We finished our Pirate Radio Weekend with a studio party last night but the highlight of the weekend was definitely the phone call from Johnnie Walker to Keith Skues!
Obviously it takes many people to make a 60 hour continuous broadcast happen so thank you to everyone who lent their time to make this happen.
We are now looking towards August 2025 to continue our regular series of shows marking the important date of 14th August 1967
We are also raising money to restore the ship after February’s arson attack. If you can help, please do.
You can find the conversation between Johnnie and Keith here
During our 2024 Pirate Radio Weekend we enjoyed shows from Keith Skues, a veteran of pirate, BBC, BFBS and Independent broadcasting.
During Keith’s show on Sunday 11 August we received a phone call from the legendary Johnnie Walker. What followed was a five minute chat between the two great broadcasters.
We have a special show on 14 August 2024 which tells the story of pirate radio 1964-1967 and which features original recordings of Johnnie Walker.
Six months ago the LV18 was subject to an arson attack, causing £250,000 of damage. Donations are being sought to support the full restoration of this historic vessel. Johnnie Walker is the patron of the charity that owns the LV18.
10PM The Garden of Unearthly Delights – Paul Windsor
SATURDAY 10TH AUG
Midnight Dave Kent
3AM Chris Cooper & Rick Marks
6AM Olly Kinvig – The Mi Amigo Breakfast Show
9AM Paul Windsor
10AM Steve Jenner
MIDDAY Duke Anthony
2PM Keith Skues – Cardboard Shoes himself!
4PM Neon Nancy
6PM Garry Lee
7PM Chris B & Les
10PM Paul Windsor
SUNDAY 11TH AUGUST
1AM Dave Kent
3AM Chris Cooper & Rick Marks
6AM Olly Kinvig – The Mi Amigo Breakfast Show
8AM Duke Anthony
9AM Steve Jenner
11AM Stephen Foster
1PM Keith Skues
3PM Garry Lee
4PM Paul Windsor
5PM Chris Cooper
6PM Rick Marks
7PM Duke Anthony
8PM Paul Windsor
9PM MI AMIGO PARTY NIGHT
MIDNIGHT (OR WHENEVER)… We return to our usual schedule
Please note that this schedule is liable to change at extremely short notice due to circumstances outside our control!
Last updated 10th August 2024
Press release:
Harwich Radio Ship Celebrates the Pirates
Radio Mi Amigo will be live from the LV18 Lightship 9 to 11 August, celebrating the radio pirates of the sixties.
Joining us for our weekend of pirate radio are 1960s original DJs Keith ‘Cardboard Shoes’ Skues (BFBS, Radio Caroline, Radio London, Radio Hallam & BBC), Stephen ‘Foz’ Foster (Radio Orwell, BBC, Radio Caroline), Chris Cooper (Voice of Peace, Radio Caroline, Radio Seagull) and many more experienced DJs. Radio Mi Amigo programme director is Garry Lee.
Radio Mi Amigo plays the hits from the pirate ships of the 1960s and 1970s which helped change pop culture in the UK. The station is streaming 24hrs a day but will be live from our studio from midday Friday 9th August to midnight Sunday 11th for Pirate Radio Weekend.
It’s been six months since the LV18 was devastated by an arson attack and this weekend’s live broadcasts will help raise money for the restoration fund to restore this unique ship.
Tony O’Neil, chairman of the Pharos Trust, said he was delighted that the ship’s studio would be available for the weekend, and this was a testament to the efforts everyone had put in since the fire.
The LV18 has been open free of charge since its re-opening at Whitsun and will will remain free for the duration so visitors can view the restoration so far. Donations are welcome.
Listen online via lv18radio.uk
Keith Skues (left) and Stephen Foster (right) in the LV18 Studio at Easter 2024Rooftop view over the LV18 and Harwich Harbour taken August 2018
The LV18 is also broadcasting a new radio station, Haven Community Radio, serving the Stour & Orwell Stour estuaries. Listen via Haven Community Radio
Six months ago the ship was subject to an arson attack, causing £250,000 of damage. Donations are being sought to support the full restoration of this historic vessel.
