Carve Magazine Issue 233

The new issue is out.  You can get it delivered to door for by hitting this link here.

In our little corner of Europe, surfing lives by the seasons. Summer and winter, hot and cold, dry and wet, flat spells and pumping swells – the cycle rolls on, resets and starts again.

This summer was a scorcher, as hot and dry as many can remember. But when it came to waves, there wasn’t a lot to write home about. Boards gathered dust in sheds and garages while snorkelling, swimming and paddling took over. But maybe there’s something in that, too. When the waves disappear, you get the chance to explore what’s around the next headland, see what lies beneath the surface, and connect with our coastline in a slightly different way.

Flat spells never last forever, though, and when those first autumn swells arrived, it felt like being handed back something we’d almost forgotten we were missing. Now winter is coming into sharper focus, the bigger waves are starting to stir, and those tucked-away nooks and crannies that only roll out the red carpet for the meanest-named storms are about to wake up.

Summer is fun, but for many of us, it’s the movement of the darker months that really lights the fire. Bigger swells, empty line-ups, road trips, gamble missions, and the possibility that somewhere, on the right day, you might just score one of the waves of your life. The charts are lining up. It’s go time.
And there’s plenty in this issue to get stuck into while you’re waiting for the next swell. Arlene Maltman’s radical story and Toby Millage’s Surf Experience feature both trace journeys that began in surfing’s heavier party days and have evolved and thrived into the modern era.

Talking of the modern era, we also dive into the world of wave pools – a part of surfing that’s developing at a rapid pace. At the opposite end of the spectrum, few things remain as timeless as an Indonesian boat trip. We’ve got two very different versions of that dream: Harry Timson heading out with a crew of hi-fi shredders, followed by Johnny Eldridge and his brilliantly named ‘Middle-Aged Shredders’ – proving that the search for perfect waves doesn’t come with an age limit.
Winter’s coming. Get amongst it.

Joel Gray
Editor-at-Large