The Quarry Beach Surfboards owner has had some health issues and has watched others around him struggle with their own health problems.
So the 69-year-old has decided to call it a day at his surfboard manufacturing shop in Caversham, to "see what retirement is like".
"I’ve had a bit of grief in my life of late and I just need to slow down a bit, I think, and take some time out."
Mr Carse is one of the country’s top surfers, having won the Fossils title at the National Surfing Championships in 2011, and has been surfing Dunedin’s coastline for about 56 years.
Few people know the local surf characteristics better than he does.
When he was made redundant as a freezing worker at Burnside in 1988, he used his redundancy to open his own surfboard-making shop in 1989.
"I went from carving meat off bones to carving surfboards."
He taught himself how to make surfboards and worked out what shapes worked best for the conditions along Dunedin’s coastline, he said.
Since then, his boards have been very popular with locals.
Rather than sell the business, he was "walking away" from it.
"I’ll sell the building, but I’ve still got the trade name so if I want to do something later, I can.
"I’ve not had much emotion over closing the business at all, if I’m honest."
He planned to close the shop in mid-October.
As for surfing, he has no plans to quit just yet.
