Carve Magazine Issue 203

Carve Magazine Issue 203

Carve Surfing Magazine

Carve Magazine Issue 203

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

Well, hello!
Sorry about the intermission. A pesky pandemic caught up with us, and err… not going to lie, the surf got pretty good too. There have been a few changes here at Carve as Sharpy, our Editor of 10 years decided to vacate the chair in May. It doesn’t seem like five minutes since we met Sharpy in a dark, dingy cellar bar in London and I dragged him back into mag land after spending a fiver on a pint. We’d just like to thank him for all his hard work and we wish him luck in the future. So, here we are after total lockdown, and what a world we live in now. I think it is fair to say a lot of us found new energy in the quiet days of April and May. Certainly in the southwest, which had sunshine and offshore winds for days. Reports from nearly every beach were coming in saying that everyone was loving cycling and walking to the surf: “Just like the old days,” said those that could remember. “The days of our lives” said some groms… Actually, they just grunted, but I knew what they meant. The ‘community’ seemed to be being spreading quicker in the surf community, than COVID was inland. It was rad to see. Also amazing was the way the lifeguards, surfers and surf lifesavers united to save lives, filling the gap left by the RNLI postponement of lifeguards. Which was awesome to behold. So what of the mag? Well, after days of sunshine and offshores and other distractions, it was obvious I couldn’t work from home. So I returned to work and sat in an empty office at the start of June, with an empty flat plan contemplating my 198th issue of Carve. After the buzz of the beach, it was quiet and it was strange… but then that song, ‘A Hero’s Death (Life Ain’t Always Empty) by Fontaines D.C, came drifting down the inter web, so I listened.  Don’t get stuck in the past Say your favourite things at mass Tell your mother that you love her And go out of your way for others Sit beneath a light that suits ya And look forward to a brighter future   And something changed. I thought, “I’m going to have a laugh!” So I called, emailed and messaged some of my favourite people. What I ended up with was a smile on my face and some really positive stories. Ben Avery absolutely scored after getting stuck in the Bali lockdown down. Ben Larg, who lives on a really remote west Scottish island, is chasing and catching his big wave dream. Speaking of dreams, I found out our friends from Exeter who set up Mandiri surf camp in Sumatra, were well and truly living it. And that Alex Botelho has astounded doctors in Portugal by coming back from his Nazaré wipeout. Three everyday lads rented a fishing boat in Alaska and scored. I also managed to get two of my heroes in the mag: Bernie Robinson from Lev, and PJ, plus I had chat with legend photographer Al Mackinnon. And I even took some usable pictures of Luke Dillon. And I laughed a lot… For in a world that is topsy turvy, I could see the light that inherently comes from our own weird pursuit of chasing waves and from our amazing surfing community. And I realised that once you enter our watery world you turn a corner and life will never be empty. Pandemic or not. So here it is, issue 203. Hope you enjoy it! Don’t give up too quick You only get one line, you better make it stick If we give ourselves to every breath Then we’re all in the running for a hero’s death Life ain’t always empty…. Steve Editor

     

 

Carve Magazine Issue 202

Carve Magazine Issue 202

Carve Surfing Magazine

Carve Magazine Issue 202

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

SOLO SESSIONS?
Post-apocalyptic fiction is my favourite genre when it comes to reading (closely followed by Dystopian tomes). Nothing froths me more than diving into an ‘oh shit the world has only gone and ended and what the hell are we going to do now?’ story. The great reset is a fascinating concept. A flight of fancy where some appalling calamity has struck the Earth, and we are consigned, in large quantities, to the great bin of history like those feathered dinosaurs. I enjoy them as a literary construct. Not so much as a reality. The climate crisis is bad enough; it’s hard to keep on top of where is on fire and where’s underwater. The rise of authoritarianism and social media messing up democracy is a low blow, but now we have to deal with a pandemic as well? Sure it’s not a world ending, militarily tweaked flu that swiftly decimates* the globe like in Stephen King’s legendary, weighty book -The Stand, which you’ve got to read btw. That book is the bible of pandemic stories. But it is the biggest threat we’ve all faced in a generation. Part of the fascination, as any surfer will soon twig, of course, comes from the ‘imagine *insert surf spot of your dreams* with a couple of people out instead of 150+’. The end of the world doesn’t mean the end of the waves. Hopefully. Although sea-level rise may mean those spots are a bit further inland than they used to be. Would having the pick of the set waves at Mundaka, the Superbank, Padang, Rincon, Safi, Coxos, JBay, Lev, Thurso or wherever is your dream, worth enduring the end of the world for? It’s a fascinating thing to rattle around in your brain box. Let’s hope to imagine it is all we ever get to do.

