Maritime Radio founder Director celebrates 60 years on the Radio

Early on a dull damp miserable March morning in 1965 a lonely fishing boat makes way out to sea on the rising tide, its engine reverberating off the metal shuttering of the Harbour Quay. Picking up buoyed pots of whelks and crabs, the boat named ‘Harvester’ steadily makes northeast to its destination. Onboard are 50 gallon metal drums of diesel fuel oil, electroni0c components, tools, containers of drinking water, fresh, tinned including the obligatory Fray Bentos Pies, dried food and Fussell’s milk. There’s some fresh vegetables a little fresh, and a crate of sterilised milk, boxes of records a sack of mail and a young lad!

The ‘Harvester’ is owned by Fred Downs who subsidises his meagre fishing income by supplying the abandoned WWII Maunsell Army Forts on Shivering Sands, now engaged in pumping out pop music under the banner of Radio City ‘Your Friendly Host on the British

Coast’ later ‘The Tower of Power’. The young school boy is Bob who lived on one of the families’ farms in Whitstable, when buying records from the Record Centre in the town he’d befriended the owner, and when the shop becoming the southern office for Radio City, Bob was asked to make taped programmes.

Generally with a small crew aboard ‘Tender Tapes’ were played during supplying and crew changes. Arriving at the Fort chaos ensued, the cacophony of the boats engine, the Fort Generators, and instructions hollered. Everything was eventually craned aboard, suitcases and bags were transferred in both directions, several people made their way down the Fort ladders to leap aboard the ‘Harvester’ tossing around in the heavy swell. Pitching and yawing in the rough seas Bob was ordered to jump onto the heavily rusted encrusted lower ladder and quickly scramble up before the boat lifted on the next wave.

Once on the Fort Bob was shown around and given a couple of minutes of familiarisation with paltry studio equipment, before unceremoniously being told ‘You’re on next’. With the studio clock hitting the top of the hour Bob made his first ever ‘live’ radio broadcast aged just 15 and embarked on what would become a lifetime career.

Bob’s 60’s Splash is on Maritime Radio, Sunday at 7am and 5pm