CHAT SESSION 73 Jack Lewis ‘Champagne Jacket’
Topic- Jack Lewis managed to hitchhike from Europe to Australia without taking a single flight, giving birth to his singer songwriter pseudonym, Champagne Jacket
Catch up and listen to our chat session https://megaphone.link/LCRUI9138592510
Monday 16th September 2024 1pm https://rppfm.com.au
Sometime between the Brexit vote and Trump’s acceptance speech, Jack’s sister Rachel was getting married in an old church in Ash, Southeast England. Recently made redundant, Jack was planning to depart to Australia the next day, but he didn’t have a ticket yet. “Go to Mallorca, you’ll find a boat there” said one of the wedding guests.
Jack’s cousin and his girlfriend were returning to their homeland down under, an adventure that was past due. Jack was trying to get there without flying, for environmental reasons to ‘feel the size of the earth’.
After many tear-soaked hugs, Jack set off with a guitar and a backpack. He travelled by bus and ferry to the Spanish Island town of Palma de Mallorca, a super yacht hub, where would-be crew members vied for the few positions’ onboard opulent ships between charters.
There was no boat to Australia, but some yachts were heading over the Atlantic and with more jobhunters than boats, Jack created a music video, entitled ‘You Need Jack on Your Crew’. He posted it to the local ‘Palma Yacht Crew’ Facebook group and by the weekend, he was being interviewed for a spot on an 85m super yacht.
lmage of 'You Need Jack on Your Crew'
“How can you be a musician and a deckhand?” they asked. “Will you accept orders from someone younger than you?”. “No problem”, he lied in response. They took a risk, and after organising a US visa in Lisbon Jack boarded in Gibraltar.
The boat was enormous. It was 4 decks above water, 2 below and had a crew of 28 people. There was a swimming pool, dance floor, jet skis, spas, a bridge like the Starship Enterprise and even an upright piano in one of the lounges. Jack was the lowest of the low - Junior Deckhand, bunking with one of the two on board chefs.
Within days, they powered out of the Strait of Gibraltar, those giant diesel engines laughing at his environmental conscience. “Well, the boat was going anyway...?” he told himself. For the next 10 days Jack kept busy with 8 hours of washing the boat every day, and a couple hours on watch each night. Before he knew it, he’d reached Miami, travelling in dead calm conditions.
The midpoint of the Atlantic Ocean
In Miami, a speed boat brought on ‘the clients’. Jack couldn’t help but Google who they were, which he instantly regretted. If you can afford one million dollars a week but don’t own your own yacht, then it’s probably dirty money. And it was, of the worst kind.
The boat shifted into ‘resort’ mode. As they cruised the Bahamas, Jack was sent off on a jet ski every morning to manicure pristine beaches into tamed havens on the off chance that the guests wanted to sunbathe, which they rarely did. Or he was tasked with entertaining the ten-year-old son, who had become spoilt and demanding in a vacuum of attention. All this with the endless washing of the paint and decks.
This wasn’t the job for Jack. He served his notice in Cuba and left the boat in Miami. Greyhound buses took him through Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Mexico, Costa Rica, and finally, to Panama.
Online he discovered a loose group of small boat owners preparing to cross the Pacific, called the Pacific Puddle Jump. One of the boat owners was looking for crew. Geoff was a 52-year-old divorcee who had bought a 42-foot sailing boat in Greece and was sailing it back home to Sydney. He was departing Panama in March with Harry on board, a 30-year-old American carpenter, who had never sailed a day in his life. Surely a 4,000-mile journey to the middle of the Pacific would be, ok?
The trip took 40 days, in a space about the size of a living room.
Jack didn’t feel the distance, just time. Time to read, time to play guitar, time to just sit there and think about nothing in particular. The scenery doesn’t change; you occupy the centre of a circle of water, and it doesn’t feel like you are moving at all.
One day, orcas danced playfully around them, but Geoff seemed worried. One flick of a fin and they can sink a small boat like Salty, which was no way beyond helicopter range.
Frustration developed in the crew as the wind failed to arrive, but the current gently nudged them to the Marquesa Islands. There, every other boat was changing crew and so Jack decided to swap over to another Australian who was sailing from the Mediterranean. John from Brisbane had a boat that was faster, and Jack would get his own toilet! These are the luxuries you live for.
John, Jack and Harry in the Marquesas
Suddenly, Jack realised that to get a visa for Australia, he either needed to return to Marketing, or study something. He indulgently applied to study Songwriting at JMC Academy, South Melbourne. Completing his audition video on the boat in Tahiti with a couple of original songs, he was delighted to be accepted.
Jack auditioning for JMC on board
Three months followed of lesser seen islands, snorkelling with sharks, catching fish along the way, broad minded kindred spirits and lots of beautiful wind powered sailing. From Anse Amyot (population 2) to Palmerston (whose 25 inhabitants descend from one 18th century man and his three wives), wifi connection was rare, but the human connection had full signal. This trip of a lifetime brought Jack to Morecambe Bay in Brisbane, 11 months after leaving, and one week before his course started.
Jack fell further in love with songwriting, continuing to study a full Bachelor’s, and now writes a song every week, releasing them under the name Champagne Jacket. His time at sea contemplating existence can be heard in his recent single ‘Temporary’, in which a small beach pebble hits out at us humans for considering it ‘calming’. Always ambitious and in search of a big idea, Jack recorded a live sunset version of this song with his full band locally at Mushroom Reef, Flinders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tClhupbWGz4
Champagne Jacket band at Flinders Ocean Beach
While the relationship that brought him lies in the COVID graveyard, Jack now lives in Mornington with his partner and her son. He recently began running an open mic at Mr Paul’s on Mornington Main Street and still makes time to visit the UK every two years. To offset flights Jack went vegan and plants trees on the Peninsula with MP Koala Conservation. It may take a little time but its quicker than being on a boat for 11 months.
You can keep up with Jack’s music releases here:
Website: www.champagnejacket.com
Spotify: Champagne Jacket
Instagram: www.instagram.com/champagnejacket
Facebook: www.facebook.com/champagnejacket
Ninch Open Mic: www.ninchopenmic.com.au
My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the
‘The Daily Mirror’
YOU SMILE
EMBRACE BEING YOU
AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!
To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com
'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.
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