventuresom and have been willing to take risks where most others wouldn't. I have been shipwrecked twice in my life and nearly died. Once, in 1973 while working shipwrecks off Santa Cruiz Island off Santa Barbara, California, a storm blew up at the same time the transmission went out on one of my boats. I had on board 6 Japanese guys who I was going to teach the business to. They wanted some adventure too and I gave them some. One of the boats was caught by a huge wave and ripped from it's anchor and we all watched to see it ride the wave in to the rocky shore and get crunched. Then, the current brought it right back out to us about 300 yards from shore and it just sank before our startled eyes. There were two problems with this situation. One was the fact that I had just bought the boat and it was beautiful. The other more pressing problem was the fact that all of the lifejackets were on the boat that just sank-none were on the boat we were on! To further complicate the situation was the fact that one of the guys who could speak English said to me, "Bill, we can't swim; let alone scuba dive." I called the Coast Guard and my wife and then jumped overboard (clothes and all) and swam to shore. I nearly died when anothe big wave smashed me into the rocks. I then, in the rain, climbed up a trail at "Yellow Banks" to a shack I could see on top of the mountain. I arrived at the top to find some Navy guys drinking coffee and talking about watching us fight for our lives. They called the Navy and then I went back down to the beach and swam back to the boat. We all survived and one of the Japanese guys became not only my best diver but one of my best friends. His name is Jiro Fukunaga and I have lost track of him. Last I heard he was climbing a mountain in the Andes.

Some of my greatest thrills have been finding and salvaging shipwrecks; from the Bahamas to Mauritius, Africa and from Alaska to Hawaii. Two that stand out in my mind are the thrilling discovery of the King Charles 11 wreck off Nunjack Cay, Bahamas which turned out to be the first of three little ships sent out by the King and the Eight Lords Proprietors in 1669 to colonize, for the very first time, what is today the south of the United States. That was not a treasure wreck as most of us think of treasure but it did contain historic artifacts such as black Italian marble, pottery, glass, bullets, indigo dye, bricks (used for the oven on the ship) and some cannons. That wreck was called the "Port Royal." The other wreck is the English east Indiaman named "Verelst" which I research for over three years. I found it off the N.E. coast of Mauritius in Feb. 1995. It, like the Port Royal, was in 24 feet of clear beautiful water on the outside of the reef. It looked like a Disneyland setting. I wanted to be sure it was indeed the "Verelst" with it's 740 pounds of uncut Indian diamonds so I memorized, from archival documents, the number of cannons, anchors and cargo. It was the Verelst since indeed it did have the 24 cannons, 3 anchors, redwood, coins (minted in India saying "Engl. East Indies Co.") and chests with diamonds. I had already applied to the government for a permit which Minister Choonee had promised me for years. I took the information back to him with photos and he again, with his newly appointed Permanent Secretary, promised me a contract in 30 days. Six months later I received my denial notice and I blew a cork. Now every reader of this story should understand that Mauritius does not own the cargo. England does and under British Admiralty Salvage Laws, the finder is entitled to the cargo unless the owner comes forward but if the owner comes forward, he/she must not only pay the salvage costs but pay the finder the appraised market value of the goods. A great law.

Searching for a place on the globe where my company and I could work shipwrecks without government interferrance and hassels, I found Navassa. I began to research the shipwreck history and I spoke to Mike Drakulich in Jamaica who had found many wrecks there when he was hired by the CIA to do an underwater survey of the island for possible U.S. nuclear sub docking. He described many ancient ballast piles and treasure. He claims he did not take much and that the area is virgin. This delighted me. I also noted that the steamer "Ferngarth" circa 1921, sank there off the s.w. corner and is sitting in 110 feet.

I thought, gee, here is a deserted Caribbean Isle with no government and no one to hassel us. I also knew that under U.S. Admiralty Salvage Laws, we could have a federal judge grant us salvage rights to anything we found there and keep 100%. No permits. No broken promises. No trouble. We are looking forward to bringing up some treasure at Navassa and surrounding waters.