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HomeMy WebLinkAbout; ; Beach Erosion; 1994-02-01A LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO BEACH EROSION FRANK ALESHIRE CARLSBAD February 1994 Figure 1 CRITICAL SHORELINE EROSION PROBLEM AREAS Camp Pendleton Oceanside Imperial Beach MEXICO Carlsbad :> Encinitas 5» Solana Beach Mar 'Shoreline Preservation Strategy for the San Diego Region? Sandag, 1992.-3- INTRODUCTION SHORELINE STUDIES In 1983 the Corps of Engineers began a study of the 85 miles of coastline between Dana Point and the Mexican Border. The purpose of the study was to learn what is happening along this coast. The study produced 41 technical reports and a Final Report in Sept 1991. The entire program is called "Coast of California Storm and Tidal Waves Study" (CCSTWS) or "COAST OF CALIFORNIA STUDY." The information in the study was used by SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) in the preparation of a report which came out in July 1993 entitled "SHORELINE PRESERVATION STRATEGY FOR THE SAN DIEGO REGION." The report reviews the problems of the coastline and recommends specific policies and actions for local government. The Corps of Engineers reports are highly technical and nearly impossible for the public to use or to understand. The Sandag report is more readable but still difficult for the layman. I read these reports while working with a junior high school student who was doing a science project on beach erosion. I researched the local libraries, and materials published by the Corps of Engineers, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Coastal Commission, Sandag and others and was unable to come up with material suitable for students. The material available - and there is plenty of it - is written by engineers and scientists for their own consumption. It is my belief that one of the responsibilities of government is to educate the public about complicated issues so that citizens can know what is going on. What could be more important in San Diego than an understanding of the beach and its problems? We need books, pamphlets, reports with pictures, diagrams and cartoons suitable for school children. Why can't our local beach erosion commissions dedicate some of their time and effort to stocking our library with readable material. The Coast of California study cost over six million dollars of taxpayers' funds. Scripps and others are spending millions every year studying the ocean. I think some of that money could be devoted to public information and development of better educational materials. The Christophers once said, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." So be it. I hope others more qualified than I will carry on the work of explaining beach erosion in layman's language. Shore Zone- Nearshore Shelf Edge Figure 1.1. Definition sketch of coastal zone nomenclature for coasts similar to the California coast (from Inman and Brush, 1973). BEST ORIGINAL REPORT ON BEACH EROSION WHAT DO BEACH STUDIES TELL US The seashore is a rare and important part of the quality of life in San Diego County. Did you know that our beaches and seacliffs have been steadily eroding? Did you know that the ocean level is slowly rising and attacking the land? The Coast of California Study concluded that beach erosion and property damage will continue into the future. It recommends that man must do something to deal with shoreline erosion problems. What can we do? Unfortunately it is not easy to change the ocean. But there are some actions that could protect our beaches and perhaps enhance our quality of life. Here are some of the things SANDAG suggests that we consider doing: 1. Nourish and rebuild eroded areas by putting large amounts of sand on the beach. 2. Build structures to dampen the waves and hold sand in place such as groins, seawalls and berms. 3. Develop rules and regulations concerning the use of the shoreline and construction of urban developments near the beach. 4. Coordinate shoreline preservation policies between local, state and federal agencies. 5. Raise the money to carry out the policies and to manage the shoreline as a benefit to the region's economy and recreation. WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE OCEAN? "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void. And darkness was on the face of the deep...." Scientists today are studying the record of the earth and trying to figure out how the earth has grown and changed since its creation. Most scientists believe the earth was formed from rocks and metallic fragments left over from the construction of the sun. The material floating around in space heated up as gravity pulled it together. As the mass grew larger and hotter the heaviest metals sank to the molten center. Lighter rocks like granite and lava floated to the surface forming into layers. Mountains rose on the surface and formed into continents. Between the continents