Wrapping up this year’s beach sculptures, first with two done a few weeks ago when Tim was here and we spent a few hours at the beach. I carved this star in a flattened patch of sand, it’s about six inches across, I think. Carving out is harder than it looks because you have to remove all the sand too.

That day Tim did this holed sphere looking somewhat like a cross between a wiffle ball and a bucky ball.

Back to recent times, we went to the beach Monday and found our big castle had survived the night pretty well, surprisingly. The beach raker had gone around it, and no one had really damaged the structure except for the lower skirt. Working nearby that day, many more people came by to admire our work, and Tim enjoyed telling them about it.

In this close view of the top area you can see that wind and some light rain have given it a weathered texture, but the details still show for the most part.

We each decided to do separate sculptures, then. Tim carved an old car from a single form of sand. Here he’s looking through one of his custom tool boxes.

The car is taking shape.

And here’s the final sculpture about to be hit by a wave.

Gabe worked on a small tower with two forms. Here he’s filling the upper one.

Carving a descending spiral.

And here’s the finished piece.

I decided to experiment with making arches using a method mentioned in the Sandcastles book: forming them over a pile of drier sand. Here I’ve made a pile and am cutting the sides down to form a hemisphere.

Next I formed a double arch with pancakes of wet sand over the hemisphere, and a small point at the top.

Here are the arches carved out. Next I would carefully dig out the inner hemisphere, hoping the arches would remain.

Failure! The arches collapsed before I finished removing the central dry sand. Not sure why, my guess is the arches were too thick and heavy, and/or the curve of the arch was too wide. I’ll have to try again some other time.

I had to go home and work after that, but Tim and Gabe stayed for the afternoon. Tim made a lighthouse out of a two-tiered form. Here the upper tier is being shaped.

And here’s the finished lighthouse looking quite good, and making a nice pair with our big castle in the background.

Finally, Gabe made this cryptic monolith from the remains of his tower after it toppled.

That’s it for beach carving this year I think, we’ll see what we come up with next summer!