We streamed a special live show from our ship on Sunday 23rd June 2024 presented by Garry Lee, with guests. Many thanks to all who tuned in and sent us messages during the show! We discussed, for the first time, the arson attack on our ship , studio damage, the court case and our recovery.
As announced during the live show, coming up on Saturday 29th June is an all day fundraiser (in aid of our recovery fund) at Hotbox, Chelmsford. Tickets https://dice.fm
Update: The LV18 re-opened to visitors at the start of June after an extensive cleaning and restoration project for the least affected areas of the ship.
Please note that because of our recent fire the ship is not open to visitors at the moment. Sadly this means that if you come to Harwich then it won’t be possible for you to walk aboard. We hope to re-open the ship to visitors later in the year and will put an announcement on here and on our social channels when we have definite information.
From 1958, when the LV18 was first deployed by Trinity House until 1994 when the LV18 was retired, the vessel’s primary role was as a lightvessel – a floating lighthouse – to help protect ships from undersea hazards. A secondary role was weather reporting. The LV18 was equipped with radios but these were only for ship to ship and ship to shore communication.
The LV18 was first used for radio broadcasting in 1999, at the time the ship was owned by Sea Containers Ltd, who owned and operated Parkeston Quay (Harwich International). Tony O’Neil hired the LV18 and used it for a number of radio broadcasts under temporary UK government broadcasting licences.
First used in 1999 as a mother ship for revival broadcasts of offshore radio, including Radio North Sea International off Clacton.
2000 Radio Caroline, for one month off Harwich.
2001 Radio Mi Amigo off Harwich.
2002 Radio Mi Amigo and Harwich Community Radio.
In 2002 the Pharos Trust was established as a charity to own, preserve and exhibit LV18. Work started to restore the LV18 after 8 years of neglect. The LV18 was kept on a mooring in the River Stour when not needed elsewhere.
In 2004 BBC Essex wanted to mark the 40th anniversary of the launch of Radio Atlanta, Radio Caroline, Radio London etc and they used the LV18 as a base, anchored off Harwich. This was repeated in 2007 for the 40th anniversary of the Marine Offences (etc) Act of 14 August 1967. Many of the former pirate DJs took part, most of whom had also been BBC employees at this point. The broadcast was called “Pirate BBC Essex“. By this time, Johnnie Walker had agreed to be patron of the Pharos Trust.
In 2008 the LV18 was chartered by the producers of the “Boat That Rocked” movie (“Pirate Radio” movie in the US). This took the LV18 to Portland Bay and the ship gained a new paint scheme on one side. It was billed as “Radio Sunshine, the Home of Happy Hits”.
Pirate BBC Essex came back to the LV18 in 2009 and the ship was moored alongside Ha’Penny Pier for the first time during this broadcast before returning to its river mooring.
Dave CashJohnnie Walker
In 2011 the Pharos Trust received a grant from the local authourities, Tendring District & Essex County Councils, that enabled a permanent berth to be constructed between Harwich Quay and Ha’Penny Pier. This allowed easy daily public access for the first time in the ship’s history.
Between 2012 and 2017 the LV18 was used annually for pirate radio revivals under the Radio Mi Amigo brand – but with an Ofcom licence!
In 2017 the BBC returned and hosted an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Marine Offences (etc) Act. Many former pirates gathered on the LV18 including Johnnie Walker, Roger Day, Keith Skues, Norman St John and Tom Edwards.
Johnnie WalkerRoger ‘Twiggy’ DayKeith Skues & Norman St JohnTom Edwards
From 2018 to 2023 the LV18 hosted licensed Radio Mi Amigo broadcasts from our permanent berth and during this time rebuilt the studio.
At Christmas 2023 we launched Radio Mi Amigo as a full time online station.
An arson attack took our station off-air on 2nd Feb 2024 but this was restored from a temporary studio the same month and returned to the ship’s studio at the end of March 2024 with a live event that included Roger Day and Keith Skues.
