ARNOLD, Md.--

It was 1973, and after years of soul-searching about his professional career--torn between the clergy, the classroom and a life on the water--Williams chose a mixture of the last two.

He jumped at a chance to help create the foundation's natural education programs, taking impressionable middle-schoolers out in canoes onto the creeks and rivers in Virginia and Maryland to teach science and ecology.

The CBF's senior naturalist said on many mornings he pulled out of this little town near Annapolis before daylight and traveled 100 miles or so before many folks had even left for work.

"I'd be at Leedstown or on the Elizabeth River in time to pack the students up and head out for a day on the water," said "It was a great way to learn about Virginia and Maryland's streams and rivers in a personal way."

Add to that more than 25 years of offering nature programs, raising funds for CBF and exploring the bay region for work and leisure in the skiffs and kayaks he favors.

Then toss in a childhood of fishing on the Potomac, Chickahominy and Rappahannock rivers.

What you get is the logical person for National Geographic and CBF to tap to write "Chesapeake: Exploring the Water Trail of Captain John Smith."

The book, available at major retailers including Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, is a historical and personal journey through the bay's waters, including those in and around this region.

It combines a retelling of Capt. John Smith's exploration of the Chesapeake region between 1607 and 1609 with Williams' visits to the same locations today.

The sweeping narrative follows Smith's 2,300-mile journey, which started at Jamestown and went to what is now the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, into Delaware's Broad Creek and to the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers.

To commemorate Smith's expedition, the CBF, the National Geographic Society and The Conservation Fund have created a trail boaters can follow along that route.