The US Coast Guard is urging all paddlers to label their watercraft with their name and contact information.
Why you ask? Well, if your boat is found floating out on the water, they know where it came from and can figure out much quicker if it just floated away or if they need it initiate a missing person search.
According to the CG, it currently costs $35,000 to respond to a report of an empty vessel adrift. One of the reasons for the high costs is that emergency crews must treat the case as a man overboard until they have compelling evidence otherwise.
The coast guard suggest you write in big letters inside the cockpit with your name and phone. Use a big black marker or for a more permanent solution, paint the information on with a thin paint brush or paint pen. Just make sure you update the number if you move.
Last quick tip, water based or dry erase markers don't work very well. Trust me, I tried...
The US Coast Guard is urging all paddlers to label their watercraft with their name and contact information.