Perception is an interesting thing.

The basic concept of seeing, hearing and sensory awareness that we all hold in common, yet which we all interpret differently. And so this issue is filled with differing view points of surfing. The first and most obvious is our 2023 Carve photo comp. Isn’t it weird that you can give five people the same camera and point them in the same direction of a beach or wave, yet they will all take a different photograph? The result and interpretation goes far beyond simply pushing a button. Photos almost reflect the soul of the photographer. You can see the diverse perspectives from page 86 (and from which we will be picking a winner). For a different outlook on British and Irish surfing, we also catch up with two people who have been travelling to the UK to get their surf fix. For years surfers have fled the UK in search of quality waves. But conversely, for a decade now, Wilem Banks has regularly left sunny California to chase British slabs – incredible waves that most of the surfing world will try to tell you we don’t posses here on our doorstep. Similarly, French photographer Arthur Picard visited Ireland and Scotland in search of heavy water. Not only does he shoot heavy waves, he also bodysurfs them. In fact, two of his favourite bodysurfing breaks are Pipe and Nazaré. On the back of a brand new audio and e-book, Jamie Brisick examines our obsession with surf travel since the release of The Endless Summer. And far from the dreams and influence of the Endless Summer, we also feature the grey juice of Lowestoft, an East Anglian surfing hub with a long, rich history of surf culture. All different experiences. All different perceptions of what surfing is. And yet, at their core, all the same. It’s what I call the ‘coffin lid surfboard’ principle. In years gone by, pre surfboard as we know it, people in Cornwall rode the whitewater on coffin lids, chasing the buzz of riding waves. At the same time the kids in remote Africa were riding wooden planks, fishermen’s kids in Peru where riding reed kayaks, and all across the globe people were grabbing flotsam and jetsam and using it to ride waves. Different crafts, different waves, different styles, different views – but ultimately the same buzz.

Pretty cool…

Steve
Editor

Hello, and welcome to issue 218!

And what a packed issue it is. While in the last issue we reflected on travel and the world that opens up before us after we ride our first green waves, I think in many ways this issue really highlights the widespread appeal of our shared stoke and experience. And also why we love sharing those stories.

We catch up with the surfing and shaping legend Maurice Cole, from Victoria, Australia, who tells us of his adventures, scrapes and achievements over six decades. Then a few pages later British and Irish groms including Josie, a 12 year-old triple champion from West Wales. And if you look beneath the surface, their basic loves and motivations are the same – to ride a few waves well. If you go down and hang around any local in Britain or Ireland, you can find the same thing – groms eloquently discussing waves and surf conditions on equal terms with septuagenarians, and even beyond.

In ‘Here Come the Crews,’ we set a world record by squeezing 28 surfers into an article on Indo boat trips. On board frothing surfers, surf dads and a couple teens from all around the UK. Usually, if these were shots of top pros we’d weed out the best and just run those, but everyone was so excited we couldn’t leave anyone out… Well apart from poor Tommy Benfield who caught Covid on the journey out and missed all the best sessions. (Our thoughts are with you!) Photography-wise we uncovered the story of Megan Gayda, who left home in Essex at 15 years-old to travel to Ireland. Her photos of huge waves now stand aside some of the world’s best ever photographers, whose shots and incredible stories feature our ‘Power of Three’ feature.

With such diverse circumstances, yet the single-minded quest of all who feature in this issue, I was trying to figure out what it is that sets our common experience apart, and why are all just chasing the moments, split seconds in, or on, waves that so profoundly touch and guide our lives in an evermore chaotic and angry world.

And all I could come up with is that it kinds of feels like flight, but really it tastes like freedom.

Steve
Editor

Travel. This issue is packed with it. It is without doubt one of the best things about surfing.

I remember, as a grom, my head being filled with tales of wonder by the crew hanging out at Tris surf shop after they’d returned from places like Morocco, Sri Lanka and Bali. How someone drove a Morris Minor from the UK to Colombo, of round the world yacht trips and waves like you’d never seen. I used to sit on the cliffs of Porthtowan and wonder what was over the horizon.

St Ives as it happened, but still, when you live in a valley with one road in and one road out and you don’t have a car, it kinda looked exciting!

Porthleven was my next aim. After bagging a ride I got my first surf there and I fell in love with the place. Then, on around the coast of Ireland, Scotland and beyond. My head is full of memories; laying in a tent listening to glaciers calving in the highest mountain ranges of the Andes. The sights and smells of Bali when it was a truly special place. Camping on a beach on a tiny island, off an island, off Tonga, just hanging out in the middle of the Pacific.

And then there’s also the people you meet, the on-the-road experiences, and of course the surf, which after all, drives us out of our comfort zones.

Some of our stories come from afar, some nearby, but all encompass the essence of adventure – which can be on the other side of the world, or like groms across the globe, just on the other side of the bay.

Dig in, we hope you enjoy, and maybe even plan a trip…

Steve
Editor

Keep it real.

Welcome to our first issue of the new year and the 29th year of Carve! There’s a wide range of contributions that all have one thing in common – a genuine love of surfing. The people behind them aren’t doing it for fame, or money, ego, likes, clicks or views. It’s just for the pure joy of riding or documenting waves.

In a world that seems to be more divided than ever, focussed on sound bites, untruths, image and – let’s face it – some pretty weird TikTok videos, it’s really refreshing to put together an issue with articles from such a talented, yet grounded, bunch of stoked individuals. Even though we reach millions of people per week through our social media @carvemag with a few clicks, there still something special about spending the time and effort to put their photos and words into the mag you are holding. It just all looks, and feels, so much better in print than it ever will online.

In this issue we’ve got stories from Thurso at the top of Scotland, to Bournemouth in the south of England. From Donegal in the west, to Kamchatka in east Russia. From people who have found joy in 2 to 20 foot waves. From empty sessions on their own doorstep, to some of the hardest to reach shores on the planet. And from the world’s toughest proving ground, Pipeline Hawaii, to an off-grid beach in the middle of nowhere. Plus we have Wales’s first world champion, Llewellyn ‘Sponge’ Williams. And what legend he is.
Putting it all down on glossy paper somehow keeps things real, instead of reel. We like that, and hope you do too.

Steve 

Editor

Welcome to issue 215

This issue takes us right around the globe and back home again. From the editors ‘OG’s’ – the Aggy boys – tales of survival in a remote paradise found, to Luke Garside’s words on the lure of the worldwide joyride we call surfing, and Richie Fitzgerald pioneering giant waves in the Cold Water Eden of Ireland. 

Conor Flanagan describes how he found solace swimming out and shooting immense waves after an injury prevented him from surfing them. We also have amazing coverage from places classed as ‘less glamorous’ surf spots, but are no less loved by our own surf communities. Christian Jones takes us beneath the surface of surfing around Plymouth, Simon Buck shows us around the people and places of Cromer, and Carve’s 2022 photo winner, Sean Pritchard, refers to his ‘Hiraeth’ (Welsh for homesickness) and nostalgia for your homeland. Plus we have some of Simon Hickie’s incredible shots from around Cornwall. 

Paradise is where you find it