A reprint of the article from Free Radio Waves Issue 13 - January 1980

Radio Delmare, The English Service That Nearly Was...

The first in a series of articles by Leon Mitchell. He tells the TRUE story behind the proposed English language broadcasts on Radio Del Mare.

"Our story begins on Ju1y 2nd 1979. I had been helping to run a pirate station in Leicester called Delta Radio. One weekend, three friends travelled up to help us with a broadcast. Their names were Chris Cortez, Dave Caine and Radio Caroline deejay Roger Matthews. Delta Radio never came on the air that Sunday, as we spent the time talking about offshore radio and pursuing our shared hobby of steam railways. One of these three people was interested in buying a 10 kW transmitter, which I knew I could get. I wasn't really sure what the tx was intended for, but I was left with strict instructions to get the rig as soon as possible.

Having tracked down the equipment after a two week search, I realised that starting our own offshore station was not impossible. I visited Chris and the lads in Cambridge, and we decided to approach Gerard van Dam. He was the owner of Radio Delmare, who had just returned with low power from the Dutch coast.

Chris made the initial contact, and put several important questions to Gerard. After a long discussion, he agreed to let us run an English service at night. This would be on a new channel, and not 192 metres. In return for this airtime, we would provide Delmare with our 10 kW transmitter. We immediately made plans to leave for Holland. I set out on July 6th, with a friend called Geoff. He had promised to pay for any equipment and the initial running costs we would encounter. After a very pleasant journey by car ferry, we arrived at the Hook to be met by blazing sunshine and a smiling Gerard van Dam. We were taken at once to Prodihaag in the Hague, where I was bitten by a dog. This was hardly a very promising start to my adventures. After a cup of coffee and a meal, discussions began in earnest. Gerard told us we were going out to the Aegir II that evening. We would travel by night to avoid the attention of the Dutch PTT. At 1100 pm we arrived at a very lonely and deserted beach on Goree Island. The Delmare tender had been towed behind us. It consisted of a fibre glass boat fitted with an outboard motor. We were faced with a two hour journey, some 14 miles into the North Sea and in total darkness. The only navigational aid was a compass fixed to the hull of the boat. I helped take the tender off the trailer, while Geoff removed his trousers and waded through the water to point the vessel seawards. Gerard tried to start the outboard motor and the rope snapped. After a lot of swearing, he told us a replacement would have to be found. We then travelled the eighty miles back to the Hague, where we tried to get some sleep. The main problem was that Prodihaag only had one spare bed.

After five hours rest, Gerard woke us at 8.00am. I found I had been sharing the room with Delmare deejay Marcel Stevens. We had a long chat and made plans for the English service. A couple of hours later, I met the engineer Johan. It soon turned out that I knew more about transmitters than he did.

Geoff and I went into town, where we bought the new starting rope for the tender. This proved to be the first and last time my friend provided money for the project.

Repairs were quickly carried out and everything was fixed by Saturday evening Gerard then told us of poor visibility and the forecast of a force 5 gale in the North Sea. So D-Day was re-scheduled for 9.OOam on Sunday morning.

In part two of this article, we visit the Aegir II and reveal some more facts about the Radio Delmare organisation.

1980 Leon Mitchell & Free Radio Waves. 

Also from Free Radio Waves 13

"As part of our special feature on this offshore station, Chris Cortez chronicles the final few months of Radio Delmare"

