Tony Kirk

Tonk Kirk

Euphoria would be an understatement when Tony Kirk received a phone call on 24th November 1987 to join Radio Caroline.  He remembers that moment well as anyone would when ambition was about to be realised but his excitement was very short-lived when a few hours later the Ross Revenge’s 300-foot high aerial mast collapsed on a very rough North Sea so his journey was put on hold.  A year later, another phone call and in November 1988 he was on board presenting programmes from the high seas on the 558 service. It was the start of an adventure that included threats of mutiny, the station’s 25th-anniversary commemorations at Easter 1989, on deck carrying out mast repairs during a dramatic ‘rock and roll’ force 10 storm, and being on board when the Dutch police and British DTI raided the station in an attempt to silence it in August 1989.