Time for a “Sea-S-Ta”
By Marion Porter
Cuban-born and raised in Puerto Rico, Jose Antonio Diaz was exposed to water — and boats — early in life. The successful entrepreneur has since owned some 20 boats and he is the prototype of a person who is driven to succeed at both work and play.
His wife and children share his love of boating — especially cruising and fishing the waters of south Florida and the Bahamas, far from their home in the Washington, DC, area.
“This is a family thing,” Diaz says. “I’ve been blessed that my kids love boating.”
Boating has always been a family affair for Diaz. His family moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico, when he was four years old and his father became general manager of the local Woolworth department store. His father owned a boat and would take him and his brother fishing at 4 a.m. every Sunday.
“My mother would get mad because, instead of going to church, we went fishing,” Diaz fondly recalls.