LONG?BEACH  For six hours Saturday a multitude of hands and shovels, water buckets and carving tools were used to create more than 20 sand sculptures and castles near the Bolstad beach approach as part of the 27th annual SandSations.

But no sooner than the cutoff time was called at 3 p.m., a steady tide rolled in and gradually swallowed up a number of the creations in less than a half-hour. At least some of the sculptures looked right at home amongst the waves.

Earlier in the week a select group of sculpters had the chance to build their creations without fear of high tide, as part of the second annual Sand in the City demonstration. One scene created by the master builder team Wabi Sabi depicted a number of Peninsula-themed characters, including a particularly buff rendition of Jake the Alligator Man.