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.
A graduate of UCLA with a degree in electronic engineering, Diaz, 51, came to the Washington area in 1986. Five years later, he and Luis Gil Armendariz, also an electronic engineer, founded Systems Engineering Technologies Corporation (SyTech). Together, they have grown SyTech, headquartered in Alexandria, VA, into one of few firms in the nation providing highly specialized audio, video, data and satellite surveillance equipment to the U.S. intelligence community. The company also makes software for managing radio communications networks and radio frequency broadcast equipment used to transmit television signals to U.S. Navy ships.
“SyTech is a leader in the area of secure communications and we’re the only one that’s Hispanic-owned,” says Diaz. “I like helping people, so I also try to hire as many qualified minorities as possible.”
SyTech currently has about 80 employees, annual revenue in the range of $15 million to $20 million and a client base that is constantly in need of cutting-edge products and services designed to help combat crime and terrorism. Along with being the face of SyTech, Diaz serves on the advisory board of BB&T Bank. Through it all, he makes sure he finds time to unwind with his wife, Debra, and daughters Nicole, 19, Nathalia, 16, and Danielle, 14, aboard their 61-foot Viking Convertible, Sea-S-Ta.
Everyone Has Their Own space
Sea-S-Ta’s profile is classic Viking, while being dramatic and sleek with thoroughly modern windows, a beam of more than 18 feet and a displacement of 92,000 pounds. The 170-square-foot, teak-soled cockpit is equally adept at al fresco entertaining and rugged fishing. The forward bulkhead houses four tackle drawers and a console that contains a bait freezer, sink and rigging station. Completing the picture of this fishing battlewagon is a pair of bridge-mounted outriggers, spreaders and a tuna tower.
The bridge is spacious and stowage-packed, with plenty of room to spare and great sightlines all around. The helm is a well laid-out custom pod with single-lever electronic controls and all engine functions clearly visible on the Detroit Diesel Electronic Controls (DDEC) displays.
Although designed primarily for fishing, Sea-S-Ta was also built with stylish and comfortable cruising in mind. The twin 12V200 MTU engines generate 2,560 horsepower, making Sea-S-Ta capable of a 30-knot cruise speed and a top end of 39 knots at wide open throttle (WOT).
The four-stateroom floor plan features a master suite with a king-size island berth amidships to port, a queen-size VIP cabin in the bow, twin-bunk guest quarters to starboard and three heads. The sleeping accommodations are complemented by ample stowage and cedar-lined hanging lockers for clothing or gear throughout.
“Sometimes my daughters invite their friends,” Diaz says. “The four bedrooms and three heads make it possible for everyone to pretty much have their own space.”
Diaz says his wife particularly likes the galley, which includes a pair of wide granite counters with teak cabinets above and below, along with two under-counter Sub-Zero refrigerators and a freezer. Additionally, she enjoys the dinette to starboard of the galley that easily seats six , the built-in wine storage, the C-shaped couch aft with stowage below and the air-conditioned cockpit mezzanine.
“Viking as a company is excellent when it comes to their products, customer service and support,” says Diaz. “They make boats that have amenities that make them fully self-sufficient with plenty of room for living and entertaining.”
There are even those occasions when his work and pleasure are combined. Sea-S-Ta is sometimes used as a floating testbed for some of SyTech’s information gathering and analysis products.
In addition to the Chesapeake Bay, the Diaz family’s travel preferences on the Sea-S-Ta include Florida – the boat is wintered at Bahia Mar Resort in Ft. Lauderdale – and the Bahamas, particularly Atlantis on Paradise Island, where SyTech has business interests.
“I like to go offshore to fish for tuna, among others. We prepare the fresh catches on the cockpit’s built-in grill,” Diaz said. “Last year we took Sea-S-Ta for an overnight fishing trip 100 miles offshore from Ocean City, MD, and we had the best time in our lives. We saw 12-inch squid all over the back of the boat, attracted by our underwater lights. That night, we caught almost 300 pounds of tuna and wahoo.”
Sea-S-Ta II
Diaz is definitely a man who enjoys the boating lifestyle. He likes it so much that he has a second boat, Sea-S-Ta II, a 28-foot Southport Center Console that he uses for tooling around on short runs with the family and friends.
When asked about the legacy of minorities and boating, and what his might be, Diaz responded, “If there’s a legacy of boating that I could pass on to other minorities, it’d be the advice to do your research. There’re a lot of boats out here, some not so good. You should buy a boat with the idea that you’re going to sell it to someone else eventually. So when you buy, know what you’re buying and always buy quality.”
Whether it’s cruising around the Chesapeake or running south to Florida and beyond, it’s clear that Diaz is no ordinary Joe – or Jose in this case – when it comes to boating. He’s an extraordinary practitioner of the boating lifestyle, driven by a lifelong desire to be around the water.
