Joann Zyirek's toddler son, Laird, had chosen Hamilton to be his father on the beach at Ehukai in 1967. Fortunately, Billy and Joann were also attracted, and they soon married. Another son, Lyon, was born in 1969. The next year, the clan relocated to the lush isolation of Kauai, an area Hamilton had longed for since experiencing it in his days with MacGillivray and Freeman. He had begun shaping under the tutelage of Surfboards Hawaii's John Price in 1967, but turned to commercial fishing on Kauai for more income. He would continue shaping, finding work with Country Surfboards, Chuck Dent and Lightning Bolt.