were deep and broad lowlands. The lowlands became ocean basins. The heat of the earth melted rocks and minerals and released gasses and chemical compounds into the air. Clouds and winds blew across the planet carrying water vapor. Rains fell onto the hot rocks forming steam. Rivers flowed down the mountains to the lowlands filling the ocean basins with sediment and water. From the beginning the rains and rivers eroded the rocky land and carried dirt and mud and grains of sand down the valleys to the sea. Beaches were formed along the edges of the continents. A poem tells us what happened. Little drops of rain Little grains of sand Ran away together And took away the land It is well to remember that what you see at the seashore is not the rim of the ocean basin. The true ocean begins away off shore where the edge of the continent dives steeply into the abyss. The surf you see is shallow. The oceans have an average depth of 15,000 feet (three miles deep). Great waves race across the sea at high speeds. When these waves approach the shore they are slowed and compressed by the drag of the bottom and they tumble onto the land. The energy of waves moves the sand on the beaches, cuts into the cliffs and constantly pounds and shapes the shoreline. The shoreline you see is never the same. Between every wave the beach changes a little. FRACTALS The quantum physicists of today call the seashore a "fractal." It is a place that cannot be precisely measured because it is always changing. Watch a wave as it rushes up the beach and then retreats back to the ocean. What is happening? The waves stir up the pebbles and grains of sand on the beach and toss them about with a chattering sound. It is like playing musical chairs. All the grains of sand race around until the wave returns to the sea. Then each grain settles down in a new place until the music of the surf begins again. Listen. You hear the grating roar of pebbles which the waves draw back and fling, at their return, up the high strand. Begin, and cease, and then again begin. Sophocles long ago heard it on the Agean Sea. Matthew Arnold The scientists are learning that many things in nature cannot be measured because they are dynamic - always in motion. Clouds are like that; and the ecosystem of a wetland; and the surges of blood and air in your body. They are all fractals. Next time you see the waves and the beach think about fractals. Everything is changing, including you. WAVES What are waves? Think of a puddle of water that is still and smooth. Toss in a pebble. What happens? A circle of ripples begins where the pebble hits the water. The ripples spread out in all directions and smoothly flow outward until the first ripple waves reach shore where they are reflected backwards. Now the pattern is not so simple. Waves interfere with each other and form curious patterns. For awhile the whole puddle is all mixed up. Then slowly the puddle flattens out and returns to its original mirror-like calm. What you see is energy traveling in waves, which bump into each other and rearrange the molecules of water. It is a simple thing to do, but even scientists have a hard time explaining exactly what happens. Waves are far more complicated in the ocean than in the puddle. For one thing all the water on earth is influenced by gravity. The earth's gravity drags water down to the ocean depths. The sun and moon call to the water and try to pull the oceans away from the earth. This causes tides that follow regular movements to and fro across the oceans of the world. And wherever there are tides, there are waves. Waves come from many different sources. Winds blow all over the earth and strike the ocean at many different places. Waves, once started, often travel clear across the ocean. As they go they bump into waves that started in other places. Waves are affected by islands and sea canyons and ships and whales. Storms and earthquakes often start huge tidal waves that produce fifty to a hundred foot high crests. When they approach shore they break and crash, exploding their energy in foam and turbulence that is awesome to behold. "As long as there has been an earth, the moving masses of air that we call winds have swept back and forth across its surface. And as long as there has been an ocean, its waters have stirred to the passage of the winds. Most waves are the result of the action of wind on water. There are exceptions, such as the tidal waves sometimes produced by earthquakes under the sea. But the waves most of us know best are wind waves." Rachael Carson Questions about the way waves are born, develop, travel and die can best be answered by oceanographers and scientists who spend their lives studying these powerful forces of nature. