Wet weekend ahead
Anyone who is interested in sandcastle days has probably been doing the same thing as me - checking in on the weather forecasts every couple of hours or so. And the forecast at this moment is.... not so good. Unless you are a fan of severe thunderstorms and potentially heavy rain. Which I normally am - when I am not planning on organizing a bunch of sand into something lovely.
Because so many people fly in for this event and are either already here or on their way - there is no moving Sandcastle Days 2006 to an alternative date. The contest will go on - wind, heavy rains or shine. (They will pull people off the beach if there is any danger from lightening strikes, of course.)
"So how do you carve sand in the rain?" you may be asking yourself. "Doesn't it 'melt' the sculpture?"
Well, I can tell you that it isn't nearly as much fun as carving in the sunshine, but generally speaking a little bit of rain will not harm the sculpture. A long steady rain will erase fine detail and a deluge will erase pretty much _all the detail. We do spray a diluted glue mixture on carved areas to preserve the life of the sculpture and this "sealant" will in fact enable the detail to stay crisp longer and through more rain than you might think possible - IF (and that is a big "if") the glue has a chance to soak in and dry.
So, the next few days are likely to prove a bit of a challenge. I won't have much time to blog or e-mail, but I will try to post photos from my cell phone onto my flickr stream - hope to see you on the beach!
Because so many people fly in for this event and are either already here or on their way - there is no moving Sandcastle Days 2006 to an alternative date. The contest will go on - wind, heavy rains or shine. (They will pull people off the beach if there is any danger from lightening strikes, of course.)
"So how do you carve sand in the rain?" you may be asking yourself. "Doesn't it 'melt' the sculpture?"
Well, I can tell you that it isn't nearly as much fun as carving in the sunshine, but generally speaking a little bit of rain will not harm the sculpture. A long steady rain will erase fine detail and a deluge will erase pretty much _all the detail. We do spray a diluted glue mixture on carved areas to preserve the life of the sculpture and this "sealant" will in fact enable the detail to stay crisp longer and through more rain than you might think possible - IF (and that is a big "if") the glue has a chance to soak in and dry.
So, the next few days are likely to prove a bit of a challenge. I won't have much time to blog or e-mail, but I will try to post photos from my cell phone onto my flickr stream - hope to see you on the beach!
posted by Lucinda at 10:53 AM
2 Comments:
Good luck feet! You know Thomas and I will be following the contest through your flicker photos.
Dern weather! I had just painted the back of my house a nice mellow yellow yesterday and I guess it didn't dry overnight with the 100% humidity, so now I have streaks, bubbles, and a big freaking mess. Oh well, it's de Island, mon.
Hopefully we'll clear this weather out and everyone will enjoy some cooler temps and drier air.
~Sam
Best to all the castlers!
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