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I have been interested in offshore radio since the '60s. I followed all the trials and tribulations of RNI, but I had never seen a radio ship properly. The closest I had got was standing on the cliff tops at Scheveningen in the '70s. I convinced myself that I could just about make out the Mi Amigo, the Nordeney and the Mebo II in the distance. When the Mi Amigo sunk I thought I had lost my chance of ever seeing a radio ship close up.
Then in 1983 Radio Caroline returned with a new ship, the Ross Revenge. In those days I was involved with a hospital radio station called Radio Hertford. The station was full of offshore radio enhusiasts (would that be a closet of anoraks?). We were all very excited that not only was Radio Caroline back, but in 1984 Laser had arrived as well. Johnny Lewis arrived at the Radio Hertford studio. He was getting back into training ready to go out to the Ross Revenge. A few weeks later we heard him on Caroline. All of this made me decide that I must not miss the boat(s) this time, I would organise a trip to see them. The chief anorak (Robbie Owen) gave me a telephone number, I made contact and put a notice up on the board. Within 24 hours the trip was over subscribed.
We had to get to Brightlingsea appallingly early on a Sunday morning to catch the tide. To make matters worse, the first attempt was called off as it was too rough and we had to come back the following week.
The first two sets of pictures were taken on this trip, we circled the Communicator first, then the Ross Revenge. Frustratingly the sea was not calm enough for us to get on board.
The next set of pictures was taken in 1985 (I think). Laser had given up and the Communicator was moored at Erwarton. I remember walking past a sign saying "private", then through some fields to get to the river where I knew the ship was moored as I could see the masts. After I had taken the pictures, I encountered an angry farmer on the way back and had to placate him with a donation to church funds.
The last two sets of pictures were taken at Queenborough. One set was taken in 1998 when Caroline was on the air with an RSL. The second set on August 13th 2000 the day after the Caroline Convention 2000. There were a lot of visitors on the Ross that day! I was pleased to notice was how much the condition of the ship had improved between the two visits. All the hard work by the volunteers has made a big difference.
Over the years I have made a few tape recordings of the offshore stations. I have included the best bits of these on an audio page.