Sunday August 12th 1979 : 
Former Delmare deejay's, Kees "Kaas" Mulder and Jan Olienoot board the Aegir II. They promise the transmitter engineer, Johan, regular food and money, if he will agree to broadcast their programme tapes under a new station name.
While announcements are being broadcast to the effect, "We have taken over the running of this station, because Gerard van Dam has not been doing it correctly", Gerard is taking swift counter action on land'.  When Kees and Jan return to the shore, they find themselves stranded with their dinghy on a lonely beach miles from anywhere. Clever Gerard had disabled their car and towed away their dinghy's trailer'. In effect, the take-over has been quashed:
Shortly afterwards, the Dutch authorities reveal that Gerard is only part-owner (if that ?) of Telealto Adriatico Monte Marcello, Italy and that no broadcasts as Radio/TV Delmare Italia had ever been made. They also claim that Gerard has "mob" connections with the P.L.O and I.R.A, that his bodyguards carry firearms and that the Aegir II has previously been used for I.R.A gun-running trips!! The pressure on Radio Delmare is intensified, so Gerard quits the station and goes into hiding in Belgium with his girlfriend. Consequently, Delmare's sales company "Prodihaag" collapses and the Office/ PO Box number (which was registered in Astrid de Jager's name) are closed. Astrid's daily taped programmes also cease to be broadcast.

Tuesday August 14th 1979 :
The station is off the air for most of the day, due to bad storms in the North Sea. The entire project is in severe financial difficulties since Gerard's departure, but it struggles on. The remaining staff, a strange mixture of seamen, deeJays, engineers and Free Radio Freaks, led by Dutch snackbar owner Ad, take over the day to day running of Delmare. Ad, who lives in Roosendaal, collects advertising money still due to Gerard, and claims that several major advertisers are interested in the station. He also announces the formation of a legal company 'The D.O.O' to attract enough members to demand airtime on the Hilversum Radio Network. Many phone calls are made to a second English group, who are also interested in broadcasting from the Aegir II.
The ship's owner Hans, says the boat will be towed into Spain for a winter refit and repairs. The station will return in the Spring and The Delmare Clan Krant' magazine will be re-launched then.

Thursday August 23rd 1979 : 
English engineer Barry Lancaster returns to England and reveals details of his two weeks spent working for the station "It took me three hours and a lot of chat to get into Holland. The Customs wanted to know why I was loaded down with radio spares and equipment. In the end, I convinced them I was a Radio Amateur: Delmare's tx is a good one. The short-wave/medium-wave conversion has been well done and it is capable of more than the 250-500 watts it is running at the moment. All the other technical equipment aboard the ship is, shall we say, "less than Radio Nederland standard". There is some excellent gear in the studio, such as the turntables, but most of it is junk. The studio itself is not screened, which means 'R.F' will break into the many metres of wiring, if ever a high powered tx is put into service. General conditions aboard the radioship are very bad indeed. It is not 'ballasted', so it rolls about like a barrel, even on a very calm sea. I was seasick many times and had to keep rushing to the toilet, which is located on the bridge. The toilet door falls completely off it's hinges every time it is opened.You have to sit on the toilet with one of your feet holding the door in position, unless you want' sailors on any passing ship to see you in residence. I suspect that another reason for my seasickness was the terrible food and drink out there. All we had was rice, peanut butter and 7-up. Three new cabins have been built, but the ship is still far from being luxurious. Two weeks aboard was quite enough for me. I expected to have to 'rough-it' but not on an empty stomach."'

Wed August 24th 1979 : 
Gerard has now returned from Belgium and has re-joined the Delmare team. He sends several supply tenders out to the radioship. New problems arise and the winter 'refit in Spain' is cancelled. Claims are made that Ad has been pocketing the money due to Gerard from old advertisers, instead of spending it on the station.

Friday August 31st 1979 : 
The two potential English backers say they are no longer interested in Radio Delmare. The first group led by Geoff, a prominent British businessman from a Midland's firm of photocopier manufacturers, pulled out, because of the station's failure to provide a high powered t.x. and they claim that Gerard has mob connections. Barry and Leon switch over and join the second group, but they also pull out They give their reasons as
(1) Lack of contact from Gerard, after they raised £1,000 in just 24 hours to go towards the cost of buying a high powered tx, which he claimed to have
(2) The Aegir II being too small for their technical requirements
(3) Their being totally confused as to who they were dealing with. Many phone calls had been received from Holland, but each time from a different person claiming to be 'running' Radio DelMare
(4) The proposed deal was too one-sided, with the English being expected to do 90 ?/o of the work in return for very little.
 

