I've experienced my own share of lake waterfront skirmishes. Unfortunately, sometimes common sense and courtesy are missing with many of these instances.
The law is very clear about the water. The state, and all of us, own it.
I also assume that in this instance, your dock has been there for a long time and is grandfathered on it's location. I assume this because from your description, it sounds like it is right on the edge of your property line, rather than set back from the property line as current rules require, and the fact that your family has been there for 100 years. (Can we also assume that the 10 foot right of way has been there all along too?)
I would ask that you not take this the wrong way as I am not trying to take sides here, nor condoning what appears (from your account) to be bad dealings between you and this one neighbor. But my first reaction to your "rest of the story" update was to think of this from your neighbors point of view.
While I believe that legally you are within your rights, it did seem to me that placing a boat within ~20' of the right of way that 4-5 families share was not the best action on your side (assuming your dock is ~20' from shore).
In doing so, their views and swimming area are somewhat blocked, and while legal, it does strike me as somewhat inconsiderate. As I said, this was my first reaction, and I know nothing about the other families, configuration, past history, etc. But it would be good to understand the story from all sides, and consider other points of view.
Have the other 4 families weighed in on this topic?
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