Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Pirate castle, a beach hit

Bay of Plenty Times
15 Feb, 2017 03:20 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The pirate ship on Tay St Beach. Photo/Supplied

The pirate ship on Tay St Beach. Photo/Supplied

"Who doesn't like pirates?"

That's builder Kalem Uttinger's matter of fact response to the question of why he and a group of friends decided to build a life-sized pirate ship out of the sand.

The impressive 10m ship has been attracting the interest of beachgoers and is still standing near Tay St, although the tides are slowly eroding it.

Mr Uttinger, who made smaller sand creations last summer, convinced others to help him craft a much more ambitious project on Sunday.

"I supplied a bunch of shovels, and we just started digging - with no plan, but the ship was the result. I did it for entertainment, just because you get old doesn't mean you can't still enjoy building sand castles."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The 23-year-old said he and about 20 others spent four hours to make the ship.

"I would have liked a bit more time on the ship, to detail it. I enjoy creating things. It's interesting building things from sand because they are there for a day or two and then they go with the tide and other elements."

Mr Uttinger encouraged others to do the same

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Don't think yourself old or too cool to get out there and have some fun. As I always say, work hard play hard."

Follow creator Danielle Kennedy said the group wanted the creation to look more like a scene rather than just the ship, so they built a speed boat, dolphins and a sea turtle around the ship.

Ms Kennedy said after Mr Uttinger disappeared for a while with another friend, they came back having built a ladder for one of the masts, a steering wheel and a sail to complete the ship.

"We are a creative group of people and all love the outdoors. This was just another one of our adventures. I'm glad the kids are enjoying something that we all enjoyed making," she said.

The pirate building team took the sail and steps down for safety reasons once they had finished their build.

On Facebook locals applauded the group for using initiative and making something both kids and adults would enjoy for days.

The pirate ship Tauranga locals built down at Tay St beach. Photo/Kalem Uttinger
The pirate ship Tauranga locals built down at Tay St beach. Photo/Kalem Uttinger

The tallest:

The tallest sandcastle measured 14.84 metres (48 ft. 8 inches) and was created by Sudarsan Pattnaik (India) on the beach at Puri, Odisha, India, on 10 February 2017.

The circumference at the base was 530 ft, and the entire sculpture was created by hand. Sudarsan and the members of his Sudarsan Sand Institute took nine days to create it.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Whakatāne homicide: Women accused of killing 8-year-old boy face additional charges

28 May 06:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Struggling to keep up': Support for banning under-16s from social media

28 May 05:01 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Hard work pays off: Six young BoP squash players prepare for worlds in Egypt

28 May 01:23 AM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Whakatāne homicide: Women accused of killing 8-year-old boy face additional charges

Whakatāne homicide: Women accused of killing 8-year-old boy face additional charges

28 May 06:00 AM

Rickah'Shae Keefe-Haerewa died after an alleged assault in Te Teko in 2024.

'Struggling to keep up': Support for banning under-16s from social media

'Struggling to keep up': Support for banning under-16s from social media

28 May 05:01 AM
Hard work pays off: Six young BoP squash players prepare for worlds in Egypt

Hard work pays off: Six young BoP squash players prepare for worlds in Egypt

28 May 01:23 AM
Heavy rain advisories for BoP, thunderstorms possible

Heavy rain advisories for BoP, thunderstorms possible

27 May 11:17 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP