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On the Coast Guard's Advisories web page, Advisories are listed in the order issued, with the most recent at the top. Boating restrictions that are established by one Advisory will usually be eased or removed by a later Advisory, when river conditions have improved.
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Advisories deal with a specific portion of a river. Some Advisories are for the Upper Mississippi River (abbreviated "UMR"), and others are for the Illinois River (abbreviated "ILR", or "ILW", for Illinois Waterway). You are interested in the most recent Advisory that deals with our portion of the Illinois River. The IVY Club is in Zone 7 of the Illinois River, at Mile Marker (abbreviated "MM") 167.9. The Advisories that are pertinent to the IVY Club mention either Zone 7, or some range of mile markers that encompasses MM 167.9.
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For moderately high water, a typical restriction will say something like this: "ALL VESSELS ARE TO TRANSIT THESE ZONES WITH CAUTION AND AT THE SLOWEST SAFE SPEED TO MINIMIZE WAKE DAMAGE."
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For higher river levels, the wording gets stronger: "ALL RECREATIONAL VESSEL TRAFFIC IS PROHIBITED FROM TRANSITING THIS ZONE."
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| The issuance of Advisories is guided in part by the "WAP" (Waterway Action Plan), which has a separate section for each zone of the river.
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