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR BEACHES? People who have been around for a long time will tell you about the wide sandy beaches that used to be along the San Diego coast. If you walk the shore today you will see that many of our beaches have lost their sand. Along the Camp Pendelton coast there are wide, beautiful sandy beaches. There is a lot of sand in Coronado. But from Oceanside to La Jolla you are more apt to find cobbles and cliffs and very little sand. How come this is so? There are three reasons why our beaches are eroding: 1. the ocean level is rising; 2. storms and waves are attacking the land; 3. urban development has cut off the natural flow of sand to the beaches. Let's talk about these three things and try to understand the processes at work along our coast. OCEAN RISING "Till the slow sea rise and the sheer cliff crumble, Till terrace and meadow the deep gulfs drink." Swinburne In the past 100 years the sea level off the coast of Carlsbad has risen by nearly a foot. We are not exactly sure why that is. Perhaps the polar ice is melting. Perhaps the continent is sinking into the sea. Scientists expect that the ocean level will continue to rise in the future and that more of our beaches will eventually disappear into the sea. The good news is that this is a slow process and we will have plenty of time to adjust to it. WAVES AND STORMS The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the sea: Listen ! The mighty Being is awake and doth with his eternal motion make a sound like thunder - everlastingly. William Wordsworth When you go to the beach, what do you see? The first thing you notice is how big it is. It is humongous. It goes on, and on as far as eye can see. The ocean really is the biggest thing on the face of the earth. Then you notice the waves. They keep coming on wave after wave after wave. They never stop. They work every minute of every day and every night. They dance, and surge, and leap, and crash, and slide, and gush, and rock and roll all over the place. They seem to have an orderly motion but if you watch closely they do all kinds of weird things - bounding and swishing and creating eddies and swirls and turbulence. They are wondrous to behold. Every wave is loaded with energy and lots of interesting stuff. Each wave contains millions of grains of sand, and sea animals, and shells, and kelp and strange bits of floatsum from the far ocean. the foaming wave runnnnns up the beach slo o o o w s down unloads. hurries back carrying treasures to the sea again. All waves do this. They bring things to the beach and take things away. And somehow amidst all this rushing and churning the ocean cleans the beach and makes it into the beautiful place we want to visit. 10 MAP SHOWING RIVERS FEEDING BEACHES, OFFSHORE CANYONS AND UNDERSEA DEPTHS IN THE OCEANSIDE AREA. iv \ 33°20'H 10" SCALE IN MILES SOUNDINGS IN FATHOMS na°4(r ! ... _ 118°30' V \ FIGURE 6-1: LOCATION MAP, OCEANSIDE LITTORAL CELL 11 Waves are seasonal along the San Diego coast. In winter (Oct-Mar) the ocean current moves from north to south. In summer the current moves from south to north. In winter the waves are stronger. They cut the beach and carry sand away. The summer waves are gentler. They carry sand in and build up the beaches. Some of the sand that leaves the beaches goes off shore in the winter and sits beneath the ocean in underwater sand dunes called "shoals." Then in summer the shoals contribute sand back to the beach. The ocean acts sort of like a bank account. The summer waves deposit sand on the beach. The winter waves make withdrawals. They take the sand away and open a savings account in the offshore shoals. When summer comes along the waves take sand from the shoals and deposit it again on the beach. In a normal year the beaches look the same from summer to summer. The deposits and withdrawals balance out. But every so often major storms come along and destroy this balance. When a big storm hits our coast the waves are violent and greedy. They gobble up the sand and carry it far out to sea. Instead of depositing the sand close to shore they dump it in deep canyons. And it doesn't come back again. When that happens our beaches erode and permanently lose sand. Blow winds and crack your cheeks. Rage ! Blow ! You cataracts and hurricanes spout. Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned our cocks. Shakespeare The weather plays an important part in the process of beach building and beach erosion. During the past two centuries the climate in southern California has been mostly stable and the winters have been mild. But that is not always so. In 1837 Richard Henry Dana sailed in our area. In his novel, "Two Years Before the Mast" he wrote about the fierce storms called "so'easters." Sailors were afraid to go to sea when the wind blew from the southeast. Huge waves came up accompanied by torrential rains and strong winds. When Dana came back to Los Angeles twenty years later he noted that the "so'easters" did not blow anymore. What happened to the storms? Meterologists have studied the weather of the past and have learned that southeast winds do blow up from time to time and cause big storms. We now call those storms "El Ninos." The scientific name is El Nino Southern Oscillation or ENDS for short. ENDS storms have occurred in 1884-89, 1899-03, 1911-15, 1939-42. The greatest river flooding in 200 years occurred in 1861-62. The weatherman predicts that over the next 50 years we are likely to experience four ENDS conditions. I wonder what those storms will do to our beaches? 