Shared beach access/dinghy storage - is this just wrong?

jcon12

jcon12

Well-Known Member
We were doing some work on our property in the gulf islands. We've owned the property for 40+ years but just recently started working on it, setting up mooring etc.

As we were moving our dinghy to the high water mark and tying it off the neighbour came out and made it very clear i should not tie my dinghy up there. Apparently he has several family and friends over to the property during the summer and they use the entire beach. He proclaimed to have installed the log in the picture below for their own use.

They went as far as spray painting the log with their unit number..

This is a public/shared beach and the closest access point to our property.

Is it not completely out of line for him to assume ownership of half of the waterfront and reserve the spots for his friends and family?

Here is a photo.. you can see there are two banks where you can leave your boat... the right side is full and the left side is "reserved". My boat is circled in red as I agreed to leave it off "his log". He made it clear as we left that my boat had to be moved by summer..

I am not trying to stir the pot on a small island.. but I absolutely cannot stand for this type of entitlement.
unnamed.jpg
 
Are those stairs from his home or are they the public access point. If they are the public access point go visit your local RCMP and get their stand on it. Public Access points are just that. You may need a game camera camouflaged nearby in case this escalates.
 
Are you in front of his property but storing it below the high water mark? so therefore its public access?
 
I’d immediately have a beach party and burn the log. That’s just me though and I’ve been known to throat punch assholes.
Seriously though, I had same kind of neighbor for 10 years and best to nip it in the bud as soon as possible. Once he figures your going to roll over for him it will get worse
 
Last edited:
Clint r said:
I’d immediately have a beach party and burn the log. That’s just me though and I’ve been known to throat punch assholes.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who has a cabin up agamemnon channel lots of stories of just that happening between neighbours, In fact there are those neighbours that if you even go close to their property there gonna come at you screaming.

so details matter here lol
 
jcon12 said:
We were doing some work on our property in the gulf islands. We've owned the property for 40+ years but just recently started working on it, setting up mooring etc.

As we were moving our dinghy to the high water mark and tying it off the neighbour came out and made it very clear i should not tie my dinghy up there. Apparently he has several family and friends over to the property during the summer and they use the entire beach. He proclaimed to have installed the log in the picture below for their own use.

They went as far as spray painting the log with their unit number..

This is a public/shared beach and the closest access point to our property.

Is it not completely out of line for him to assume ownership of half of the waterfront and reserve the spots for his friends and family?

Here is a photo.. you can see there are two banks where you can leave your boat... the right side is full and the left side is "reserved". My boat is circled in red as I agreed to leave it off "his log". He made it clear as we left that my boat had to be moved by summer..

I am not trying to stir the pot on a small island.. but I absolutely cannot stand for this type of entitlement.
View attachment 77312
Click to expand...
The property has been surveyed and should show the property line to the HIGH tide mark.......One side is his and one side is yours.
You should be able to walk along the beach on HIS side below the high tide mark without any repercussions. THAT is PUBLIC LAND
 
go to this website and locate his property and the public access. If he owns the waterfront front property he owns down to the high tide mark ,therefore it is his right to exclude people and boats from using his property. You will need to turn on a few layers of the map to get boundaries and addresses.

Geocortex Viewer for HTML5

mapit.islandstrust.bc.ca mapit.islandstrust.bc.ca
 
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thanks all for the replies. Sorry I should have clarified.. the beach in the photo is 100% NOT his property. He shares a property line with this beach but every inch of the photo I've included is public beach access. I believe its just a matter of him living near the beach so he has slowly but surely expanded his footprint and taken up more and more spots without others pushing back.

I think the message is clear - just curious what the general etiquette was here. I figured if someone has always stored their boat in a spot.. you might not go and jam your boat in it once they leave. But to reserve an entire log for your friends and family seems insane.
 
jcon12 said:
We were doing some work on our property in the gulf islands. We've owned the property for 40+ years but just recently started working on it, setting up mooring etc.

As we were moving our dinghy to the high water mark and tying it off the neighbour came out and made it very clear i should not tie my dinghy up there. Apparently he has several family and friends over to the property during the summer and they use the entire beach. He proclaimed to have installed the log in the picture below for their own use.

They went as far as spray painting the log with their unit number..

This is a public/shared beach and the closest access point to our property.

Is it not completely out of line for him to assume ownership of half of the waterfront and reserve the spots for his friends and family?

Here is a photo.. you can see there are two banks where you can leave your boat... the right side is full and the left side is "reserved". My boat is circled in red as I agreed to leave it off "his log". He made it clear as we left that my boat had to be moved by summer..

I am not trying to stir the pot on a small island.. but I absolutely cannot stand for this type of entitlement.
View attachment 77312
Click to expand...

You own property , and he "invites" friends,
Tell him to go f himself
 
I know that beach well.

If someone was really friendly and approached it like this:

"Hey man, I hate to ask you this but that log you tied up to, the reason I put it there is that I have a bunch of guests coming - I'm not saying get off or anything, but it's going to be really crowded on this side because I told everyone to tie up to this log, and nowhere else, no matter what"

Then I might play ball.

If it was more like:

"oh that's my log, I put it across half the beach because this summer my friends are coming so just make sure you're off it by then"

Then I'd probably just respond by saying "oh no worries, if your log is taking up half the beach and there's no room, I can cut it in half and roll a big chunk out to sea. I'll go get my chainsaw right now if you think I won't have room the way you set this thing. I won't even charge you for the fuel I burn, you can consider it a gift. Just remember in the future, you owe me."
 
'His' log is trespassing on the common property beach.
Chain saw and burn with other common property owners.
Does he have his salvage stamp on his log? No? Not his log.
Let us know when the field trip date is sorted.
 
jcon12 said:
We were doing some work on our property in the gulf islands. We've owned the property for 40+ years but just recently started working on it, setting up mooring etc.

As we were moving our dinghy to the high water mark and tying it off the neighbour came out and made it very clear i should not tie my dinghy up there. Apparently he has several family and friends over to the property during the summer and they use the entire beach. He proclaimed to have installed the log in the picture below for their own use.

They went as far as spray painting the log with their unit number..

This is a public/shared beach and the closest access point to our property.

Is it not completely out of line for him to assume ownership of half of the waterfront and reserve the spots for his friends and family?

Here is a photo.. you can see there are two banks where you can leave your boat... the right side is full and the left side is "reserved". My boat is circled in red as I agreed to leave it off "his log". He made it clear as we left that my boat had to be moved by summer..

I am not trying to stir the pot on a small island.. but I absolutely cannot stand for this type of entitlement.
View attachment 77312
Click to expand...
I own a cabin on that same Island and know this beach well. Who cares what his friends do...you are an OWNER and this is public property. He can't "reserve" the beach for his friends in the summer...and I know folks who use this beach all the time and dont have issues. Maybe he's using the "new guy" card on you... ENJOY your place.
 
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