When a massive cruise ship meets a small boat there is only going to be one winner.
Increasing numbers of boaties are putting their lives at risk by cutting across cruise ships in the Bay of Islands, Northland's regional harbourmaster has warned.
Harbourmaster Jim Lyle is disappointed at an increase in misbehaviour in Northland waters this summer and has urged people to familiarise themselves with regulations such as the Navigation Safety bylaw.
He said boaties coming into the path of cruise ships had been an ongoing problem but the problem has worsened during the recent festive season when sunny weather attracted hordes of people to the sea and beaches, particularly in the Bay of Islands.
"Cruise ships visit the Bay of Islands intermittently and we'll have 40 visiting this summer and we've had reports of people not moving away from the channel. It's silly for people to go very close to these ships and generally they (boaties) are in the 6m range, and make no effort to move when seeing or not seeing a cruise ship approaching directly in line with them," Mr Lyle said.