Roger Day and Keith Skues
Further live studio events took place during August and December 2024. On 11 August, during Keith Skues’ show, Johnnie Walker phoned in and asked to speak to Keith live on the air. That conversation is available on this site.
The following was sent to the Harwich & Manningtree Standard for the 5th April 2024 edition.
Radio Mi Amigo was broadcast from historic light vessel LV18 in Harwich Harbour over Easter Weekend, with fans flocking to Harwich to help mark the 60th anniversary of offshore broadcasting. Radio Caroline started the radio revolution in 1964 just off the coast of Harwich, and were soon joined by other ships. The guest DJs, on board the LV18, for the weekend included Keith ‘Cardboard Shoes’ Skues and Roger ‘Twiggy’ Day who were both on Radio Caroline, and other ships, in the mid 1960s.
Radio Mi Amigo was also supported by visiting DJs Stephen ‘Foz’ Foster, Garry Lee, Olly Kinvig, Paul Windsor, Chris Cooper, Rick Marks, Dave Kent and Duke Anthony. Duke had arrived in Harwich to help put the studio together but ended up in the studio chair hosting several shows!
One highlight of the weekend was when Keith Skues and Roger Day shared the studio to talk about their lives afloat sixty years ago, before they headed to the Electric Palace as guests of BBC Essex presenters Steve Scruton and Ian Wyatt. The proceeds of that show will be donated to the LV18 Restoration Fund, along with a donation from the Electric Palace Trust from film revenue over the Easter Weekend’s 1960s film festival.
BBC Essex was broadcast live from the LV18 on Easter Saturday, with Steve Scruton interviewing the DJs, fans who had gathered on the quayside and members of the public.
The Pharos Trust, which owns and operates the LV18, also hosted a visit by three member of the Tendring District Council Economic Development team, which has been working with the Trust on a community radio project over the past six months.
It is hoped that the ship will re-open to the public by the end of May, once the immediate restoration work and clean-up have been completed. A further live radio weekend is being planned for August.
The Pharos Trust thanks everyone who helped put together the wonderful weekend in the LV18’s floating studio and would especially like to thank those who helped raise money for the continuing Restoration Fund.
Our launch weekend (Christmas 2023) is now over but we continue to broadcast via our stream 24/7 with a mix of pre-recorded original programming from a large number of DJs.
Currently that mix is semi-random but will shortly settle into a set pattern – watch this space! We are also planning more live events throughout 2024 and beyond.
Many thanks to all the DJs who have contributed to our programming.
Our schedule for our launch weekend is below:
XMAS EVE : Live Launch event
Midday – Live Launch – Garry Lee
1pm Paul Windsor
2pm Gordon Bathgate
3pm Neon Nancy
5pm Olly Kinvig
7pm Garry Lee’s Stonehenge Disco
XMAS DAY
Midnight Kev Ellis
1am Jim Fourniadis
2am Tim Rice
5am Rick Marks
7am Chris Cooper
8am Olly Kinvig
10am Jeff Martin
Midday Paul Windsor
1pm Rick Marks
2pm Neon Nancy
4pm The Radio East Boys (40 years reunion)
5pm Kevin Matthews
6pm Chris Morgan
7pm Garry Lee’s Stonehenge Disco
10pm Chris B & Friends
BOXING DAY
Midnight – 2am Chris Morgan
Press Release (December 2023):
RADIO PIRATES ARE BACK IN HARWICH
Radio Mi Amigo, from the historic Lightvessel LV18 on Harwich Quay, is returning to the air on Christmas Eve and will continue on a permanent basis through the New Year. The station will be bringing the sounds and spirit of the original radio pirates back to their roots of Harwich.
Returning to the floating newly-installed studios are Garry Lee, Neon Nancy, Chris Cooper and the Reverend Rabbit as well as many new DJs who are broadcasting in support of the Pharos Trust charity, which owns the LV18.
Tony O’Neil, Chairman of the Pharos Trust, said he was excited to bring a nostalgic ‘retro’ sound to Harwich once again and appreciated all who were giving their time and expertise towards the project.
The Pharos Trust, Registered UK charity No. 1090325
