About 300 people gathered in loud Hawaiian shirts, flip flops and summer dresses to farewell Mr Spraggs, 58, at Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club.
The former surf shop designer died after hitting his head and falling overboard from his yacht in Chalong Bay during a storm on January 26.
Mr Spraggs was a regular visitor to Phuket for six years and was well known in Ao Chalong yachting circles.
The mood among mourners was mostly jovial, with the many stories involving Mr Spraggs sparking peals of laughter, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
The service was a celebration of Mr Spraggs’ life, with pictures of him at sea, with family and standing next to a large marlin.
Daughter Stevie Spraggs was overcome with emotion as people arrived to pay tribute. She said she took comfort knowing her father died doing what he loved.
“I now see there is no reason to be sad. He’s lived about three people’s lifetimes and he only got to 58. This is why we need to celebrate,” she was quoted as saying. “I know there will be times where I will need him and [I will] miss him when those times come.”
Stevie also reminisced about visiting her dad at his New Zealand home where he often had a beer in one hand and cigarette in the other and many friends over.
“This never worried me because I knew he was happy. He always said goodbye – ‘Well sprogg, have as much fun as you possibly can’ ... and I believe that is what life was about.”
Other family members spoke about a larger-than-life character who loved the sea, loved Stevie and lived life to the full.
Good friend Ian “Troppo” Waite lived up to his nickname, wearing a bright blue floral shirt and shorts as he reminisced about his buddy’s antics, such as falling asleep in a Hamilton bar’s disabled toilet – where he was found the next morning.
He said it was a “sad irony” Mr Spraggs died in a boating accident, when he was such a strong swimmer.
At the time of his death, Phuket Cruising Yacht Club club captain Brent McInnes said Mr Spraggs had been involved with the club for a year or so.
“He was a boat owning member of the club. He used to come down the place every day – he was a friendly happy guy. He would talk with most people who came in, and he lived on his boat in the Chalong anchorage.”
Mr Spraggs’ partner Shirley, who is still in Phuket picking up his belongings, wrote that she would always treasure her memories of sailing around Thailand with Mr Spraggs.