Last Saturday, there was a sandcastle competition at Ocean Beach, which was for elementary school kids. So I thought of having a look, and going to the Sutro Bath ruins while I was there as well.

Each team was from a different school, with kids and some adults building. They had small scale plasticine or sketches of what they wanted to build by the side. And of course parents to stand by and supply food and drinks to the team.
It was interesting to see what props they had, buckets, shovels, spray bottles, etc. One team had a pump system going from the sea waterline to a pond they made next to their castle, no motorised pump, so a bicycle stood in.
Seal rocks, and the event going on in the foreground.
While they were completing their castles, I went over to the Sutro Bath ruins, which was right next door. It's a 1900's public bathhouse that has been left to decay.
Not much remains except the foundation, but it's nice to see something so strange and undeveloped in the city.

Back at the sandcastle site, and here are the finished works!





And this is how you take pictures of the castles if you don't have a big enough budget for a helicopter. I figure that there's a remote shutter release from the ground, a pretty expert kite flyer pulling the camera around, and a bound and gagged camera owner screaming for help somewhere.

Probably the recipe for a good sandcastle is to build bigger pieces with less detail, so it's clearer to see in the sand, at least my favourite pieces were like that.
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Fleet Week! I made the mistake of going on the last day of the aerial stunts, so I didn't get to see much (the main show was cancelled because of the fog, and the ships on show were too crowded to admit any more people), but here's the few pictures I got.
It was more crowded than I expected, so, next year, better start looking around on the first day, and early in the morning. Lesson learnt.
Blue Angels flying in formation.
This is one of the permanent ships at the Maritime Museum, but I think it's been dressed up for the occasion.