It seems like only yesterday that I blogged about an increase in virtually every kind of theft. I wrote that not a week goes by without me reading about some item that has seen a huge surge in number of thefts.

Today I get to write about an item that has seen a decrease in theft – boats. How many boats do you think are stolen each year in the US? Last year there were 6,070 watercraft thefts reported. That is a nine percent decrease from the 6,663 thefts reported in 2010. As reported in www.marketwatch.com.

The state with the most thefts – Florida (1,322). The Sunshine State was followed by California (550), Texas (437), Washington (224) and North Carolina (205). One state--Hawaii--did not have a single reported boat theft in 2011.

Jet Skis were the most stolen water craft with 1,219, followed by runabout (992), utility (437), cruiser (255) and sailboat (60).

If you have a boat, you might want to take extra precautions if you own one of the following manufacturers as they are the most=likely to be stolen. Yamaha is the number one target with 537 thefts, followed by Bombardier Corporation (522), Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing (196), Alumacraft Boat Company (148) and Bayliner Marine (129).

Following are a few quick tips to protect your vessel. When you dock it, lock it and secure it to the dock with a steel cable. Remove expensive equipment when not in use. Chain and lock detachable motors to the boat. Do not leave title or registration papers in the craft. Disable the craft by shutting fuel lines or removing batteries. Install a kill switch in the ignition system.