Paddy Bloomer is an artist, inventor, explorer and plumber. Paddy is interested in finding and exploiting unusual power sources, waste disposal, health and safety legislation and subverting public infrastructure. On his time off he enjoys boating, paragliding and antique machinery.

Paddy has previously sailed with Jamie on the Killary Flyer from Ireland to Spain on a trip made epic by weather.
He has also been on a few expeditions on the Currach Colmcille.

Can be found on youtube @ paddy bloomer and on his website, http://www.paddybloomer.com/

Paddy Sailed with us from Spain to the Azores but sadly had work commitments so couldn’t make the journey back.

Charlotte Bosanquet lives on Rathlin Island. Having trained as an artist in Glasgow School of Art, she moved to the North of Ireland where she continues her arts practise. 

In 2016 she bought a red 1934 converted fishing trawler, Family's Pride and moved to Rathlin Island, living in it full time from 2019. 

She became the Harbour Master from 2020 -2023 and is now working on Rathlin as the Community Engagement Officer of LIFE Raft, the rat and ferret eradication project. 

She sails as often as she can, both solo as part of a crew, having her 27ft Albin Vega, Curlew, to get her around the North Coast and Scottish Islands. She also works for Causeway Coast Sailing as a skipper.

Paddy Sailed with us from Spain to the Azores but sadly had work commitments so couldn’t make the journey back.

Living on the West Coast of Ireland, the mountains and the sea were in Muireanns back yard growing up so to speak.

So she has been in the outdoors for as long as she can remember, She has recently graduated from a BA in Outdoor education in ATU Mayo.

She recently moved back from Scotland where she spent most of her time up the mountains. She realisied how much she missed the sea, so when Jamie offered her a space on the crew she jumped at the opportunity.

Being the youngest member on board has qualified her as the designated social media manager, being one of the only crew members to have any social media accounts helps. So keep an eye out for all the updated in the coming weeks, coverage dependant.

This is not the first time that Jamie has ventured to the Azoras,  his first trip was in 1973, with John Ridgeway. Doing a winter circuit, their ports of call starting in Scotland, included Madeira,  Santa Cruz, the Spanish Sahara, Cape Verde islands and from there the Azores. A last port of call before the long perilous voyage back to Scotland, on the North Atlantic in December. 

John Ridgway wrote about the trip in his book 'Storm Passage'. There was a crew of six, Marie Christine wife of JR, 6 year old Rebecca, Krister Nylund from Sweden, Morse Aus who later died climbing K2 and Jamie. For Jamie (aged 20 at the time) this was a real adventure as it involved visiting places he had only dreamed about. Another highlight included nearly sinking in mid-December on the return passage over the Porcubine Bank. During a major storm, a wave broke over the boat filling up the main cabin, they soon discovered the truth in the saying '...that the best pump in the world is a frightened man with a bucket!'

Jamie's first two trips were purely of the 'old fashioned' variety in terms of navigation, using only a sextant to work out their positions. None of the modern navigational aidsand communications, like GPS, satellite phones, were available then. It was a simpler time

The second time Jamie ventured to the Azores was on his honeymoon with Mary in 1977. This time they went in a famous 24' folk boat called 'Jester'. She had been in the very first OSTAR with the likes of Taberlay / Chichester when owned by Cockleshell Hero - Blondie Hasler. HAsler was also the inventor of the first servo wind self-steering gear and a contemporary of Bill King, owner of the 'Galway Blazer' from Oranmore. Jester was the simplest boat possible: bucket and chuck it plumbing, no engine or oars, a single man liferaft from a fighter plane (Don't ask...), a junk rig and a paraffin stove. This 'Honeymoon' was from Cowes in the UK to Newport Rhode Island USA via Horta in the Azores.

There were no facilities like a marina then, but Jamie noted '...it was cheaper to eat out than buy our own food and cook, as it was all locally caught or produced. Whaling was still going on in rowboats with a harpoon thrown by the crew - the only place at the time where you could buy skrimshaw legally'. That trip took a total of 60 days (A test of any marriage!) - of which 10 were spent in Horta and as they approached the USA, they had nearly ran out of food, eventually counting out the mixed dried lentils for a bit of variety....! But all in all Jamie remembers Horta as a super friendly place where locals gave them lifts around the island to see their way of life.

Most recently, 15 odd years ago, myself and Kevin O'Callaghan (Geo.) took part in the AZAB (Azores And Back) two handed, race to Sao Miguel. This went from Falmouth and back and took approx 7.5 days each way; one of Jamie's quicker voyages to the Azores. This trip was fairly uneventful weather wise with only a gale, which was just as well as the self steering stopped functioning on the 2nd day. This meant 3 hours on / three hours off watch system for 24 / 7. Geo said at the end 'never again to that regime!' Jamie noted that 'As far as I could see there had been huge changes to the islands since my first visit with much infrastructure benefiting from EU membership. However, they are still on the margins of the EU - no sandy beaches as the islands are volcanic - and suffering as many remote places, Greenland included, of an exodus of young people to the bright lights and 3rd level education to their 'parent' country.' Saying that, there is a growing interest in the islands to develop some unique products from such a clean natural environment. Even the islands power is mostly generated by harnessing the energy of volcanic thermal vents. During the AZAB stopover they even visited the tea plantation that he is now returning to, but at the time he did not put 2 and 2 together.

Bringing the boat back from Falmouth to Ireland, unfolded as another adventure when Geo got mixed up in a drug smuggling operation that had gone wrong, that however is another story...!