12 During the storms of 1970, the beach sand was rapidly removed by storm surge, and the cobbles were withdrawn by the waves and thrown like artillery against houses at Oceanside (Kuhn and Shepard 1980). The cobbles became a destructive element again in the winter of 1980, contributing to the undermin- ing and collapse of the beach road (figs. 24a, 245) and to the damage to apartments and homes along the shore (figs. 25a, 25b). In south Oceanside, roofs collapsed and windows were broken as the cobbles again became pro- jectiles (fig. 26), although the waves were consistently less than six feet in height. Even where riprap protected the shore, the cobbles moved as far as twenty feet up the beach (fig. 27a). The stones were seen to move along the shore and by June 1978 had largely disappeared (fig. 27b). The Army Corps of Engineers (Hales 1978:27-32) suggested several alternatives for stabilizing the sand and creating a buffering beach at Ocean side. These included rock revetments, concrete seawalls, groin systems, sand- fills, breakwaters, and a permanent sand bypass system. At the present time sand-fills are the only method being attempted. Figure 24a. September 1979 view looking north along The Strand at Oceanside. The structure and road were located on the former beach. Riprap was placed to protect the concrete seawall and road. Photo: G. Kuhn. .-' >:.'is •«' .*•'• - :...:- ' ,»i^.k->;i>^;iSr'*¥TM - W "•^T'.'.Xi'J'^i"V(ferSSiL^ifftS3« Figure 24*. February 1980 view looking at the same site as that in 24a. The road and seawall were undermined and collapsed between 12 and 15 February 1980; the waves were less than six feet high. Photo: G. Kuhn. ^a^^p^w o^«^S^-^^ tns SI ISco "O 31~O (r\ C U 03 ^0) £•5 oco O ca 8> !t Q O c CO CO CO0) ^co o 13 Big storms do two things when they hit. The wind kicks up massive waves which are angry and powerful. When they explode on the beach they tear and rip anything in their path. They cut huge chunks out of the land and feed it to the ocean. At the same time the downpour of rain on the land erodes away the sea cliffs. High up in the mountains and along the coastal plain the rain washes away loose dirt and rocks and sends them in a raging flood to the beaches. There the waves chew up the sediments, spread them along the beach and take most of the material out to sea. It is an awesome sight to watch the war between the ocean and the land in a major storm. Usually the waves are kind and gentle and fun to play in. But great damage can be done when the wind and the rains come. Other disasters like earthquakes and volcanos and tidal waves can drastically change the beach in one mighty upheaval. URBAN DEVELOPMENT There isn't much man can do about rising sea levels or storms. We have to learn to live with the forces of nature and learn to understand them. We need to pay more attention to how our urban developments affect the beach. As we build our cities inland from the beaches we have found out that we sometimes damage the beach or cause problems without realizing it. For example look what we do to the natural rivers. We build dams and reservoirs which block the flow of sediment down to the beach. We mine the river sand and use it to make concrete. We build concrete drainage channels to stop erosion. We reroute rivers and change the way nature works. So the supply of sand that used to feed our beaches has been stopped and the beaches are starving. We build houses and roads along the seashore and on top of the sea bluffs. To protect these developments we harden the beaches with rock and concrete in order to stop the waves from damaging our houses. We have learned that building seawalls, and groins, and jetties and revetments along the beach often makes the problem even worse. All of these protections may have a good purpose in the short run but in the long run the ocean will have its way. There are many examples of where man has built a house on a sea bluff and found out later that the waves have undercut the cliff and caused the house to fall into the ocean. We need to study the effects of building along the beach and be more careful how we do it. 14 COBBLE BEACHES In southern California beach cobbles are derived from two sources: from rivers as the result of floods, and from sea cliff erosion (Emery 1955). The longest cobble beach in southern California is found in south Carlsbad (Emery 1960:184) (fig. 23a). During the storms of January 1983, the beach cliff eroded six to ten feet in places (fig. 23b). In 1960, Emery