Nederlandstalige versie
Rob van Dam, also known as Marc Jacobs, recently sent two scans of pages from his 1979 diary, specifically from 28 July and 4 August of that year. Let’s see what we at Freewave had to say around that time about Radio Caroline’s Dutch service and more.
23 July: Rob Hudson has gone on holiday. René van Elst is now presenting the 19-tig show and Johan Visser the programme Gangboord. In the absence of Tom Blom and others at the AVRO, Frank van der Mast is presenting the programme ‘Ha, die maandag’ and Cees van Zijtveld ‘Hollands Glorie’.
24 juli: Radio Caroline has a new jingle package as of today. At the time, the compilation of the Radio Logboek was in the hands of Jac Zom and Ton van Draanen. Both received tips from other editorial staff members at Freewave, which was published every three weeks at the time.
When Radio Caroline returned to the airwaves in 1979, the station’s DJs provided updates on their own experiences. For instance, there was a column by Rob Hudson (Ruud Hendriks) which he wrote from his holiday destination: ‘Just jotting down a few lines for Freewave from sunny Marbella. Radio Caroline is doing well, but you’ve probably already noticed that yourself if you’ve had your radio tuned to 319 recently. The first thing that stands out is our new Pepper-Tanner concept 3 jingle package. A package of 52 jingles, instrumentals, etc.
This makes Radio Caroline the first radio station with a complete package of fast, slow, up-tempo and all other types of jingles based on a single melody. The only pity is that the American vocalists had quite a few problems with the Dutch programme titles and DJ names during the recording. That part of the package will soon be re-recorded by a Dutch group, but perhaps more on that later.
Another notable development, of course, is the temporary return of my English colleague Stuart Russell, who came back on board on 10 August after more than a year away. You may even have heard him speaking Dutch for a short while in recent weeks on ‘Wekkerradio’ because René van Elst was off the air.
Here in Marbella, Paul de Wit and I haven’t been sitting still either. We’ve done a lot of production work and made programmes, but we’ve also made sure to enjoy the Spanish scenery.
My rather long holiday is now almost over, and by the time you read this, I’ll probably be back safe and sound on board our trusty little ship – and I can tell you, I much prefer that to producing programmes on land. Personally, I prefer live radio more; you can, for example, tie in with current affairs in your programme. But let’s be honest, you can’t always be on top form.
Other than that, there’s little news. I could mention that the top of the mast has now been repaired by our very own Kees Borrell and that Kees is back cooking with us on the MV Mio Amigo. Of course, best wishes to all and, as always: Take care, Rob Hudson.’
His account of Kees Borrell returning to cook on the Mi Amigo is, however, at direct odds with the information on Marc Jacobs’ diary page dated 4 August. It states that, once the work on the mast had been completed, Kees did indeed leave with the tender because he was still working for Mi Amigo 272 on the broadcast ship Magdalena. Later on he came back to the MV Mi Amigo.
Let’s take a step back to the Radio Logbook, which reported, among other things, that on 29 July 1979 at 12 noon it was announced that various programme changes would take place: ‘In concrete terms, this merely means a name change for the programme between 10 am and 12 noon presented by Ad Roberts; it is now called “Espresso” instead of “Between Kitchen and Galley”.
31 July: Radio Mi Amigo and Radio Delmare are off the air, meaning Radio Caroline once again has a monopoly.
1 August: To conclude the on-location broadcasts, Radio Veronica has set sail again on the former laboratory ship the ‘Bison’, on which a small transmitter has been installed that can be heard via a relay transmitter in the NOS broadcast van at Hilversum 1. At 8.50 am, Bart van Leeuwen had a link-up with Radio Caroline’s MV Mi Amigo on ‘Ook Goeiemorgen’ and spoke to Johan Visser, who was on air at that moment with ‘Wackersdorf’. Between 7.15 pm and 8.00 pm, Caroline broadcast an interview with the Greenpeace activists, who had visited the MV Mi Amigo with their ship a few days earlier.
And indeed, you can see from the photograph dated 28 July 1979 that Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior had come alongside and very kindly donated 10 tons of oil and 20 tons of water. Marc Jacobs was right to note in his diary that they were a very friendly bunch. Incidentally, the special was presented by Tony Allan.
