The first boat we ever captained on Schroon Lake was a pontoon -- the year was 2006 and a young Craig Kennedy who had just purchased a stake in Schroon Lake Marina -- was our instructor. For experienced pontooners you know there’s not much to learn. “Just stay away from the left side of Word of Life Island,” Craig told us. Back then the pontoon boats came with a tube – the case no more.

Thus began our love affair with pontoons, which we rented with regularity, until buying a Sea Ray 180, to appease the lust for speed and water sports demanded by teenage sons.

As anyone who has ever taken a ride on a pontoon boat knows, t’s the equivalent of taking out your living room into the middle of the lake.

Along with a bunch of coolers full of food and drink (and even a barbecue if you wanna get really fancy schmancy!) where you and up to as many friends the boat will safely hold, spend the day jumping into the lake, and having a terrific party!

So, with summer ever so close, we wanted to get all you pontoon boat fans into the mood with the above video, from the band Little Big Town. You can read the lyrics, here.

Two people were transported to the hospital after an 18 foot bow rider boat caught fire and sunk last night near the World Of Life dock at Schroon Lake.

Fire Chief Paul McCann said the boat was completely destroyed by the fire, which broke out around 7.30 pm shortly after the boat owner had refuelled the vessel.

"It appears that the engine compartment was not ventilated after the boat was fuelled up," Chief McCann told Schroon Laker today.

Fifteen members of the Schroon Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded to blaze which was extinguished with the department's fire boat and fire fighters on the dock.

The boat sunk about 500 feet off shore when the department attempted to tow it back. McCann said a private dive company will remove the wreck today, which sits in about 35 to 40 feet of water.

Schroon Lake EMS transported the owner and a passenger to the hospital in Ticonderoga. Chief McCann did not know the extent of the injuries, which were described to him as "minor".

The Chief said all boat owners can take away a valuable lesson from last night's fire: the importance of always ventilating the engine compartment of a boat.