Radio Hauraki - History

History

In late 1966, the Tiri, the boat chosen to carry the transmitter, anchored in the Hauraki Gulf outside the 3-mile territorial waters limit, despite government efforts to stop it from sailing. The station broadcast on the frequency of 1480 kHz, which was well outside the range of frequencies used by the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. After testing the transmitter with a broadcast from pirate announcer Bob Leahy, and having to replace the mast after winds of more than 30 knots knocked it down, Radio Hauraki officially started broadcasting on 4 December 1966. During the next 2 years, the crew on the Tiri would endure adverse weather conditions, fatigue, and continued efforts to shut down the station.

On 28 January 1968 disaster struck as the Tiri attempted to negotiate its way into Whangaparapara Harbour on Great Barrier Island in foul weather. The ship ran aground on rocks, with Radio Hauraki disc jockey Derek King keeping listeners up-to-date with running commentary. The final broadcast from the Tiri was "Hauraki News: Hauraki crew is abandoning ship. This is Paul Lineham aboard the 'Tiri'. Good Night." followed by a station jingle, and then the sound of the ship's hull striking the rocks. The "Tiri" was later towed back to Auckland and the broadcasting equipment was salvaged. However, the Tiri herself was beyond repair and was replaced four days later by the Kapuni, christened Tiri II by her new crew. A month after the loss of the Tiri, Radio Hauraki was back in international waters and broadcasting again.

In April of the same year Tiri II found herself beached again at Whangaparapara Harbour, a victim of the same storm that would result in the tragic Wahine disaster. After repairs she was back at sea in five days. Between this time and June 1968, Tiri II would end up beached at Uretiti Beach and caught several times broadcasting from New Zealand waters by radio inspectors. Just before Christmas 1968, Radio Hauraki became New Zealand's first 24 hour broadcasting radio station.

Radio Hauraki was not live radio. The studios were land based and most programs were recorded on reel-to-reel tapes in 1/2 hour segments exactly one week prior to their broadcast. This meant that while contests, current top tunes, etc. could be accommodated, news and weather were more of a challenge.

In mid-1970, the state monopoly on radio frequencies was broken, with the New Zealand Broadcasting Authority finally allowing Radio Hauraki to broadcast on land, legally. The Radio Hauraki crew had spent 1,111 days at sea. The final broadcast from the seabound Hauraki Pirates was a documentary on the station's history until that point, finishing at 10:00 pm when Tiri II turned and headed for Auckland playing "Born Free" continually. During their final voyage back to shore, announcer Rick Grant was lost overboard.

Radio Hauraki began FM transmission in 1990 on 99.0FM, and the 1480 kHz frequency was subsequently acquired by a local community group to broadcast the BBC World Service.

During the late nineties Radio Hauraki was networked into other regions around the North Island of New Zealand and in 2003 Radio Hauraki was networked into the South Island in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.

Veteran pirate announcer Bob Leahy remained a newsreader for The Radio Network right up until 2009, which saw him remain on-air on Radio Hauraki some 40 years after he helped begin the station.