I found further information about the visit in Monitor Magazine by Ronald C Pearson, better known as Buster Pearson: ‘This year, the ‘Rainbow Warrior’ called at Radio Caroline en route. One of the organisers of Greenpeace, Peter Wilkinson, was interviewed by Tony Allan. Their conversation was broadcast on 3-1-9 on 1 August, from 18.17 to 19.02 BST/CET. Peter vividly described the horrors of modern whaling and the danger of whales becoming extinct, and Tony gave the address – Greenpeace, Columbo Street, London, S.E.1 – where anyone can send donations or help. ‘Radio Caroline supports Greenpeace and hopes that you care enough about our planet to join in this support. Greenpeace is not only concerned with saving the whales; two other projects they are intensively involved in are stopping the annual hunt of 195,000 seals in Newfoundland and the dumping of radioactive waste into the oceans.
‘They are currently carrying out a feasibility study into cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea. You can find out more about these projects and how you can help by calling Greenpeace in London on 01-633-0929.’ “We have hope,” says Peter, “that with the pressure people can exert on the world’s governments, whaling will come to an end.”
What else did the diary report up to and including 4 August? On 2 August: ‘The Dutch team from Radio Caroline is presenting many non-stop programs today.’ 3 August: The MV Magdalena of Radio Mi Amigo 272 appears to have broken its moorings and is drifting near Westkapelle, where the broadcast ship is being monitored by the navy.
On ‘Baken 16’ on Radio Caroline, Marc Jacobs sends his regards to the lads from Delmare and Mi Amigo and wishes them well as they laze about on their broadcast ships. Marc Jacobs said that they played Sister Sledge’s single ‘We Are Family’ for the lads at Radio Delmare. He added that it was a rather strange station: “We sailed past it once. I thought to myself, ‘You wouldn’t dare live on this’. Knowing that our boat was as leaky as a sieve.”
A publication by Fons Winteraeken provides further details regarding the ‘leaky basket’: ‘During the broadcasting period, the Typhoon, a daily newspaper published in the Zaan region, ran an article on 13 August 1979 about Radio Caroline, featuring an interview with Ad Roberts. The editor on duty wrote in his introduction: ‘The exterior consists mainly of rust and red lead, and the interior is also in a state of disrepair. A prolonged stay on the ship therefore seems no picnic.’
Ad: ‘There wasn’t much to do on that ship. It was just a small boat. Most of the MV Mi Amigo was taken up by living and working quarters. There wasn’t much room to walk about. You could walk around the ship a few times, but that was about it. The bow of the ship was dangerous. You didn’t want to be standing there, especially in stormy weather. We told the new people who came to work with us that too. You could easily touch the antenna wires, which was extremely dangerous.
Other than that, the only place you could go was up on deck. That was above the mess room, the galley and the studios. You could walk back and forth there. There were crates of lifesaving equipment and a dinghy. It was a lovely spot for sunbathing. But apart from that, there wasn’t much to do on the boat. I worked there for a long time and really enjoyed it’.
And we could go on for a while about the state of the Mi Amigo, because many years later I had an interview with a technician through and through, Peter Chicago. He said: “Most of the holes were under the tanks. A small space that was difficult to access. I made sure that whenever I went to plug a hole, someone else held onto my ankles so that, if the hole got too big during the repair and too much seawater came in, I could be pulled back quickly. ‘It was quite worrying’.”
On 4 August, the Freewave Radio Logbook noted: ‘Radio Caroline went off air at around 10 am because repairs needed to be carried out on the transmission mast. At 1.15 pm, they were back on air with the Top 50, presented by Marc Jacobs, who can also be heard in English in the evening between 5 pm and 7 pm GMT.’ And you can also read that last bit in the image of the page for 4 August from Marc Jacobs’ diary. A programme called ‘Sunday Joint’, which he presented together with Steven Bishop – also known as Johnny Lewis.
To conclude this recollection, alongside those on the diary pages, is a column submitted by Johan Visser to Freewave entitled: Spanish Fisherman’s Tales. ‘Well, friends, it’s been quite a while since Uncle Johan wrote a piece for this unrivalled magazine. This was due to very busy work commitments over the past few months. As you may have heard on 319 metres, since a week after Radio Caroline’s return, I’ve had a regular hour-long slot on Sunday afternoons featuring genuine golden oldies: “The 19-TOEN Show”. That hour is my hobby; they can take everything else away from me, but never that!
Besides, it was my only hour, until programme director Herman de Graaf had to deal with a new addition to the family and yours truly had to take over ‘Schoonschip’. It feels strange, between 12 and 2 every day after such a long time. I’ve actually done that programme before for a week or so, standing in for Paul de Wit and René van Elst. Now I’m doing it on a permanent basis, though for the time being only on weekdays. I don’t actually hear much of my own programmes myself, as they’re recorded in Marbella.
