Jackson Coffey is your classic Australian waterman. He loves to surf, fish, dive and explore. He’s extremely good at all of them too. Having grown up travelling around Australia in a bus with his parents and four sisters, he’s no stranger to life on the go. Jackson and his father, Jason, are currently in the middle of their biggest adventure, journeying from Tweeds Heads on the East Coast of Australia across the top of the country to Broome in WA, on a 6.6m trail craft boat which Jackson describes as a ‘water caravan’.

Jackson has been filming the adventure for his YouTube channel which has become a source of income for him in recent times. He uses the ‘Coffey Break’ platform to document his love for ‘chasing big fish, perfect waves and untouched destinations’.

Like most talented young Australian surfers, the goofy-footer did a stint of competing on the WSL junior tour and QS during his early teenage years. Backed by Billabong, he then spent time chasing the free surfing dream, following swells across the globe with the aim of getting as tubed as possible. In recent years, Jackson, like many others, was a victim of surf industry budget cuts and resorted to doing various bits of tradie work.

Having gathered a solid following on social media and YouTube, he’s hoping to continue documenting his surfing and fishing stories. Tracks caught up with Jackson while he was at sea last week to see how they were getting on with their current adventure.  

How are you guys getting on?

We’re currently out at Albany Island and we’re finally turning away from the hardcore weather. We knew we’d be battling the elements bad at this time of year while on this part of the coast but due to a number of things, this is the only time we could do the trip. We’ve been at sea for over two months now, we just had a week off the boat at Lockhart River and then we launched about four days ago. We’re currently at the point where you’re looking at the very tip of the country.

What does an average day on the boat look like?

It’s hard to give a gauge on each day, because the elements are always changing, but we usually wake up and suss out the weather. A lot of the time we’ll try and make up as much distance as possible, but if we’re hanging in one spot for a couple of day we’ll go fish, dive and check out whatever we can.

Some days you don’t feel like doing too much. You can run out of steam pretty quickly because you’re in the sun all day, you’re always doing something and at night you aren’t getting a full night’s sleep because there’s stuff to do or be mindful of.

How’s the sleeping arrangements, you guys look pretty cosy?

Haha, yeh we’re bunked right in there together. We’ve grown up in caravans and lived in confined spaces our whole lives so we’re pretty used to it. My sister has also come on board for stints so when she does, I sleep on the deck.

Have you had any scary moments yet?

Yeh definitely, there was one moment where we were two to three hours south of Port Douglas, there was a gap in the weather between our current location and where we wanted to get to. We decided to go for it, we got past Mission Beach and we were originally going to stay there, but we thought fuck it we’ll try get to Cairns and as we went round the Bernard Islands we got stuck in this weather and mess of an ocean. We were pretty much helpless, the boat was being guided by the ocean, the Go Pro footage doesn’t do it justice as to how brutal the conditions were. I’ve surfed big waves my whole life, done loads of crazy boat trips but this was definitely one of the most scared I’ve ever been. Me and dad have been travelling around with two surfboards and not only are they for surfing, but they’re also a safety and floatation device in case anything ever happened.

Any highlights?

While we were staying at Lockhart River, we got to go fishing with the local boys. No white fella is allowed down there, so we had to get permission from the local elders. We went fishing for Barramundi and it was really special and a unique experience.

You must be building plenty of connections throughout this trip?

We’ve been hanging out with so many unique characters, met loads of different people and I feel like a much more knowledgeable person already. I’m building connections for the rest of my life and I know that if I ever come back through these small towns, there will always be somebody to have a beer or fish with.

What other lessons have you learnt on your journey so far?

Just learning to take each day as it comes, planning with the weather on the boat you have to be so careful. It’s been a great lesson learning to work as a team with Dad and to be honest this whole journey is just one big lesson.

Speaking of highlights, I noticed you guys got some waves on the Great Barrier Reef, how was that?

It was such a cool session, that was another highlight for sure. It was such a milk glass out day, there is no reef like the Great Barrier Reef and to be able to surf over the top of it was a dream come true. The clarity in the water was insane, the camera’s don’t do it justice. It was such a unique experience and one I’ll have with me forever.

I really wanted to get a few more surfs in but the weather just hasn’t played ball. I’m hoping there could be something around the Torres Strait, but after that it’s full blown Croc country so it’s pretty doubtful now.

How have you found the time to record and edit all the content for YouTube?

It’s been a massive job doing the YouTube stuff. I’m getting better at it but I like to make sure I have a bit of a system with it as I want to enjoy each moment and find a balance between filming and taking it all in. I’m getting faster at the editing but yesterday I spent from 8am till midnight editing.

The YouTube series seems to have been a hit, so the editing has been worth it.

I keep the filming as casual as possible, I’m just myself throughout and that seems to have resonated with people. I see myself as just an everyday Australian, who loves surfing and fishing, travelling around the country. Last year I was doing YouTube in between working and I’ve done all sorts of jobs including steel fixing, concreting, window glazing, worming and more. I think people can relate to that.

Is there any more plans for the YouTube?

I’ve been able to make a bit of money from YouTube and it’s currently covering the costs of this trip. I’d love to turn it into a full time thing. After this, I’m planning on doing more of this type of content overseas where I go fishing, camping in remote places but all while chasing waves. I think it’s a unique skill set being able to do all three of those together.

How much longer have you guys got to go on your trip?

I’m hoping to get to Broome by September, it will depends how much we want to fuck around in particular places. But once we get to Broome, I’m going to take the boat and my car and drive back across the country to Tweed.

You can check out more from Jackson’s adventure by clicking here.