Building sandcastles is a hobby gone crazy for Floridian Mark Mason.

Mr. Mason is a professional sand sculptor who runs Team Sandtastic, which will be in Bermuda for the upcoming 13th Annual Sand Sculpture Competition.

The competition will be held at Horseshoe Bay Beach in Southampton from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 30.

Team Sandtastic, which also includes Pat Harsch, Daniel Balcher and Walter MacDonald will, also be at Harbour Nights next Wednesday and will give mini-clinics at Horseshoe Bay Beach, Fairmont Southampton Hotel beach and the Snorkel Park in Dockyard one hour before sundown on August 26, 28, and 29.

"I loved making sandcastles as a child," said Mr. Mason in a telephone interview. "I liked arts and crafts as a child. Making sand castles involved utilising my beach time as well."

Mr. Mason grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and now lives in Sarasota.

Before becoming a professional sand sculptor Mr. Mason was a sales rep, among other things.

But he said sand sculpting was always in the background.

"It was more than 17 years ago that I made it my profession," said Mr. Mason. "We started doing enough events to put a portfolio together. I keep three other sculptors full time busy."

Mr. Mason and Team Sandtastic build sand sculptures for many events and also corporate team building activities.

To make his sand castles, which usually aren't castles at all but anything from Mount Rushmore to a Bermuda toad on a scooter, the team uses only sand and water.

"It stays together because we compact as hard as we do," he said.

He likened the process to packing sand hard into a bucket, turning the bucket over and then tapping it out, leaving a mound in the shape of the bucket.

"We do that on a large scale," he said. "But we use two by fours and plywood, and we surround the sand so it can't spread out when we pack it down. It increases surface tension.

"Then when you take off that 'bucket' you have a more solid block of sand to carve into. That is our secret."

Mr. Mason said he loved Horseshoe Bay Beach as a backdrop for his sand sculptures.

"Not only is the background beautiful, but it is good sand for what we do," he said. "Coarse sand is OK if you have a few fine bits.

"And the sculptures actually stay displayed there for a long time completely dry and everything.

"And the sand is really pink. I really like that. You think they are just joking in the tourist advertisements. The sand here in Florida is white, tan or grey, but not pink."

At the corporate level, he said building sand sculptures together absolutely helps to bring people together.

"Everyone has done it as a child so they are familiar with it, but as an adult they haven't done it as much," he said. "They go down there to the beach and have the best time.

"It isn't formal so it won't be brought into the office. It is such an experience that they share together that it has gone well with our company."

He said the team is proud when clients come back for more.

"It is a sign we have made them so happy," he said. "It shows that the sculptures we made fulfilled their marketing goals or public desires."

One repeat client is the Sun Festival in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

"They have used us for 17 years," said Mr. Mason. –"Also, the Beach House Restaurant, on Annamarie Island, Florida is a regular client. They have a week long big display similar to the one in Bermuda. And of course, we are back in Bermuda for a third year."

Team Sandtastic also takes place in competitions. Mr. Mason became world champion in the prestigious Tournament of Sand Sculpture Champions at Harrison Hot Springs, Canada.

"It is a private beach and people pay to go down to see the sculptures," said Mr. Mason.

Team Sandtastic also does snow sculpting, and Mr. Mason is also interested in rock balancing.

"To me, sand sculpting is just the coolest thing in the world," said Mr. Mason. "It is such a fast medium from conception to finished product.

"There is no other medium to carve the size and mass that we do. It is so fun to walk out on Wednesday, and know you will have a sculpture by the end of the day.

"It is very fluid. You go in and dream it up on the spot. You might have some icons, but how those are going to interplay and make a collage and how they will fuse together comes together right there on the beach."

To work for Team Sandtastic Mr. Mason said it takes more than an art degree, it takes good shovelling technique.

"You also have to have the gypsy mentality of being able to travel the globe and accommodate a giant mound of sand."

For more information about Team Sandtastic, go to their website at www.sandtastic.com.

For more information about the 13th Annual Sand Castle Competition telephone Nicky Gurret at 295-4597 or the Bermuda Department of Tourism at 292-0023. Entry is free. There are many prizes and entry categories.