Black boater finds out that his family’s pastime is actually his calling
The IAG 127, a prototype for the upcoming Chancellor 133 series of megayachts
By Jeff Hardy
When Denton Douglas came up with the idea to start his own yacht building company, it seemed like a natural fit right from the beginning.
The Jamaica-born, Howard University graduate has been around the water all of his life. Even his high school in St. Elizabeth, an enclave in the southwestern part of the island known for its deserted beaches, picturesque fishing villages and cascading waterfalls, sat on a hill overlooking the Caribbean Sea. All it took was a family trip to the Palm Beach International Boat Show for the stockbroker and wealth manager to find his true career.
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.
Earn your doctorate from the world-renowned Harvard University. Check. Get appointed to national boards by six different presidents. Check.
Have someone write a book about your visionary leadership. Check.
The only thing that remains for William R. Harvey to attain the status of “Ultimate Human Being” is to own a boat. Oh wait, he has that too.
