Outdoor enthusiasts can buy kayaks and canoes and be out on the water in no time, unlike with motorized boats that must be registered.

But when the Coast Guard finds empty kayaks and canoes adrift at sea, often there is no clue to the identity of the owner. The Coast Guard searches for someone in danger when sometimes that person is safe at home, oblivious to the fact that his or her kayak has washed away from the shore.

Paddle sports are becoming more popular, and more of the boats are turning up empty in local waters. So the Coast Guard is asking people to label their boats, paddles and safety gear with their names and contact information, a campaign known as "Paddle Smart."

Local paddlers said the orange stickers supplied by the Coast Guard Auxiliary are a good idea, but they do not always use them. The stickers get wet and fall off, they ruin the look of an expensive kayak, and the markers that write on them fade or smudge, the paddlers said.

"On a lot of plastic kayaks, stickers don't stick to them, and most indelible pens aren't really," said Nick Schade, owner of Guillemot Kayaks in Groton. "It sounds very simple, but actually it can be harder to do than you might imagine."

But the paddlers agreed that the sticker solution was better than a registration requirement. Registration fees would add up quickly, said Jon Tobiassen, since serious paddlers usually have "a small fleet of boats."

"One of the reasons we paddle is to get away from it all," said Tobiassen, a paddler from Pawcatuck and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. "We don't want to get into another set of regulations."

And the look of the stickers is far superior to the "awful-looking numbers" plastered on the outside of registered boats, said Phil Warner, president of ConnYak, a club for sea kayakers.

Warner said he sees more people out in kayaks and canoes now than ever before.

"I think it's the availability of the boats," he said, since plastic kayaks can be found at local retailers for about $300. "In the late '80s and early '90s, it was rare to see anyone out there."

Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound in New Haven found 53 empty, adrift kayaks and canoes in fiscal 2009, 76 in 2010 and eight so far this fiscal year. Coast Guard Station New London averages about 10 per year, with two so far since Oct. 1.

They always assume that someone is in danger and launch a search, said Lt. Jarod Toczko, the station's acting commanding officer.

Operating one of the station's boats starts at about $1,600 an hour for the smallest vessel. The new 45-foot response boat costs more than $4,000 an hour, taking into account the price for maintenance, fuel and personnel, and a helicopter from a nearby air station would increase the tab by several thousand dollars, according to Toczko.

Calling the owner of a kayak or canoe found adrift could help prevent unnecessary searches and free up the station's boats and crew members for emergencies, Toczko said. Or, the call could help the Coast Guard gather information to help with the search when someone is in danger, he added.

It is up to the sector commander to call off the search when it appears that the kayak or canoe was not in use, with no debris in the area or other signs of distress.

The paddlers say they will keep their contact information in their boats, on a sticker or in some other way. Warner puts his information inside a first aid kid. Tobiassen uses the stickers or writes directly on his kayaks if the stickers peel off. Schade, as a kayak builder, can write his name on paper and lay it underneath a layer of fiberglass on his boats.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary provides the free identification stickers at safe boating classes and other boating events. Schade called labeling his equipment "the simple way to save the Coast Guard some trouble."