noted that the cobbles of this beach, which is presently owned by the State of California, were the result of local cliff erosion. Today, however, the cobbles are much larger and were most likely dredged from the Oceanside small-boat harbor to the north, as early as 1963. O H CO LU GO Figure 23a. April 1981 view from the Palomar Airport Road looking south along the beach. Photo: G. Kuhn. Sea Cliffs, Beaches and Coastal Valleys of San Diego County, Gerald Kuhn. FWs^hw^l SS^ssasw^- ij Figure 23fe. February 1983 view from the same vantage point as that in 23a. Note the extensive cliff erosion. Photo: G. Kuhn. One of the most interesting projects along the San Diego coast is the Oceanside Harbor. The harbor was started in 1942 to provide a boat basin for the marines at Camp Pendelton. The harbor was expanded and changed several times in recent years. The Harbor was a financial success and has provided a popular boating and recreational facility but it has caused a significant problem along the coastline south of the Harbor. North of the Harbor sand has been building up on the beach. Those beaches are among the finest in Southern California. But south of the Harbor the once wide and sandy beaches have been eroding. In the southern part of Oceanside, beach residents have imported huge rock boulders to protect their houses. The sandy beach is gone. Further south in Carlsbad you will find the longest cobble beach in Southern California. Many of the cobbles in Carlsbad came from the Oceanside Harbor project. The Corps of Engineers study shows that the beaches north of the Oceanside Harbor jetty are adding (accreting) sand at a rate of two feet per year. The beaches south of the Harbor are losing sand at a rate of one foot a year on the average. Oceanside and the Corps of Engineers are trying to deal with this problem. When they dredge the Harbor they spread the sand on the beaches to the south. They have also put in a sand bypass system which is supposed to pump sand from north of the jetty to the south beaches. So far it hasn't worked too well. This experience shows that we have much to learn about how to manage our beaches. SO WHAT CAN WE DO? The Coast of California Study concludes that our beaches in San Diego County will continue to erode in the future. The places which will have the worst erosion are between Oceanside and La Jolla and in Imperial Beach. The study recommends that we carry out beach nourishment projects to feed sand to the beaches in order to make up for the erosion we are experiencing. We really need more studies to learn how, where and when to place sand on the beach. It is not enough just to cover the cobbles with sand. We need to find out how to keep the sand and not have it wash away in the next big wave. So we also need to build structures on the beach and offshore to try to hold the sand in place and to capture and save more sand from the waves. We need to experiment with sea walls, revetments, berms, breakwaters, jetties and groins to learn how to build these projects so that they will protect and enhance the beach. That won't be easy. It will take a long time to gain the necessary experience and it will take a lot of money. We already know that the war between the ocean and the land is expensive and is a long term process. 16 If the formerly predominant southern transport of sand is not restored, it is difficult to estimate what will happen to the large quantities of sediment found off portions of the inner shelf south of the San Diegulto River (Fischer et al. 1981). At any rate, the beaches from Leucadia south to La Jolla grew during February 1982. An explanation is elusive at this point, but it may have some- thing to do with the change of the longshore current direction. Erosion of the beaches and cliff retreat accelerated during the stormy months in early 1983. At Carlsbad Beach, where concrete restroom facilities and lifeguard towers were built directly on the beach prior to the 1978 storms (fig. 30a), in 1983 two concrete restrooms were undermined and bombarded by cobbles and small riprap, and eventually collapsed and subsequently were removed. The adjacent cliff retreated by as much as fifteen to twenty feet during one storm (fig. 30b). The coast highway near the Carlsbad Encino Power Plant was severely damaged and collapsed in places during this storm. Most of this very rapid erosion occurred during the storms of late January and early February 1983, which coincided with the perigean spring tide, a ten- to twelve-foot swell coupled with extremely strong winds. BEST ORIGINAL &Q) 1(0•t-rf(/)moO -a 03 U)o> € cjz 5 2 20)CD 3 O Figure 30a. January 1978 view looking north along Carlsbad beach. Photo: G. Kuhn. ca Osa €«u gsw <B ^ W O Figure 30i. *" February 1983 view at the same site as that in 30a. The lifeguard tower is gone, the restroom and the stairway have buckled and collapsed, and the cliff has retreated fifteen to twenty feet. Photo: