Imagine a Creation to Build in the Sand

You are sitting with your back to the land, sitting hunched over, knees drawn to your chest, your bare feet half-buried in sand. . . . You dig your hands into the sand and let it dribble out between your fingers. . . . The sand feels good. It invites you to squeeze it, mold it. You begin idly to pile up a shapeless mound and pat it down. . . .

Sandcastles. That’s how humbly they begin, according to “Sandcastles,” a book by Joseph Allen, Don McQuiston, Debra McQuiston and Marshall Harrington. But the end products aren’t humble at all. Often they are the stuff of Cinderella’s dreams--massive, fortified mansions with towers and turrets and the look of the Age of Chivalry about them.

Works of Ease

“Sandcastles are born in the imagination,” continues author Allen and, as for skills, “they are developed with reasonable ease in a pleasant environment.”

Those wanting to see just how pleasant might head for Orange County this weekend, for there is a sand-sculpture contest on a tawny-colored crescent of San Clemente Beach. For this moment in modern time, Gothic spires will rise again, making the beach look like some sort of medieval housing development. For this moment, the beach just north of San Clemente pier will look as if Merlin has waved a magic wand and made it Camelot.

Cash Prizes

Sand-sculpture events--some with cash prizes, some offering trophies for “best of beach”--are not uncommon on California’s sandy stretches. In the area from San Diego to Santa Barbara alone, there will be nine of them this summer and fall.

Workers in sand don’t only build castles, of course. While there will be crenelations and arches galore, common too--judging from such contests in the last few years--are modern skyscrapers, mermaids, alligators, octopuses, E.T., dinosaurs, dragons, even the lost city of Atlantis.

The latter, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest sand sculpture at 48,000 tons, was built in Florida. It’s builder, Gerry Kirk, is a Californian, though. “We built it at Treasure Island,” he said, “and it towered 52.81 feet.”

Kirk, owner of the Solana Beach-based Sand Sculptors International, might well be called a sand-sculpting pioneer. He’s been doing it “close to 20 years. I’ve been working in sand since the early ‘70s,” he said. He “went professional” in 1981 and, besides castles, over the years he’s replicated just about everything imaginable in sand: a 27-ton medieval cathedral, a 60-ton monolith of six famous psychiatrists (for an American Psychiatric Assn. convention), a 150-ton re-creation of Jerusalem for Hollywood’s Hope Lutheran Church, a three-ton Hotel del Coronado, a composite of San Diego’s architecture and Super Bowl XXII logo including Broncos’ and Redskins’ helmets (displayed at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium during this year’s Super Bowl), “Saturn Moon Base II” (a 16-ton sculpture on display for a year at Sea Coast Square in San Diego), an 11 1/2-ton copy of Princess Cruise Line’s Love Boat, some of Sea World’s animals, a 15-ton America’s Cup. . . . The list goes on.

World Recognition

At present, Kirk and his associates hold six national and three world sand-sculpting championships. They also hold records for the longest (12 miles) and longest-standing (1 year, 10 months) sand sculptures as well as the height record for indoor sand sculptures (17 feet, 7 inches).

What makes a good sand sculptor? Kirk has a general contractor’s license, he attended an art school and has a degree in art from San Diego State.

“I’ve been an artist all my life,” he said.

And, while he thinks working in sand is, well, temporary, he doesn’t see it as a waste of artistic ability. “This is probably a phase,” he says with a laugh. “Picasso went through a blue period; I’m going through my sand period.”

His own credentials aside, Kirk describes sand sculpting as child’s play, in a way. “If you’ve ever filled a pail with damp sand, dumped it on the beach to make a round tower, then carved out tunnels with your hands, you’ve sculpted sand.” It’s as simple as that.

“Anywhere you can find sand and water, you can build a castle,” Kirk says, “and you don’t have to have a particular talent. We’ve worked with people with no art background, who simply couldn’t cope with the two dimensions of line on paper. With the three dimensions of sand, they can look from several different angles, even from above, and they can really see what they’re doing.”

While the implements Kirk uses might be more adult--bulldozers, cranes, backhoes (when you’re moving tons of sand and molding it, that’s what you need to get the job done)--most people wanting to sculpt in sand can find their tools in the kitchen, garage or toy box: A wheelbarrow will be handy; so will innumerable pails, watering cans and hand-pump sprayers (the kind you might use to freshen the leaves of a house plant). Shovels--large, garden varieties and small, plaything types--are useful too, as are trowels, spatulas, spoons, Popsicle sticks, pastry brushes and chisels. If you want to decorate your efforts, remember to keep whatever you use water-soluble (food coloring), natural (shells, seaweed) and, above all, biodegradable.

Contest Rules

Most organizers set up specific rules governing their particular contests: Sunday’s San Clemente sand-sculpting contest, a part of the city’s three-day Ocean Festival, will feature up to 10-person teams, each working on a 20x20-foot square of beach. There will be five categories--Creatures, Castles, Children (any child under 12 can compete in that category), Family, Business. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. (“although I would suggest teams be registered well before 8 o’clock to get a good spot on the beach,” says Mary Anna Anderson, president of the event).

Judging usually takes place between 2 and 3 p.m., depending on the tide. Entry fee is $3 per person; trophies will be awarded for first, second and third place in each category. (Information: San Clemente Ocean Festival, (714) 498-3666.)

Once you have your tools, how do you use them? “You just imagine your castle trapped in the sand,” says one sandcastler, with tongue firmly in cheek. “Then you dig until you find it.”

