Hi.
Welcome to Carve magazine. Our printed and interwebbed journal documenting the trinity of: human, board and wave. Three things that when combined equate to the funnest thing you can do in the sea.
The mag is in its twenty first year of publication and has been surfer owned and run since day one. Our ethos has always been: surfing is fun.
Whether this summer is your first stab at learning the dark art of standing up, and the whitewater is your nemesis, or whether you’ve got stickers on the beak of your board and can do air reverses it’s all about fun. If it’s not then you might need to go and have a quiet word with yourself.
It’s now summer. The surf will inevitably be busy. We’re all chasing that same rush, the same thrill as your paddle strokes fade and you pop to your feet and the peculiar physics of you standing on a lump of foam and fibreglass on a moving wall of water takes hold and you accelerate.
So if you’re an able surfer and can surf out back be considerate of those who are still on the upward curve of the surfing arc on the inside. Or those who accidentally make it out back. Everyone started somewhere and learning the etiquette of where and how to paddle out and priority is something all surf schools should drill into their students. A friendly word is always better than shouting and being a dick. Hell, you might make a friend. If you want to be aggressive, shout at people and be a twat maybe go to a football match instead.
British surfing is like the British demeanour: polite, restrained and civilised. There’s no need for aggro in the water. So surf careful, cheerful and considerate and if you really want crowd free surfs then the obvious call is to get up for the dawny or hit the late surfs. Avoid surf school rush hour. Or just hit up the spots where there aren’t any schools.
Conversely if you are learning this summer then watch and learn. There’s more to learning to surf than just popping up … So much more. Always be aware of where you and your board are, and keep hold of it, and watch how the good guys are doing it when you’re not trying to catch a wave. You’ll be out there one day. Paddling into green waves is such a joy and so much easier than bouncy whitewater take offs on a battered foamy. But it’s a rite of passage you need to go through. No point being out back until you can paddle and stand up with confidence.
The water is warm, wetsuits are thin, burnt meat cooked outside is a welcome dietary fixture and you can drink booze in beer gardens without freezing to death. It’s summer. Enjoy it. Get out there and have some fun and most importantly: be nice.
