With Kentucky bluegrass roots and a B.S. in Biology, Billy found a world with a blue sea too alluring to ignore. In 2005 with a backpack and a tent, he hopped on a Greyhound bus- thirty eight short hours later, he was standing on the side of US-1 in Stock Island. Wondering what he had one.

After a few days, Billy packed up the tent, rented a room and experienced two hurricanes in as many months. After experiencing the force of nature, and meeting people with personalities as powerful as the storms, Billy had found his new home. With a passion for science, a love of education, a need for informality and constant challenge, Billy found that being a guide and a captain was one of the few things that could keep his attention.

After living on a sailboat with his wife Jennifer, and soon after discovering they were pregnant with their first child, Billy, who had no significant construction experience, set out to build his growing family, a houseboat. During this period of construction Billy formed Honest Eco with a vision of operating the Sustainable Nature Tours he thought should be on offer in Key West. Starting with the purchase of Dolphin Watch, the Original Dolphin Watching trip in Key West, he quickly added another boat to operate guided Kayaking and snorkeling trips. By focusing on the wildlife and the guests’ experience Honest Eco found success that led to moving the family, now composed of four, to California where Billy went to work every day to build a custom designed plug in electric hybrid catamaran, named SQUID that is now operating in Key West.