September 1979 : 
The rather poor programming on 192 is improved by the introduction o£ a new pre-recorded programme "Dr.Molly's Magic Show". Del Mare are well paid. by the deejay for broadcasting the tapes.
 

Wednesday September 5th 1979 : 
Gerard takes another tender load of supplies out to the Aegir II, and then quits Radio Del Mare for the second and final time, leaving Ad and his team to run the station
 

Wednesday September 12th 1979 : 
Regular evening/nightime test transmissions and QSO'ing begin on 186 metres/ 1611 kHz .By mid September, Johan the engineer is the only person left aboard the radioship, so he operates the station single-handed. A new mailing address to replace Prodihaag is announced.  Radio Del Mare International, PO Box 25, Emmercompascuum, Holland. Claims are made that the Aegir II has been properly ballasted, and three new anchors fitted. Following the death of Radio Mi Amigo on Thursday September l8th, the Del Mare team say they have been approached about the possible 'hire' of their ship to the Belgian station. This is soon proved to be incorrect, as Mi Amigo issue a strong denial
 

Friday September 28th 1979 : 
At aprox. 18.45 hours BST/CET the 192 metre/1566 khz service of Radio Del Mare is closed-down for the final timeL

Wednesday Sunday October 6th 1979 : 
The 186 metre transmissions continue, engineer Johan does a lot of QSO'ing during the early hours of the morning with Dutch landbased pirate stations. Del Mare's programming includes tapes of 'The Final hour of Big L, and the Radio 390 Story .One of the Dutch pirates even relays Del Mare on 227 metres. Johan asks for more food and tx spares to be taken out, but suggests a few days delay as a Police boat is still anchored near the radioship. His suggestion is ignored by Ad, who arranges for the supplies to be ferried out by some guys from 'Radio Benelux', a local Hilversum FM station. They have no experience of tender running, act very suspiciously, and are caught by the Police twice in 48 hours? They breakdown under hard questioning and name all the members of the Del Mare team. Their boat's outboard motor is confiscated and they are told that they may be prosecuted.
 

Friday October 19th 1979 : 
Following 'visits' by the authorities to all the Del Mare staff, Ad is arrested and held for questioning for 24 hours. He is warned that if he does not co-operate, tax inspectors will be sent to check the accounts of his snackbar in Breda. Ad makes a full confession of his involvement with Radio Del Mare and signs a statement. Hans, the owner of the Aegir II, joins Johan aboard. Soon supplies are so low that the situation becomes desperate and even the 186 metre service 'dies'.  Johan decides to quit the station' and manages to obtain a ride home.

Tuesday October 23rd 1979 : 
In Holland, Ad announces that 'he is no longer involved with offshore radio' but a friend called Martin secretly telephones the second English group for him. He says, "The Aegir II is not under hire to us any more. Radio Del Mare now have new backers and a new radioship being equipped at a secret location. When the station returns, we will offer you a new and improved deal.
 

Saturday October 27th 1979 : 
Hans says he has had enough of starving alone at sea. With the help of a fisherman friend, he takes the Aegir II into Stellendam. It is immediately confiscated by the authorities, who move the radioship to Rotterdam. Here it joins the other two ill-fated Del Mare boats.

What of the future ? Ad's "new backers/new ship" claim will probably be proved false, but as already reported, Gerard van Dam is rumoured to be busy fitting out yet another vessel. Perhaps Del Mare will return to the airwaves during 1980 and prove to be a classic case of "third time lucky". Those of us who believe in that most wonderful ideal - Free Radio - certainly hope so.

© 1980
FRW & Chris Cortez.

This article was originally intended for publication in Offshore Echos France as Part 2 of the "Delmare Diary".