Captain, broker and yacht manager dies

Nov 28, 2012 by Dorie Cox

Yacht broker and captain John Joseph Ciullo of Ft. Lauderdale died Sept. 29. He was 54.
Mr. Ciullo was most recently a broker and special projects manager with International Yacht Collection (IYC) in Ft. Lauderdale.

Bob Saxon, IYC president, described Ciullo as his right-hand man and said the two had known each other for more than 35 years, starting before their careers in yachting began.
Mr. Ciullo first joined the industry as comptroller at The Sacks Group.

“Then a group took a liking to him and hired him away for their 60-foot charter boat in the Caribbean on M/Y Jami,” Saxon said.

Next, Mr. Ciullo went to Saxon and Associates as fleet manager and he continued to work with Saxon when the business was sold to Camper Nicholson.

“He worked with us as yacht broker and then moved to International Yacht Collection as a broker and special projects manager,” Saxon said.

“Capt. John Ciullo was equally qualified in his profession as an accountant as he was talented and competent as a yacht skipper,” said Norma Trease, director of sales and marketing of Salamanca Marine. “And he applied those dual skills in his multi-faceted yachting career through several decades.”

“He was robust, both in character and physically,” Saxon said. “He was an athlete, even ranked in Florida in racquetball.”

Mr. Ciullo became sick around the time of at the Palm Beach International Boat Show last year and doctors thought it was a respiratory illness, Saxon said.

“But he had cancer with origins in the pancreas,” Saxon said. “John had rallies during the chemo, but from February to his death was a rapid decline.”

Mr. Ciullo was a member of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association since 2008. He is survived by longtime companion Elena Woltin; his father, John V. Ciullo; sister and brother-in-law Dawn and Tom Grogan; brother David; and nieces and nephews.

Dorie Cox is associate editor of The Triton. Comments on this story are welcome at [email protected].

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Dorie Cox is a writer with Triton News.

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