A day on the water can be full of adventure, bonding with familyand friends and just plain fun.

Far too often, however, recreational watercraft outings turntragic. Insurance coverage is a smart idea to protect boatsagainst physical damage from accidents, as well as theft. Makesure your insurance clients are covered for all their boatingadventures.

Recreational boating continues to grow in popularity and risk.In 2015, there were 11.9 million registered recreational watercraft in the UnitedStates, up from 11.8 million in 2014, according to theInsurance Information Institute.

Related: Talking insurance coverage without rocking theboat

Costly boating accidents

Sadly, there are thousands of recreational boating accidents peryear. Contributing factors to these accidents include traveling toofast for water or weather conditions, driving under the influenceof drugs or alcohol, failing to follow boating rules andregulations, carelessness and inexperience.

A recreational boating accident must be reported to theU.S. Coast Guard if:

• a person dies or is injured and requires medical treatmentbeyond first aid;
• if damage to the boat or other property exceeds $2,000;
• if the boat is lost or if a person disappears from theboat.

Alcohol, drugs and boating don't mix

The U.S. Coast Guard says that alcohol, combined with typicalconditions such as motion, vibration, engine noise, sun, wind andspray can impair a person's abilities much faster than alcoholconsumption on land. Operators with a blood alcohol concentration(BAC) above 0.10% are estimated to be more than 10 times morelikely to be killed in an accident than operators with zeroBAC.

Related: Summer can be the riskiest time ofyear

According to the I.I.I., alcohol was a contributing factor in 306recreational watercraft accidents in 2015 (7.4% of all accidents),accounting for 122 deaths (19.5% of all deaths) and 258 injuries(9.9% of all injuries). Other primary contributing factors wereoperator inattention, resulting in 58 deaths; and operatorinexperience, accounting for 37 deaths.

Additional key findings about boating accidents, include thefollowing:

• 6% of fatal boating accident victims died by drowning in 2015,and of those, 85% were not wearing life jackets.
• The most common types of watercraft involved in reportedaccidents in 2015 were open motorboats (45%), personal watercraft,like Jet Skis and WaveRunners (19%) and cabin motorboats(17%).

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Top 10 states for recreational watercraft accidents(2015)

Following are the top 10 states for recreationalwatercraft accidents in 2015. These numbers from theI.I.I., using data from the U.S. Departmentof Transportation and the U.S. Coast Guard, include accidentsinvolving $2,000 or more in property damage and include watercraftsuch as motorboats, sail boats and other vessels, such as JetSkis:

10. Tennessee

No. of accidents: 107.

Property damage: $493,000.

People injured: 65.

Deaths: 13.

Related: Top 15 boating insurance coverage issues agents andbrokers need to know

(Photo: Shutterstock)

9. Missouri

No. of accidents: 109.

Property damage: $817,000.

People injured: 70.

Deaths: 17.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

8. New Jersey

No. of accidents: 122.

Property damage: $134,000.

People injured: 64.

Deaths: 8.

(AP Photo/Daily News)

7. South Carolina

No. of accidents: 123.

Property damage: $958,000.

People injured: 80.

Deaths: 17.

(AP Photo/J. Spencer Jones)

6. Maryland

No. of accidents: 146.

Property damage: $1,074,000.

People injured: 125.

Deaths: 21.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

5. Texas

No. of accidents: 154.

Propertydamage: $792,000.

People injured: 105.

Deaths: 44.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

4. North Carolina

No. of accidents: 162.

Property damage: $1,492,000.

People injured: 90.

Deaths: 20.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

3. New York

No. of accidents: 174.

Property damage: $1,120,000.

People injured: 96.

Deaths: 16.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

2. California

No. of accidents: 369.

Property damage: $3,101,000.

People injured: 227.

Deaths: 48.

This photo, made available by the Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission, shows the damaged front of a 13-foot boatthat six teenagers were riding before they collided with a bridgeon the Middle River in Wilton Manors, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 13,2015. One teenager died and five were injured. (Florida Fish andWildlife Conservation Commission via AP)

1. Florida

No. of accidents: 671.

Property damage: $9,770,000.

People injured: 390.

Deaths: 52.

Related: Know the ropes: 5 ways to reduce risk and 5coverage consideration for boat owners

Top 10 states for watercraft theft (2015)

There were 5,031 watercraft thefts in the U.S. in 2015, down 3%from 2014, according to an analysis of federal government data bythe National Insurance CrimeBureau.

Of these watercraft thefts, 2,114, or 42%, were recovered by May15, 2016. Personal watercraft (Jet Skis, WaveRunners, etc.) werethe most frequently stolen watercraft, with 1,108 thefts, followedby runabouts (678), utility boats (278), cruisers (181) andsailboats (52).

July saw the highest number of reported thefts (612), andFebruary had the fewest (251).

Here are the top 10 states for watercraft thefts in 2015:

(Photo: Shutterstock)

10. Tennessee

Thefts: 119.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

9. Louisiana

Thefts: 137.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

8. South Carolina

Thefts: 154.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

7. Georgia

Thefts: 170.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

6. Alabama

Thefts: 171.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

5. Washington

Thefts: 173.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

4. North Carolina

Thefts: 192.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

3. Texas

Thefts: 399.

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

2. California

Thefts: 528.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

1. Florida

Thefts: 1,205.

Related: Is the insurance industry ready for self-drivingboats?