Water and Molds

Actually, Kirk says, you have to have sand that is wet. “Sand sculptors need good packing sand,” he says, and often they use “molds” to pile up the sand that will be carved. There are special forms for that purpose, but a plastic trash barrel with the bottom cut out serves well too. You put the mold in place, then shovel in sand and pour on water; you want a mixture of about one part sand to three parts water.

You pound the mixture with your feet, walking in it, stomping on it, and, when it is as firm as possible, you add more sand, more water, do more stomping until the barrel is full and the sand is hard-packed.

To get an even taller shape, use another, smaller mold on top of the first one and then another, still smaller one on top of that. You wind up with something that in shape resembles a wedding cake. When you have reached the height you want, remove the forms carefully. Then carve. Remember that sand sculptures are carved from the top down.

The Drip Method

If carving isn’t your metier, you can make what Allen describes in his book as “perhaps the most uniquely sandy type of architecture”: a drip sandcastle. You take very wet sand in your cupped hands, then use the same method Mother Nature does in caves to make stalagmites, an incessant drip, drip, drip until the sand is piled in the form you want. The result usually looks as if it has been inspired by the fantasy book “The Hobbit.”

The sand washed daily by the tide is good for building. It is naturally wet and, if you pick a spot as close as possible to the high-tide line, you minimize your carrying distance while maximizing your sculpture’s safety.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s truly safe. Kirk says sand sculpting “is a highly transitory art form. Your creations are at the mercy of the elements--the tide, the wind, a Frisbee.”

At some point, the water rises, the wind blows, the beach people come out to play and a day’s labor will inevitably become a day’s labor lost. Or is it lost?

“The sandcastler has known from the beginning the fragility of his endeavor,” Allen said.

In “Sandcastles,” he says that sandcastlers make the effort for effort’s sake, “and who can find fault with the sandcastler, any more than with the ballerina, the French chef, the pianist or the baseball player who hits a home run? Each is engaged in creating a moment of triumph, a moment of splendor and personal achievement. The fact that that moment must end is of little importance--except that it makes the moment sweeter.”

Besides the sand-sculpture contest in San Clemente on Sunday, there will be any number of other opportunities to create such a moment for yourself in the Southland in coming weeks. Among them:

1988 Alaska Airlines Sandcastle Days, July 22-24, Imperial Beach. This celebration includes the eighth annual U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition on Sunday. It is open to professionals and amateurs. Entry fee is $50. Masters class grand prize is $4,000; prizes up to $1,000 are awarded too in each of five amateur categories with names such as “Castles of Your Mind,” “Creatures of the Sea” and “Executive Sandbox.” Information: (619) 424-6663. Children ages 12 and under have a separate competition July 23; information: (619) 574-1253.

There’s a sand-sculpting competition as part of the International Surf Festival on July 31 at Manhattan Beach. It takes place near the pier and is open to groups and individuals. First- and second-place awards are given in such categories as Best Dribble, Best Castle, Best Sculpture, and there are special awards to Most Outstanding Entry and Most Creative Individual Design from the Dribble or Sculpture category. No entry fee. Information: (213) 545-5621.

Twenty-third Great Sand Sculpture Contest, Aug. 7, Long Beach. Contest takes place on the beach at the foot of Junipero Street, just down the bluff from Ocean Boulevard. Categories include Sandcastle (forms or molds), Sandcastle (no forms or molds), Open Sculpture (forms or molds) and Open Sculpture (no forms or molds). Children 16 and under compete free; the fee for businesses is $30, for other groups $20. Plaques are given to first-, second- and third-place finishers in each category, and there is a sweepstakes prize for best entry. Information: (213) 436-1251.

Fifth annual Redondo Beach Seaside Lagoon Sand Castle and Design Competition, Aug. 11, Redondo Beach. Co-sponsored by Seaside Lagoon Snack Bar and ICEE, this is a kids’ event, with divisions for those 6 and under, 7-11 and 12-14. Categories are Castle and Free Form, and there are plaques for first-, second- and third-place finishers in each division, as well as merchandise awards for winners. Entry is free. Information: (213) 372-1171, Ext. 274.

Fifth annual United Way Sandcastle Contest, Sept. 17-18, Seal Beach. On Sept. 17, the contest is for 12-person teams from United Way agencies, corporations and other groups. Entry is free to United Way agencies; for others, the fee is $50. On Sept. 18, the contest is for professional sand sculptors. There also will be workshops in sandcastle building during the month preceding the contests. Information: Margaret Marston at (714) 971-7300.

Second annual Maritime Days, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Oxnard. Although details are not yet set, there will be a sandcastle contest (in front of Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort) as a part of this event. Information: (805) 485-8833.

Fifteenth annual Sandcastle and Sculpture Contest, Oct. 9, Santa Barbara. Held on East Beach. Last year there were three divisions--one for sandcastles, another for sand sculptures and one called “Do Your Own Thing.” Entry is free and open to all groups and individuals. Contestants vie for prize money, donated by Santa Barbara Bank and Trust, that is awarded to the nonprofit organizations of their choice. Information: (805) 966-6110.

Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce Sand Castle Building Contest, Oct. 16, Newport Beach. The contest, sponsored by the Chamber’s Commodores’ Club, takes place on Corona Del Mar State Beach. Entry fees are $50 for businesses and $25 for all others, which includes families/individuals, clubs/organizations and youth groups. Plaques are given for the first three places in each category and for works of special note, such as Most Unique, Most Humorous and Overall Best. Information: (714) 644-8211.