Fortunately, I’m not there on my own; our programme director is based there with his wife and child, as is Ton van der Wal. We work together perfectly, although I’d already worked with Herman on board last year. In the sunny south, Ton produces the non-stop hours under the title ‘Scheepsplaat’. But that’s not all; he’s also an excellent cook.
That comes in handy, as the Spanish kitchen staff have just gone on strike. What does Mr. Visser’s daily routine look like? I usually get up at 8.00 am or a little earlier and then have a very substantial breakfast. This habit—by no means one of my worst, I believe—takes about half an hour. After that, I tidy my room and go to the studio. There’s usually someone there who’s already made coffee.
Next, I gather the cassettes containing the adverts. I keep track of those adverts on a list that goes on board. That way, the lads on board know which message might still need to be included. That’s what the famous ‘time-fill’ is for.
Twice during the Alarm Clock Radio programme, at 7.45 and 8.30 am, the colleagues on board have the opportunity to play those adverts after a specific jingle. I take this into account by: 1). Leaving a one-second silence on the tape; the crew on board put the tape on ‘pause’. 2). Setting the studio clock 90 seconds ahead.
After this little digression, back to my daily routine: sorting through records and the like means I start recording around 10.00 am, and how long I carry on depends entirely on my mood (and the temperature!). Usually until about one or two o’clock, and then a bit more in the evening. In between, I sleep, sometimes in the studio, or I go out with a lovely young Spanish lady. I could write a book about that young lady right now, but I don’t think that sort of thing belongs in Freewave! Greetings from the sunny south and see you soon! Johan Visser.’
Not long after the dates mentioned in the appendices, Marc Jacobs returned to shore: “A larger boat wasn’t always used to collect or deliver the crew to and from the broadcast ship. Increasingly, motorboats, sailing vessels and the services of Greenpeace were also utilised.”
Fred Bolland and Paul de Wit had sailed to the Mi Amigo on a pleasure yacht and took Marc back to the Netherlands. The return journey did not go so smoothly, as evidenced by his account in a recorded letter that was sent back to the MV Mi Amigo the following week. “Got back on Saturday. Don’t ask how it went. It was unbelievable. We left you at about half past midnight. That was Wednesday evening, wasn’t it?”
We didn’t make it back until midnight the following evening. We had to battle our way through a north-westerly gale force 9, spring tides and a lifeboat. We spent the whole day sailing into a north-easterly headwind in a small boat, without a radio. We fired 12 flares. Rescue was impossible; we were staring death in the face. Fred did most of the steering. I took over for a bit when things calmed down. We were then in the mouth of the Oosterschelde. Then the engine cut out.
We had run out of fuel oil. We had to be rescued near the Neeltje Jans work island. Once ashore, we drove on to where Fred lives. I went with Paul and stayed the night at his place. The next day we went to ‘d’n Belgique’, to visit our good friend. Various matters were sorted out there. No need to worry about that, the money will all come through.”
You can assume that the friend in Belgium was a certain Danny. But back to the memories: “At one point there were four naval vessels surrounding the Mi Amigo,” Marc recounted during RadioDay in 2008. “It was a coordinated operation by Belgium, the Netherlands, England and France; for two weeks we ate nothing but tinned white beans in tomato sauce. The aim of the operation was to ensure that no boat would dock alongside the Mi Amigo. A case of good old-fashioned starvation, a siege, and then they’d give up of their own accord. And they actually managed it. We’d run out of cigarettes, the beer and the last bottle of whisky.”
When I confronted Marc with the concept of this article, he told me: ‘As for the last part about the “siege” by four naval vessels to starve us out, I do remember that we were indeed almost out of supplies. I can’t recall whether we were still on the air, but the mission of those naval vessels was very troublesome. However, it didn’t stop the station from operating.
On the day we decided to ‘surrender’, the four naval vessels had suddenly left. And so we were able to pass on the signal ‘all clear’ to the boys on land. I also remember that the following night a tender arrived, which refueled us with water, diesel, food, etc. etc.
I can still clearly remember sitting there in the middle of the night, tucking into beef steaks, fresh vegetables and a good glass of wine. How delicious that was after that period of food scarcity. All that was left were white beans in tomato sauce and sour gherkins.’
Behold what the memory archive brings back to us following the period described by Marc Jacobs in his 1979 diary. Thanks also to Ronald C Pearson, Martin van der Ven and Fons Winteraeken.
Hans Knot May 2026