Claiborne Youngs message regarding the conditions on the Panhandle Gulf Coast come at a time when I was giving thought to this very subject only last night when I was browsing his cruising guide. There are many boats on the river system between Chicago and Mobile at this very moment, all waiting for weather conditions (Hurricane season) to become more favorable prior to moving on into the Gulf waters. There have been at least 20 boats move through this area (GTB) in the last few weeks, many still here waiting to move on and many more up river making their way south. I understand that there is to be a large gathering of Loop boats at Joe Wheeler around the second week of October. >From where I am looking at it, it would appear to me that there will be a very large crowd of cruising boats all converging on Mobile Bay and the northern Gulf ICW at about the same time period from about Mid-October thru November. From the limited knowledge of the area along the northern GICW that I have, it would appear to me that even during the course of a normal year quite a strain would be placed upon the facilities available in that area. This year, following Ivan, it would appear that the area will be unable to support any of the cruising community to any degree. I think at this point it would be prudent to assume that most infrastructure is simply gone. That means no dockage, no readily available fuel, no channel markers, in fact charts are probably going to be almost useless as Ivan no doubt has altered the lay of most of the channels in the area. Personally, I feel that without local knowledge, attempting to navigate this area for the next several months would be extremely hazardous. At the moment, unless I receive convincing evidence to the contrary, I am making plans to completely by-pass this area and cruise directly from Mobile Bay to Tampa. Jim Alexander Serendipity Hatteras 48LRC