British Romeo who rode a jet ski across the Irish Sea to be with a friend he’d met a few weeks earlier has admitted feeling like a “worthless James Bond” during his deadly mission “for love.”
Dale McLaughlan – who was jailed for breaking lockdown rules on the trip – told the Sunday Mirror he spent more than $ 8,000 buying the jet ski, as well as a GPS and a dry bag to bring gifts for his new love. to carry.
“The first time I even got on a jet ski was in that harbor,” said McLaughlan, who risked the rough seas to get from Scotland to the Isle of Man to see new love Jessica Radcliffe, who he met in September.
“As soon as I hit open water, I thought ‘Oh my God’. It was like being kicked in the teeth, ”he told the British newspaper.
“It was awful. It wasn’t fun. I followed the GPS, but after half an hour a huge wave swept it away. I had no idea where I was going,” he said.
‘I thought it would take 45 minutes. I tried to control maps and ocean currents, but I had no idea how to read them, ”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 driving,” he said.
His gas tank warned him he was about to run out, just as he saw the coast of the Isle of Man, which he remembered as “such a bloody relief” and “like a beacon of hope.”
But he was off target, and at least 25 miles from Jessica’s house – which he says he just walked.
‘I just put up my headphones and went. I listened to power ballads, ”he told the Sunday Mirror.
Radcliffe had no idea he was on the romantic journey, and when he got to her home, “she stuck her head out the window and let out a scream,” he said.
She opened the door, jumped around my waist, and gave me a big kiss. I said, “Hi honey!” I still smelled a bit of the water, ”he said.
But police soon came knocking after he was photographed arriving on the island, where he had been denied permission to return under strict coronavirus restrictions against visitors.
“I didn’t deny it – I was caught red-handed,” he said.
When he told the police about his jet ski ride, he recalled someone saying to him, ‘You’re 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 says he was surprised to make headlines around the world. “I was like, ‘What? I’m just a man from Scotland!’ People say I’m a legend,” he said.
‘I think I’ve stirred up a lot of spirits. Many people say I ended a terrible year. That 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 she loves her crazy Romeo.
“How could I not remember what he was doing?” she said.
“I would like to marry him, but not this year. He has to get here first – legally this time! “