So far this summer the region's volunteer harbour wardens have rescued 10 boats which misjudged the tide and found themselves in difficulty.
Boat owners from other countries were also an issue. They often had little knowledge of their own recently-bought boat, the sea and its dangers, volunteer harbour warden Noel Haszard said.
Mr Haszard is one of seven men aged from 50s to 70s who volunteers for the harbour master, patrolling the northern harbour around the Tanners Point/Katikati/Waihi Beach.
The volunteers had also been making the most of the use of a jet ski and small boat that were rotated throughout the region.
The volunteers did most of their work by talking to people, or just being visible in their clearly-marked harbour master's boat. Just the sight of it cruising nearby was enough to make most boaties slow down, don their life jackets and behave better on the water.
"We basically act as the Harbour Master's right hand, and our role is mainly educational, observing activities on the water and ensuring boaties know what's expected of them," Mr Haszard said.
Mr Haszard said the small boat and jet ski gave the volunteers more visibility.
"In the last four years the number of craft has grown immensely, and we couldn't do what we do without the equipment we now have. It used to be just a foot patrol, which wasn't much use when the problems are out on the water."
Mr Haszard is ex-Coastguard, and the other six wardens at the north end are all keen boaties themselves. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds - plumber, electrical and refrigeration, retired farmer, oil exploration, mining - before they put their hands up for the job. They all love being out and about in boats.
Since late December they have completed more than 200 hours of patrols. That's 70 to 95 hours each. The wardens re-train every year in boat safety, boat handling, and are all qualified boat masters.
So far this summer the volunteers have rescued 10 boats which misjudged the tide and found themselves in difficulty. Boat owners from other countries are also an issue. They often have little knowledge of their own recently-bought boat, the sea and its dangers.
The volunteers would like to see more people put their hand up to join them as volunteers, which would ensure their on-duty rotation left them more time to enjoy the water themselves.
Anyone interested in joining them just needs to contact the harbour master's office for assessment and the training required.
"So far this summer there's been 17 deaths on the water nationally, but none in our waters. Our aim is to have no fatalities on the harbour, and so far, so good," Mr Haszard said.