For the last 2 weeks I've been production assistant on a floating radio station, and on Sunday the station closed down until Summer 2017.

It's been an interesting existence, being on board the ship shortly after 0700 and leaving for my bed just after midnight each day. I did manage to get home usually for a few hours early eve, so it wasn't quite a 17 hour day. The ship is moored in harbour with a gangway straight onto the quayside so no strange gymnastics to get aboard. It's also about 10 mins walk from home, so easy logistics.

The station celebrated 50 years of offshore radio. Older Europeans will remember the changes in radio broadcasting that happened in the 60s as a result of the pirate radio stations, the most famous of which is Radio Caroline. That was, however, only one of a dozen or so major stations in the Irish & North Seas primarily serving the British Isles and Netherlands.

On board the ship this week we've had a cross section of radio folklore. That included Roger 'Twiggy' Day, Tony Prince, Alan 'Neddy' Turner, Dave Rogers and Dave Kent. Other friends of the station included newsreaders from Classic FM (Sybil Fennell) and BBC Radio (Charles Nove). One special presenter was Stephanie Hirst, who presented her show 'down the line' from home. I was in contact with her throughout the show and she now knows Shiraz. Many others on board also found out I was TG and it was a non-event, although I didn't go aboard en femme.

I've now been offered a DJ slot for next year even though I have no experience, yet. I did however look after the studio when the DJ had to dash out for any reason so I knew enough of the controls to handle an emergency. I also had a few speaking parts several times during the week.

I need a few more days to recover from sleep deprivement then I'll get writing again.

Shiraz