The Coast Guard Auxiliary has released last year's National Safe Boating statistics and the news is good. When comparing 2006 and 2007, the number of deaths dropped from 710 to 685.

However, other casualty figures increased. Accidents were up from 4,967 to 5,191. Injuries rose from 3,474 to 3,673 and damage totals increased from $43,670,424 to $53,106,496.

In fatal boating accidents, two thirds of the victims drowned. Of those, 90 percent were not wearing life jackets. Three out of every four boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21-feet long.

In all cases, operator error overwhelmingly contributed to the crash — either through inattention, carelessness or recklessness. Alcohol use was the leading factor in fatal boating crashes.

The most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats, personal watercraft and cabin motorboats.

You can read the Coast Guard report in pdf format on the Web site.