Retiring policewoman heading out to paradise

Mar 7 2010 by Katie Davies, Sunday Sun

WE all dream of leaving everything behind to sail away into the sunset.

And that’s exactly what retiring policewoman Julie Tough is about to do, having met her Mr Right on a dating website.

Julie – a former Detective Sergeant with Northumbria Police – is about to embark on the trip of lifetime, travelling to the other side of the world to meet Captain Jack Webb before sailing around the Caribbean for six months.

The 51-year-old met Jack on an internet dating site more than three years ago but they only met for the first time last Christmas, when he spent a month at her home in Longframlington, Northumberland.

After sharing a common interest in sailing, the pair hit it off and began planning their trip of a lifetime.

Julie, who has been divorced for nine years, has only just retired from Northumbria Police force this week and will set sail on March 22.

She said: “I am extremely excited. The only way I can describe the feeling is like when I was a child and I still believed in Santa.

“I haven’t got a clue what to take. I’m only allowed 46 kilos. I will have to travel light.

“The family are really looking forward to keeping in touch with me and following my adventure with me.

“Even though Jack and I were on the opposite sides of the world we both realised we shared the same interests and values. That’s what created the initial friendship. It’s now a love affair. It’s just like a gap year for grown ups.

“We realised we both wanted to go travelling and we decided we should meet up to get to know each other first to see whether we would be good sailing companions and we were.”

The couple are planning on completing a road trip through New Orleans and Florida before setting sail and heading towards the Bahamas.

Julie, who has a visa for six months, is hoping to return to the UK after the trip to see her friends and family at the end of the adventure . . . but is then planning to go out and do it all again.

“I’m free to sail. I have my pension, no commitments and so there is nothing to stop me,” she beamed.

“I never thought I would actually meet up with him - it was just a friendship. It wasn’t until I was on this side of my retirement that he came over and the rest is history.

“It’s just a great way to finish 30 years in the police force. It’s not the end, it’s the beginning. It’s like opening another chapter in the book,” added Julie.

The couple will be splitting the work between them and Julie is determined not to take a back seat. Jack, of Denver, Colorado, has sailed around Turkey, Norway and Greece and is looking forward to the trip.

On his blog the 60-year-old web designer wrote: “As my father’s life drew to a close, I took a sabbatical that we might share precious time before passing away.

“Our time together crystallized the meaning of the cliche ‘life is short’. In retrospect of our reunion I’ve rekindled a long-held dream to see the world from the deck of a small boat, to find freedom, open air and adventure, and to find it on the sea.”