Offshore Nostalgia

[Andy]

I thought I'd start a thread for general reminiscences of the good old offshore days. A few of my recollections from the 60's:

Dark, cold Winter's mornings getting ready to bike it to school. Eating toast by the fireside while listening to a rock-crushing signal from Radio Scotland. Signal faded as it got light.
Taking little tranny to school and holding it up against the wire netting around the tennis courts to improve reception of Caroline North.
Being amazed how much stronger Caroline was on the other side of Manchester!
Building a Sinclair Micromatic (a 3 transistor mini radio) and adjusting the feedback to within an inch of its life - to hear Caroline of course!
Listening to Radio City and Radio 390 at my friend's house on his parents big valve radio.
In 1967 we moved to the Midlands and we could hear both Caroline ships. Woke up on a Monday morning and tuned for Caroline only to hear silence. I kept listening for days on end until I read that both ships had been towed.... gah, the end of an era!

[Gary Phillips]

Hi Andy. Interesting recollections there. I missed all this great offshore radio unfortunately as I was only born in the year 1967. The mid 70's is when I became interested in radio.

By the way I didnt realise Radio Scotland could be received so good down this way, but I guess its the night time skywave propogation doing the trick there.

Not sure if anyone else on here remembers that far back, maybe you're the oldest here but I certainly do envy missing out on that great era I must say

Gary

[Andy]

The oldest here? Oh God, I'm doomed. Well, I was 11 when Caroline came on in 1964 and 14 when it all came to an end in 1967. It was a great time and I spent a lot of my time tuning between the various stations so I wouldn't miss anything. Re radio Scotland, I think the night-time skip was still working into daylight in the winter months, but looking back it was amazing that with a decent radio it was possible to hear almost all the pirates all day, even in Summer. They weren't strong signals, but the band was almost empty back then with loads of empty slots and very little electrical noise, so the signals travelled well.
After 1967 it was like the world had ended - no-one dreamed that there would be a 'second era' with the return of Caroline plus the incredible RNI! I don't know how they kept the old Mi Amigo afloat, it was a wreck.
Have you read 'The Last of the Pirates' by Bob Noakes? It's out of print but can be had secondhand from Amazon etc. Bob was an engineer on 70's Caroline and he tells it like it was.

[Gary Phillips]

Hi Andy, dont worry I dont think you're the oldest in pirate radio, there are one or two others around. In fact I think the oldest is probably one of our regular donators of audio to this web site (who shall remain nameless, as he probably won't thank me for saying this)

I have heard a lot said about that Bob Noakes book, but I've never read it. I must grab a copy soon. In a similar vein I must say I used to enjoy reading magazines like Monitor where often you'd get stories by Offshore jocks of life onboard the Mi Amigo or the Peace ship. All very interesting and I must admit I wish I could've tried that life on the ocean wave myself! A few land based pirate DJ's from Merseyside did try offshore radio, most notably John Dwyer (Caroline/Voice of Peace) and Robin Ross (Caroline), but there were others too.
But definately yes, I'll grab a copy off Amazon or ebay soon

Gary

[Andy]

Yes, try and get a copy - it's a fantastic read and the last few pages always bring an Anorak-size lump to my throat!
Speaking of advancing age, my old Aquarius mate Bob is about 60 now. It just ain't right! Was it really so long ago that we were p***ing on earth rods and running around with car batteries? Surely not. Perhaps I'll wake up soon and find the last 33 years have all been a dream and that I have to get my show done for Sunday....

[Gary Phillips]