Etiquette while docked

[BlackHeron]

I'm trying to visualize how any boat would have "very bright lights like high beams" that were so directional and bright that they would cause an issue with anyone more than a hundred yards away and yet would be regularly left on overnight.

Many motor yachts do have a searchlight but I can't imagine they would be left on all the time, and if they even had two such then they would both need to aimed in exactly the direction of the complainant. Such lights draw a lot of power and have limited bulb life so this doesn't seem likely to me.

I think it is more likely this complaint is more driven by the fact that any light at all is visible and anything short of absolute darkness would probably be offensive. Security and safety be damned. I wonder if this boat is in a slip or on a mooring ball? If it was a ball then damn right I'd have my boat lit up like Christmas so local drunks didn't hit it on the way back home at bar time from the pontoon pub.

Seems like a typical case of NIMBY-ism to me. So upset at not being able to control the neighbors beyond the property line that they join a boating forum online just to kvetch about it.

This is why I am glad I do not have to live in Kalifornia.

[a64pilot]

Sometimes people don’t know they are bothering others, I left my cockpit lights on one night by accident, the next day I found out it bothered my neighbor who liked to sleep in his cockpit. I apologized and made sure they were always off from then on.
I just didn’t realize my cockpit lights could be bothersome.

[MicHughV]

hard to say these days...

I was involved in a lawsuit down in Palm Beach where one neighbor was bitching about his neighbors "boat" blocking his "view"...

interestingly, they both had armies of attorney's, maps, sketches, photo's, etc...tying to determine what exactly the complainant was bitching about...turns out that the view in question was from a tiny bathroom window...an opaque window at that....the lawyer's fees must have run into 10's of 1,000's....but those folks don't care...

.....that is Palm Beach for you...

[BlackHeron]

Perhaps to a slip neighbor a cockpit light could be bothersome. But this person is talking about a boat in a marina "across the bay from my house," which I would have to assume would be at least a hundred yards or so, as even 300' is a pretty small "bay" in my mind, but in all likelihood we are probably talking about a distance of at least an order of magnitude greater than this like 3000 feet or about a half mile. I do not know of many "bays" in California that are much smaller than a quarter of a mile across.

But let's assume for the point of argument that this is a tiny little backyard bay like one would find in Annapolis or other protected waters on the East coast which is just barely big enough for a few slips on both sides and a hundred feet or so to maneuver between them. Not much if a "marina" as the OP states, but let's assume the worst. Even so that is at a minimum of a hundred yards from the offending boat to this guy's back porch or whatever "across the bay."

My point is that there is this thing called the inverse square law that effects how the brightness of any light source drops off quickly as the distance from it is increased. This is especially true of any non-directional light such as the mentioned cockpit lights, anchor lights, or other general or mood lighting typically left on at night as opposed to a spot light with a focused directional beam projected through a focused lens -which probably isn't the case here unless this boat owner has deliberately set out to annoy this guy and is aiming them right into his windows (and other "concerned neighbors") like "high beams."

Inverse Square Law for Light

[Cheechako]

Know any ex-snipers?

[MicHughV]

interestingly, it's the sea turtles in Florida that bitch about bright lights as they can't find their "just right" nesting spot to lay their eggs...

[BlackHeron]

Remember Mrs Kravitz from "Bewitched?"

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Sailortobe

A power boat docks in a Marina across the bay from my house in California.
He has 2 very bright lights (like High beams) that he leaves on All Night.
He's the only one that does that in the marina.
His bright lights are quite annoying , also a lot of my neighbors share my concern.
Are there rules or laws concerning that?
Thanks

Have you tried using curtains? There are no laws against emitting light with few exceptions such as pointing high power laser at airplanes.

[redhead]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Sometimes people don’t know they are bothering others, I left my cockpit lights on one night by accident, the next day I found out it bothered my neighbor who liked to sleep in his cockpit. I apologized and made sure they were always off from then on.
I just didn’t realize my cockpit lights could be bothersome.

This!

We are always jumping to conclusions that people are doing annoying stuff out of malice instead of just being in their own bubble. Self righteous anger seems to be the order of the day and it's contagious. I know I probably (ahem) occasionallydo something annoying and in my head I think I'm very cool.

Benefit of the doubt folks. Go ask him to fix it, 90% chance he will.

[roverhi]

Some power boats have headlights just like a car. Would be very annoying if someone pointed a boat at your house with that type of lights. Lake Effect had the best idea in calling the marina and have them notify the boat owner. They may not even be aware that the lights are on AND that they could be annoying. The neighbor probably can't get on the dock to leave a note because of a gate, most marinas are gated these days.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

I'm trying to visualize how any boat would have "very bright lights like high beams" that were so directional and bright that they would cause an issue with anyone more than a hundred yards away and yet would be regularly left on overnight.

Not sure about everywhere, but around here all the wanna-be fishermen have noticed that the big commercial boats have huge LED lights on while fishing and even while motoring in and out of the harbor.

So, of course, the wanna-be's have all outfitted their little recreational fishing boats with the biggest, brightest LEDs they can afford. And they, too, leave them on all the time underway, destroying their night vision and putting them into the kind of danger that a large steel commercial fishing vessel just doesn't worry about.

Talking to them does no good. It's like the guys with snowplows who go around all winter with their flashing yellow lights on, even when not plowing anything. It's all about proving their manliness or something.

As for leaving lights on at the dock, that's another matter. I'd think a talk with the owner, or the marina management, would resolve it.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

...
I understand the problem... a new house has appeared down the valley from us .. only house we can see from our stoop... about 3 miles away... very bright security lights on all night and all day...
...

I know of a house that we call the UFO house because of all of the lights on the perimeter of the house. I would guess the house has 40-50 lights on it's perimeter and they are on most nights from what I have noticed.

The owners have also fenced in the yard, it is not a small yard either, with a 6ish foot tall, wrought iron looking fence. Its not wrought iron of course but it had to have cost a small fortune. They also have a light house.

Why? One of the people in the house does not have good health and has mobility issues. Best we can tell, the lights and fence, gives that person a feeling of security and safety, though, we live in a very low crime area. Oh, and they like light houses.

A few years ago work was done on a radio tower about five miles from us. People started to complain about the brightness of the new light they installed on the tower. I wondered how bad could it be? Then one night we had low clouds and when that light flashed it was like a gigantic light bulb going off! And we are fiveish miles away. Can't imagine what the light was like if you lived close to it.

Eventually, the light was turned down.

I don't know if our county ever passed light pollution regulations but there was talk of such rules. I know some places do have these regulations.

Later,
Dan

[a64pilot]

One of the islands in the Bahamas has lights they sometimes leave on I think to light the schools basketball court, and even across the bay it’s annoying.
Of course I’d never say anything, I’m free to move, but it was surprising how annoying a bright light even at a distance can be when your trying to get to sleep when you have become accustomed to darkness.
I’d bet money that if you asked nicely they would at least change the angle the lights are at, if not just turn them off.

[MicHughV]

true...there is an art in asking....

you could say..." hey, a-hole, turn those $#$# %$^^ lights off !!!"

or

" excuse me sir, I was wondering if I could get you to turn the lights off as they are bothering the missus"...

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

I think it is more likely this complaint is more driven by the fact that any light at all is visible and anything short of absolute darkness would probably be offensive. Security and safety be damned.

There is such a thing as light pollution... One can secure a boat in a marina without lighting up the area like San Quentin.