G. Kuhn. •'" 17 Many beach protection projects have been built in the past with mixed results. A sea wall was built in San Diego to protect the Sunset Cliffs. Carlsbad and the State of California built a seawall in 1985 to protect homes and public improvements along Carlsbad Blvd. Mission Bay was a major dredging project which turned a wetland swamp into a prime public recreation area. Oceanside Harbor has provided boating and recreation and may ultimately prove the feasibility of bypassing the sand flows to feed southern beaches. The San Diego Gas and Electric Company regularly dredges the Agua Hedionda Lagoon to nourish Carlsbad beaches. The Batiquitos Lagoon Enhancement project proposes to dredge over 3 million cubic yards of sand to restore beaches in Carlsbad and Encinitas. Ten years ago the cities of Del Mar and Carlsbad experimented with the Longard Tube. It was a long sausage shaped sleeve of sand laid along the beach to capture and hold the wave sand. It worked for awhile but eventually was ruptured and bled its sand back to the ocean. Scientists now think one of the most promising ideas is to pump sand out of the deep, offshore canyons and put it back on the beaches where it came from. There are tons, and tons of sand not far offshore in a long term bank account. Nobody knows for sure what will work. The ocean is so powerful and changeable that most of the works of man are soon swept away. We know one thing for sure. The waves will continue to break upon our shores. And the rains and winds will come when they will come. And everything will eventually change. We know each seacoast is different. What works in one place may not work in another. But we always hope that man will have dominion over the earth and that we will find out how to tame the ocean beast or at least we will learn to live with nature in harmony. "The inner peace that comes with the quiet contemplation of a beach on a still calm morning, or the feeling of exhilaration that comes from riding a great wave in a small boat, is more reward than most men ever know. Fortunately the beaches of the world are cleaned every night and every wave is a masterpiece of originality. It will ever be so. Go and see." Willard Bascom Beyond all things is the ocean. Seneca 18 NEARSHORE(littoral) ZONE UPLAND BLUFF'or "'.''•'.'• '\ ESCARPMENT BEACH SCARP. (extends through breaker zone) HIGH WATER LEVEL LOW WATER LEVEL CREST OF BERM PLUNGE POINT- BOTTOM- Figure 6 An Idealized Beach Profile [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1977a) How Development Initiates Lanslides Cliff Fails, Waves Eventually Cut a New Cliff Line Cliff Slides .*•'.. Along Slip ZoneWater Weakens Soils and Creates a Slip Zone at Clay Boundary Overwatering Saturates Permeable Cliff Strata How Development Increases Erosion The Gully Washes and the AGullyStarts to Form Development Concentrates Runoff ' '• "., /'/''','/'•' Natural Runoff "• Spreads Out ' Along Cliff ", I low development can initiate landslide activity und cliff erosion h v chiin^inv, gronndwuH'r conditions and concentrating surface riino/J. US AAmt Co^p4 oi Engine.zx.4 Annual RepoA^t 1986-8? 19 A LAYMAN'S TQ BEACH GUIDE EROSION For more information on Beach Erosion read: BASCOM, WILLARD, WAVES AND BEACHES A fine general text for the beginner. CARSON, RACHAEL, THE SEA AROUND US A classic and well written book about the ocean and its relation to man. 1951 U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, 300 N. Los Angeles Street, LA 90012, (213) 688 5320 "CCSTWS STUDY. FINAL REPORT 1991" Tells all about the seven year study of the San Diego Coast. Very technical. "LOW COST SHORE PROTECTION" 1981 A property owners guide . Good basic description of waves and causes of erosion on beaches. KUHN, GERALD, SEA CLIFFS. BEACHES AND COASTAL VALLEYS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY. 1984. University of California Press Some amazing stories and horrifying implications of storm damage. Good photos and current examples of beach erosion. INMAN, DOUGLAS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography 1980 "Man's Impact on the California Coastal Zone" Good diagrams and descriptions of coastal processes and how structures such as groins work. GRIGGS, GARY "The Case For/Against Coastal Protection" 1982 Ocean Studies Symposium, California Coastal Commission 245 W. Broadway, Long Beach, CA SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments), 401 B St, San Diego, CA 92101, 619-595-5300 "SHORELINE PRESERVATION STRATEGY FOR THE SAN DIEGO REGION" JULY 1992 "SEACLIFFS, SETBACKS AND SEAWALLS." Feb 1992. LA COUNTY DEPT OF BEACHES AND HARBORS LOST AND FOUND An outstanding video explaining beach erosion and renourismment projects in Los Angeles County. Non technical, educational. A picture better than a thousand words. 13837 Fiji Way, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 Greg Woodell (310) 305 9537 20 FRANK ALESHIRE CARLSBAD February 1994