Tom Patterson is the founder of Tocaro Blue. With his family’s knowledge and love for sailing, and the evolution of Internet of Tomorrow (IoT) technology, Tom, along with his wife Carol and son Jared, started Tocaro Blue in 2019 to develop and build reliable, marinized IoT sensor-based systems for remote vessel monitoring, security, management, and collision alert/avoidance for the boating world. It is a tech-advanced service-based marine system package.

Tom is an avid offshore sailor. Starting in 1975, when he purchased a Laser sailboat and joined the Mussel Shoals Sailing Club in Northwest Alabama, Tom and Carol serially owned an O’Day 19’ daysailer, a 36’ Catalina coaster cruiser, a 33’ Hans Christian offshore sailboat, and in 1998 built a custom Shannon 43’ cutter rig sailboat.

In 2000 while planning a transatlantic crossing, the Pattersons collaborated with Shannon Yachts to design and build a custom 52’ Shannon ketch rig configured for sailing across oceans. With twenty-five years of sailing experience and through the eyes of a mechanical engineer, Tom had a pretty good idea of what he and Carol desired in a sea-worthy yacht outfitted with proper mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and rigging.

In 2001 the project was completed. The 52’ ketch was commissioned as Satori and began her voyages with Tom as captain and son Peter as first mate. With Carol’s assistance as voyage planner and logistician, they sailed eastward from Newport, Rhode Island, across the Atlantic to Bermuda and the Azores, on to Portugal, returning to Pensacola, Florida by way of the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, and he Caribbean Islands from St Lucia to the Virgin Islands.

Combining his sailing hobby with business, Tom and Carol funded a hull development project with Shannon Yachts to develop a new powerboat hull shape that resulted in two prototype boats they owned and tested in Pensacola Bay and surrounding waters. The successful hull development project resulted in a new line of fuel-efficient power boats that Shannon Yachts designated SHOAL CRUZER’S.

Tom has a long history as a self-starter, a hard worker, and a visionary entrepreneur, all starting with his paper route at age 11. This propelled him through public schools, where he earned numerous scholarships to The University of Alabama. He earned a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering and transitioned from a design engineer to technical sales and marketing.
Over 10 years, Tom sold computers and software in the niche markets of simulation, process control, space exploration, military applications, and healthcare. From there, he launched a stream of technical companies spanning 40 years, culminating with his first attempt at retirement and moving to Pensacola, Florida in 2010.

For the past ten years, Tom and Carol have focused on angel investing and mentoring young entrepreneurs in the finer points of sales and marketing. Through the member companies that join Tocaro Blue at his shared workspace facility in Pensacola— JettyIOT.com — Tom wants to combine his enjoyment of mentoring with the thrill of seeing small, entrepreneurial companies prosper.

Tom is active as an advisory board member at The University of Alabama with the Crimson Tide Foundation, the Blackburn Institute, and the College of Engineering Leadership Board and is an honorary member of the A Club and the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. Tom is also active in the community outreach Children’s Center program at St John’s Episcopal Church and the outreach programs of the PYC Satori Foundation in Pensacola.