British Romeo, who jet-ski across the Irish Sea to be with a friend he’d met weeks earlier, has admitted he felt like a shitty during his death-defying mission “for love” James Bond “felt.
Dale McLaughlan, jailed for violating the lockdown rules, told the Sunday Mirror that he had spent more than $ 8,000 buying the jet ski, as well as a GPS and packing bag to carry gifts for his new love.
“The first time I stood on a jet ski was in this port,” said McLaughlan, who risked the rough seas to cross from Scotland to the Isle of Man and see new love, Jessica Radcliffe, whom he will meet in September met.
“As soon as I ran into open water, I thought ‘oh my god’. It was like getting a kick in the teeth,” he told the UK newspaper.
“It was horrible. It wasn’t fun. I followed the GPS, but after half an hour a massive wave wiped it away. I had no idea where I was going,” he said.
“I thought it would take 45 minutes. I was trying to check maps and ocean currents that I had no idea how to read,” he admitted.
“After two hours I thought, ‘Where the hell am I? “I couldn’t see anything … I thought I was lost at sea. I was scared,” he said.
“But the thought of Jessica kept me going,” he said.
His petrol tank warned him that he was about to run out when he saw the Isle of Man coast, which he described as “such a bloody relief” and “like a beacon of hope”.
But he was off target and at least 15 miles from Jessica’s home – which he says he just ran.
“I just plugged my headphones up and down. I’ve heard power ballads, ”he told the Sunday Mirror.
Radcliffe had no idea he was going to make the romantic trip, and when he got to her house, “she peeked her head out the window and gave a little scream,” he said.
“She opened the door, jumped around my waist, and gave me a big kiss. I said, “Hello baby!” I still smelled a bit of water, “he said.
However, police knocked soon after he was photographed on the island, where he was denied permission to return under strict coronavirus restrictions on visitors.
“I didn’t deny it – I was caught red-handed,” he said.
When telling cops about his jet-ski ride, he remembered someone who said, “You are damn lucky to be alive! I know people who wouldn’t try that on a boat in the summer.”
McLaughlan was sentenced to four weeks in prison and was astonished to make headlines around the world. “I thought, ‘What? I’m just a guy from Scotland! “People say I’m a legend,” he said.
“I think I’ve lifted a lot of spirits. A lot of people say I ended a terrible year well. It made me feel better,” he said.
“I broke the law. But I did it for love, ”he said.
“I should never have done it. It could be called a crime of passion. “
Radcliffe told the newspaper that she loves her crazy Romeo.
“How could I not after what he did?” She said.
“I would like to marry him, but not this year. He has to get over here first – legally this time! “