Sharpy
Editor

*Not the best choice of words. Decimate literally means to remove a tenth of. So it should be whatever the opposite of that is … removing pretty much everybody. **Written at the start of March before everything went batshit crazy. With lockdowns across Europe and surfing banned in some countries these are certainly interesting times. Stay safe, be good to one another, don’t be a panic buying prick, look out for your crew, and we’ll see you on the other side of this unprecedented situation.

     

 

Carve Magazine Issue 201 Out Now

Carve Magazine Issue 201 Out Now

Carve Surfing Magazine

Carve Magazine Issue 201 Out Now

New issue is in stores this week and available on the app now for you iPad folk. For next time how about letting the postie take the strain and subscribe?!

It’s only a new flipping decade innit? One with a proper name and everything. Couldn’t ever really get on with the noughties or the teenies or whatever the last bit was called. Now the ‘twenties’ has a nice ring to it. Surf’s been roaring in as well; you knew that was inevitable. What will a new decade bring? Where is surfing right now? On the surface, surfing is booming. You’re never short of friends in the lineup. Crew on all kinds of craft, of all sorts of levels, are enjoying the slide. Any coast of the UK with a rideable wave gets sessioned and with the wave pools surging even the inland folk will find it easier to go for a wiggle. (Not that you’re ever really that inland, seeing as you can only ever be 70 miles from the salt in the mainland UK). Buoyant as surfing for the everyday punter seems it’s not so rosy at the high end. You’ll have read about Nike selling Hurley and the resulting booting of, arguably, the strongest surf team ever assembled. John John Florence, Machado, Riss, Bourez and many more are now hunting for a new sticker for their beaks. Surf companies always rise and fall. Ocean Pacific and Town & Country were massive when I was a grom. Don’t see them anymore. The cream will still rise, and there was a bloat where a lot of folks got sponsored for not doing much at all. It’s all change and the people that surf good, make good gear, boards and suits will carry on doing so. The happenings of the WSL and the pro world’s paychecks don’t have much resonance when you’re struggling into a nearly frozen 6mm in February to go for a quick surf in two-foot brown closeouts after all. Which leads neatly, in conclusion, to where we are at as a magazine; since we’re now entering our 26th year of publishing. The 25th season celebratory bunting has been taken down. The cake long since digested. Normal service resumes. As ever we’ll be pushing the British and Irish crew that are blowing up and chatting to anyone and everyone we find interesting in the world of salty fun.

Sharpy

Editor

     

 

Carve Magazine Issue 200

Carve Magazine Issue 200

Carve Surfing Magazine

Carve Magazine Issue 200

New issue is in stores this week and available on the app now for you iPad folk. For next time how about letting the postie take the strain and subscribe?!

