Captain Joe always knew what he wanted to do with his life. His father had one of the first charter boats in Key West in the late 40's. Joe was only 9 years old when his father passed away. Many of the older captains took him under their supervision where he was able to learn various ways of fishing. Joe started by filleting fish to washing boats and eventually became a first mate. At 18, he became a commericial and lobster fisherman. In 1976, he finally decided to follow in his father's footsteps and became a charter boat captain.

Joe's early teen years were very exciting as he fished a lot of famous personalities. A few examples are Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, and Hal B. Wallis.

Captain Joe's first boat. See Mom Mercurio keeping her eye on him. Joe used this boat to row all the way across Garrisson Bight to retrieve golf balls from the water to resell.