Bill was involved in a variety of occupations in the nautical field, which included fifteen years at sea as a sailor on freight boats, deckhand on fishing trawlers, inshore fisherman, and an international fisheries observer. Later, he became a producer/director with Cable Atlantic, a local community channel. Following that, he owned and operated his own video production company, Springwater Productions Inc., for twenty years, winning regional, national, and international awards for his work. In 1971, he took a writing course at MUN with writer Lisa Moore. He submitted stories to Newfoundland Quarterly and Saltscapes magazine out of Halifax. An article written for Saltscapes won him a Silver Award from the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA).