Most recreational vessels needed arcing lights on each side - white on the masthead, green to starboard, red to port and a white sternlight.
"We have people taking off before dawn with no navigation lights ... If the smaller boats don't have lights a bigger launch can come along and not even see them," he said.
On top of the run-of-the-mill influx of cruise ships and Auckland yachties, staff at the harbourmaster's office had dealt with several dramatic salvage missions.
These included a concrete yacht that ran aground on Boxing Day at Ruakaka and became wedged in the sand for more than two weeks; a 7-metre yacht that crashed into the Cavalli Islands on January 5 and a fishing boat which struck rocks in the Bay of Islands and sank on January 11, sparking a search for three men on board.
The season of misbehaving boaties kicked off on November 29 last year when two men allegedly crashed a 106-year-old schooner into a sandbar in the middle of Hatea River.
Disobeying the harbourmaster could mean prosecution, resulting in prison time or fines up to $10,000.
