Work on the TMS-20 resumed today after a sabbatical of home repair for 7 weeks remodeling my master bathroom. I completely gutted the bathroom and rebuilt it including all of the walls, window, plumbing, electrical, and tile. It came out very nice but was a lot of work and time. I figure I saved about 11K by doing the work myself. I also came up with an idea for new sideline making modular shower seats using the foam fiberglass construction method, more on that later as I build a prototype. I’ve focused all of my energy on the remodel and now it is complete. For those of you that are married you know that you have to keep the Mrs. happy. Being married for 30 years I’ve learned that if mama is happy - you are happy. For those of you new at relationships jot down a note on this.
I have been interviewing for jobs and think I’ve landed a job with a company that makes interactive TV systems for cruise ships. I’m going to my 3rd interview tomorrow. If successful I will be working as a project lead and traveling worldwide. The position, if I get it, sounds like fun and will bring me closer to the ocean and a Nautical Career – better then hanging out in the booking area of jails! My former career was in biometric forensic hardware/software and took me too many law enforcement facilities. Now I can scope out portages so when I do finally end up living on a boat, my dream, I’ll have a better idea of what is out there. My 6 months of semi-retirement may be coming to an end, it has been relaxing, but I started to dip into my savings. The TMS-20 project will still take time and I figure I’ll have to work some more before it truly gets off of the ground.
I’ve decide to change my build philosophy on the TMS-20. I was trying to build a usable plug for the main hull. In an attempt to clean up the jig between sides it changed the profile slightly between the two sides. I also corrected some build techniques which added to the variance. I was attempting to correct these variances by fairing and decided I was just adding weight to the boat and would really never pull it to be 100% symmetrical. If I did not mention it you most likely would not see the slight difference but I know they are there. So keeping my anal side in check I’ve decided to use the FAP principle (Fair as Possible). Part is due to the building technique - in a larger vessel you cannot look at both sides at the same time and see a trivial difference. In reality it is not very noticeable in the TMS-20 except to the discerning eye. My emphasis will be to get the boat to the water and prove the design concept. In building the Ama’s I will build a plug and incorporate my learned techniques and practice other concepts I’ve thought about. Then if I decide to go further with the TMS-20 I’ll build a plug for the main hull with emphases and workmanship to make both sides 100% symmetrical and add any design changes as deemed necessary after sailing/racing the prototype.
The finished boat will still have the building detail and workmanship I’ve incorporated into the boat so far and I can work out the inconsistencies when I build a plug for the main hull. I’ve been thinking about what I can do to make a production mold/boat easier to build.
On with the project and I’ll post some pics as I move forward.
Later,

Mike