November 21, 2015
We headed down to Ft Myers Beach on the scooter around 9
a.m. since the Sand Sculpting competition opened at 10. We had to leave Sasha on the boat because it
was too long a scooter ride for her, and we weren’t sure if dogs were allowed anyways
(they were allowed). The day was
overcast, so it was a nice cool ride. We
found parking right across from the venue for $5, a deal since all the other
parking we saw was at least $10.
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| Of course the event sign was a sand sculpture |
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| There was also a large sculpture depicting the sponsors, which included Florida Tourism |
If you ever go to a Sand Sculpting competition, be prepared
to do other things in the area as well. Some
people might be totally entertained just watching the contestants work on their
sculptures, but most people would have a better experience if they plan to spend
a little time there and then check in on the progress in the course of their
other activities. This is particularly
true for the Masters sculptures since they typically have several days to
complete their entries.
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| Some sponsors had additional sculptures |
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| Sculpture sponsored by the town of Ft Myers Beach |
This competition is held right on the beach, so even though
the event grounds are fenced off so that the organizers can charge admission,
you could still plan to spend time on the beach as well as at the competition. The recommended event parking was at a nearby
state park with a free shuttle to the event itself, so you could also plan to
spend time at the park as part of your day.
At the Sand Sculpting competition itself, a typical person
could probably spend 2-3 hours there, watching the contestants at work,
participating in the activities – such as the basic sand sculpting
demonstration and Quick Sand competitions – and going through the vendor
area. The cost of the event was $10 per
person per day, with discounted tickets for multiple day passes. Since the competitions stretch over a week to
allow time for competitors in the various categories to have time to complete
their sculptures, a multiday pass would allow a person to come and go and see
how the sculptures take shape over time.
First, we walked around and looked at both the amateur
competitors and Masters competitors working on their sculptures. I don’t know if the amateurs had any
additional time before the event opened to start setting up their sand for
sculpting, but they only had from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. to complete their
sculptures. Some of them looked like
they were still setting things up while others seemed further along, so maybe
it was just a matter of experience.
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| Some amateurs looked like they were just getting started |
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| Amateur competitors could work singly or in pairs |
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| Other amateurs were further along when we first walked through |
The Masters competitors had been working on their sculptures
for a couple of days already, but that time also included whatever work they
had to do to set up the sand for sculpting.
Since the Masters competitors are considered to be experts in sculpting,
their sculptures were much larger and more elaborate than the amateur
sculptures.
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| Gator wrestling |
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| Water is life |
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| Music of the soul |
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| This one was just so cool already |
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| Look at the detail on the hands! |
We were told that about 10 tons of sifted sand was provided
in a pile for each contestant, but then contestants had to scoop the sand into
their forms by hand. All they use to
prepare the sand is sand and water, so apparently all sand is not created equal
for the purpose of sand sculpting. Ft
Myers Beach is fortunate enough to have the perfect type of sand: relatively small square or rectangular
crystals as opposed to larger or round crystals. Square or rectangular crystals fit more
tightly together than round crystals so there is not as much air space in the
sand. Since air or dryness is bad for
holding sand sculptures together, the tighter the crystals fit together the better. After completing parts of the sculptures, the
contestants do spray a very thin glue/water mixture on them to seal the surface
to help keep them from drying out as fast.
The mixture doesn’t add anything to the actual strength of the
sand/water bond but can actually weaken it if there is too much glue in the
mixture since that adds extra weight. To
keep birds from landing on the sculptures, thin wires are incorporated into the
highest points.
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| Large smooth surfaces apparently have a high degree of difficulty |
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| One of 2 sculptures of a wave |
After looking at all of the sculptures in progress, we sat
in on the end of a Sand Sculpting demonstration which was done by one of the
event organizers. He was a sculptor
himself and did a very good job of explaining and demonstrating the basics in
an entertaining fashion..
Once that was
done, we had about an hour until the next Masters Quick Sand competition, so we
walked out to the beach.
Since it was a
fairly cloudy day there were still quite a few people out on the beach, but
there weren’t many people in the water.
We walked along the water for a short distance and then went back to the
event grounds.
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| Ft Myers Beach has a wide area of hard packed sand beach |
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| Lots of people walking and sitting but not many swimmers |
We had just enough time to walk through the vendor tents,
and then we grabbed something to eat and took it to a table near the main
stage, where the Quick Sand would take place.
For the Quick Sand competition, 2 prepared piles formed using 5 gallon
buckets with the bottoms cut out were provided on rotating pedestals for the 2
contestants, and they could only use 3 tools of their own choice. The announcer
went around and took suggestions from the audience for what they would sculpt
so that they wouldn’t have any idea what it would be until it was time to
start. Once he had the audience member
to announce the idea over the loudspeaker, the contestants had 10 minutes to
complete a 360 degree sculpture. Since
it was a Masters competition, the announcer asked for a suggestion that would
provide a challenge, so the idea he finally accepted was a ballerina in a tutu.
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| We had Crab Nachos and some BBQ for lunch |
It was pretty cool to see how differently the 2 contestants
sculpted the same concept, especially since they were pressed for time. One sculptor was able to do a more graceful
curved ballerina in a pose you might see during Swan Lake, while the other
sculptor’s ballerina was more straight and blocky. The audience then voted on which one it liked
best – the more graceful one of course – and the winner advanced to the next
stage in the Quick Sand competition, which would take place later in the
week. Rob said the winner had an
advantage because she should have been more familiar with the subject matter,
being a woman, but the guy she beat actually ended up taking 1st
place in the Masters Single competition, so he was just as qualified, I think.
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| We didn't get photos of the Quick Sand competition, but this is one of the contestants working on her entry for the Masters Single competition |
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| The same sculpture about 3 hours later with more detail being added to the hermit crab |
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| This was the eventual winner of the Masters Single Competition |
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| Like I said before, large smooth surfaces are quite difficult to perfect so are impressive |
After the Quick Sand competition, we walked around and
looked at the sculptures again to see what kind of progress had been made in
the few hours we were there. Some of the
amateur sculptures were very very good, but I guess you have to start small and
then work your way up in order to qualify to compete at the Masters level. It was sprinkling off and on, but we were
told that since water actually helps to hold the sculptures together, a little
rain doesn’t hurt them at all.
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| Sea horse |
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| Castle |
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| Frog Prince |
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| Mermaid |
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| Pirate lass |
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| A 2nd Castle |
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| Train engine |
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| Mermaid with 3rd eye |
For the Masters sculptures, since they still have another
day to work on them before they are judged, I have put the early pictures and
later pictures together so that you can see the progress easier. It was a very interesting day. I’d like to go back and see all the completed
sculptures, including the upcoming Masters Doubles competition sculptures, but
we will be leaving on Monday for Illinois, so I’ll just have to look at them
online.
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| Amazing Walter typically sculpting elaborate castles |
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| Arches are his specialty |
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| Farmer maybe |
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| vs the city? |
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| Boys faces |
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| He almost looks real! |
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| Elaborate plants or columns? |
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| There is still a small form in the center that will need to be sculpted |
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| Time |
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| Sands of time |
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| Quite a bit of progress in 3 hours |
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| War horse |
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| The detail is amazing! |
To see the finished sculptures as well as other sculptures from the competition, check out this Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SandSculptingFestival. You will need to scroll down to the November 23rd post to see the pictures from the Masters Single competition.