Rubber Love

You stare.
It stares back at you. Deep into your soul. Smug in the knowledge it is chillingly damp and gritty. It is the master here.
You wish you’d remembered to take it out of the car and shower the damn thing off. Maybe even let it dry out for the first time in weeks.
Like you do after every session. You’re a terrible person.
This lack of care borders on neglect, nothing deserves to be stamped into the mud. To be scraped over rocks. To be a discreet toilet. To be an all-weather protector with little thanks. To be left dirty and stinking in a cheap builder’s bucket from Morrisons in the nearly frozen boot of your car.
No wonder it wants to hurt you. To make you squeal and yelp in discomfort. The sharpest grit cunningly concealed in the dark recesses you can’t see.
When lovingly looked after and dry your trusty armour slides on like a dream. Suiting up makes you feel like a salty Batman ready to slide some waves. When wet, cold and minging, it is a war of attrition. Easy it is not. Cold fingertips veering towards frostbite as you claw and fight each centimetre of progress. You reap what you sow in this life, and your faithful friend is putting you through this drawn-out torture, not to mention exposure, as a message. Things could be so different if you took care. If you made an effort in the relationship. Because you neglect, because you’re too busy scrolling through shite on your phone, because there’s never enough time in the day – yet there is to surf of course – to look after your state of the art gimp suit, it now hates you.
Which is why you’re hopping around a car park swearing profusely as your faithful, but abused friend is refusing to go on. Your foot is in a vacuum lock. Your towel falls. The dog walking pensioners gasp, not in admiration, don’t be daft it’s December after all. Your glowing white derrière is lighting up the place. Your foot stuck in one leg as the other is halfway up. Gravity has been hanging around bored and decides it wants to play. You topple. Imagine reader, if you will, in glorious slow-motion. Feet tied up in neoprene, baby carrot and deux petit pois flapping in the wind. The surfer hoisted by his own petard. You are going down like an Indonesian hardwood.
You say: flip, damn, bother. And other colourful words. You salute the folks that witnessed your clown show. Regain your feet, your dignity and give a little bow. The fight continues as the waves pump on.
Wetsuit 1 – You 0.
Now you’re the muddy and gritty one even more in need of your neoprene protector. Hopefully, the message has been received. Look after the essential things in your life. Care for them as required. Otherwise, they may bite you on the ass.

Sharpy
Editor

    

 

Carve Magazine Issue 199

Carve Magazine Issue 199

Carve Surfing Magazine

Carve Magazine Issue 199

New issue is in stores this week and available on the app now for you iPad folk. For next time how about letting the postie take the strain and subscribe?!

Hello you

Our mantra here at Carve has always been: surfing is fun.
So the magazine reflects that as much as possible. Sure we cover serious topics and talk to serious people. The thing that binds us together is a shared love of sliding around in the salt because it’s one of the most fun things you can do. It’s an escape from the stress of life on land. A release from the shackles of gravity. A commune with nature.
If you’re good at it, some can even make it their living — the ultimate in getting paid to do what you love.
Us magazine folk don’t live the glamorous jet-setting lives of pro surfers, sure we travel more than most, admittedly a lot less than we used to.
We are here to document the goings-on in the British, Irish and world surf scene. So in a ‘getting paid to do what you love’ sense we’re also winning.
A small team runs the mag in a compact and bijou family-owned publishing house. We’re ably assisted by freelance photogs and writers all over the shop.
It’s a labour of love bringing you eight mags a year when print media isn’t having the best of times globally. Niche titles, like ours, are surviving because they talk to a distinct crowd, as in you lot, and getting the internet ad dollar together to get good content is tricky for online-only sites when Google and FB rob all the $$$.
So we here. We doing it. Proud to be paper. Print’s not dead. Etc.
The only issue with having a team you can count on the fingers of one hand is if one, or even two, of those fingers gets stomped on you’re in the poop.
Somehow the swirling hand of fate decided that the recent few weeks was a good a time as any for our designer James and my respective mums to pass away suddenly.
When it comes to a kick in the balls that makes it hard to concentrate on work, not to mention feeding and cleaning yourself, it’s a doozy. Of course, the powers that be have freely allowed us all the time we need to sort things out, but mags don’t make themselves.
Bereavement is a personal thing, and no one knows how it will affect them. Suffice to say it leads to a lot of thinking, tears, reflection, depression and in my case, possibly a few too many lovely beers and takeaways.
The central ethos instilled in us from our respective mums is very similar: be kind, follow your dreams.
This might explain why we’re working somewhere that it’s OK to rock up in shorts and flip flops with sand between our toes.
This issue and the last have been created under a cold, grey cloud of loss. It hurts like hell, and it will for a very long time. It’s inevitable when you lose people that are part of your soul.
All we can do is keep on keeping on. Make more magazines. Ride more waves. Make them proud. Remember to smile. Be kind and follow our dreams.

Sharpy
Editor