Pine Lake Alberta - Finally got her wet in some new water

[Capt SkUnK]

Well this previous long weekend we made a drive to Central Alberta to take the family and boat camping at a new lake. We went to a resort called Spruce Bay on the Pine Lake in Alberta.

Well the 3 hour tow went with out hiccups until we were 10kms from the resort where we pulled over to feed the baby on a gravel road leading to the resort.   A Group of ATV's came ripping down the road and shooting rocks and gravel everywhere and sprayed our boat as they proceeded to pull donuts in the parking lot where we had pulled over.  The result was a smashed side window.   I'm a little upset as both me and the wife were trying to tell them to stop but the young punks just peeled away of down a trail and we're never seen again.  I'm very upset to say the least.  I'm an avid offloader and this is not how the majority of enthusiasts behave.   98% of them respect people's property and the trails. I'll chock it up to too much partying and the long weekend, but I'm still left with a broken boat window and a few chips on my tow vehicles windshield.   Really irresponsible actions of some young people.



The lake was a nice change but was full of alge and had warning signs not to swim in the water.   So for the 4 days there we only got to cruise the lake and do some fishing and no water sports. 



We paid $15 dollars a day for boat parking which included docking for the boat.  But when we went to unload out play boat kayak & 4 inflaatable boats for the kids and guest to play on.  The management proceeded to try and charge us $15 per inflatable boat and the kayak per day that's  $300 for the long weekend.  Outrageous!  I understand the boat fees but inflatable boats for the kids to play on and a play boat kayak you can't fish off of??  Come on.  So we packed up the inflatables and left the kayak on the roof of the tow vehicle.  The management also tried to change us $10 a day per person fishing.



 That wasn't going to happen seeing as I was fishing off my boat i had already paid for so we had to sneak away to go fishing and not get charged for the daily fishing fees.







The lake was so filthy my boat is now left with scum around the water line.  I now have a few hours of cleaning to get the boat ready to take to our local lake.  I asked to use there hose to wash the boat out and the management wanted to change  $60....   

It was a beautiful place to camp and fish at but the lake wasn't worth what hey were trying to charge us.  A little disappointed at what we spent on the long weekend there and next time I'll have to inquire about all the hidden fees these boat resorts change.













  Any advice on cleaning a boat so I can minimize the risk of Contaminating my local crystal clear lake would be greatly appreciated.   I plan on taking it to the car wash this afternoon and spraying out the inside of the hull with a high pressure hose and completely detailing the interior and exterior of the boat.  I've already flushed the engine with fresh water for a good 30 minutes on muffs.

What's the advice on the cheapest option for replacing my broken side window.   Could I get what
away with using plexiglass and do the repair myself or am I best to take it to a glass shop and have it professionally done?

[Plugcheck]

Sorry to hear about the damage, unfortunately it's the few that ruin it for the many.  I would consider plexy or lexan as a suitable replacement.  I have several windshield of that style in storage, most are non Glastrons, but if you shoot me dimensions, I could check to see if one could be sized to fit.  Loved to hear the rest of the trip went well.  Great pictures.

[Capt SkUnK]

Sorry to hear about the damage, unfortunately it's the few that ruin it for the many.  I would consider plexy or lexan as a suitable replacement.  I have several windshield of that style in storage, most are non Glastrons, but if you shoot me dimensions, I could check to see if one could be sized to fit.  Loved to hear the rest of the trip went well.  Great pictures.

It is the few that ruin it for the masses.  Where we live i grew up off roading.   We never tore up the river systems in our rigs.  Crossed at designated trails and straight across if no bridge was present to minimize the damage caused by the silt and erosion.  We had free roam on all the crown land in my area and in the last few years I've watched slowly as the few have runiend it for the masses.  Trail closures caused by some silly actions of the few. 

This long weekend we had a fire ban on Southern Alberta and a Office Highway vehicle restriction on the southern part of the province due to the dry conditions.  So everyone flocked to the central and northern parts of the province for the long weekend.  Increasing the amount of users in the area.  It's sad to watch these few people ruining it for everyone.  And again it's not everyone there are some fine people out there that enjoy this activity and follow the rules and tread lightly. 

It was nice to get the boat onto another body of water and was the 1st time I have been able to leave the boat moored at a dock over night..  we where camped quite a ways away from the dock so I didn't sleep very well knowing I couldn't see my boat and worried what random campers might steal or do to my boat.  But luckily nothing got stolen or damaged. Was nice being able to walk down to the dock and take the convertible top off and just fire it up and I was on the lake.   No loading and unloading was a nice change for the weekend.

I also got to do some night time boating the second day after I ran the lake in the day time and watched my depth/fish finder to mark the shallow spots.  1st time using my navigation lights and 1st time boating at night and in an early morning fog...   was good experience and other than my boating exam reading and answer questions on know have a feel for navigating a small lake in low visibility.   I actually really enjoyed that experience and look forward to my next opportunity.

  The lake is a pot hole lake with no incoming streams or outgoing streams so it's feed by melted runoff snow from the winter so the lake was like glass when other boats were not present.  So I was able to run WOT and the boat cut through the water like a hot knife through butter.  I really need to search for other lakes like this one as the boat handles these waters really well and was so much fun to rip around on.  Wish i had taken more pictures and videos.   

I did end up having to cut my Anchor line when it got stuck on underwater debre while fishing but I have a few extra anchors I'll rig up for her. Possibly need to learn more about anchor rigging so this doesn't happen again.

I was worried about the long drive 6 hour return trip.  But i repacked the bearings before the trip and made sure the tires and spare were in good shape.   And it towed beautiful.  Boat also ran like a champ app weekend!   Got a lot of compliments from people on the lake. 

This afternoon I'll have a look at he side window and try and get some measurements. I'm assuming if I take apart the windshield frame, the passenger side window should be a exact Mirror copy of the other side? 

[Capt SkUnK]

Camping was awesome at this place and had some lovely treed locations.   We lucked our and had one of the nicest locations the camp site had to offer.  It easily fit our 16x16 foot family tent.   We were also allowed to have fires which is why we decided to make the 3 hour one way trip to central Alberta for the long weekend.



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[Capt SkUnK]

Some more pictures of our long weekend at Pine Lake Alberta

[Jason]

I bought a boat once that was caked with real hard algea growth. Was told to use Muriatic Acid on it. That sure cleaned it right up! It's nasty stuff and you need to be well protected when working with it. If i were you i'd try the car wash with a pressure sprayer, sponge, and some soap first. if it doesn't clean it off then try some Muriatic Acid. You can get it at hardware stores.

That's too bad about the rock chips. Hooligans! Even worse with the little ones with you.

All and all looks like you still had a great time. That is the one thing we love the most about boating is exploring new bodies of water.

I've lost a few anchors as well.... It happens!

Thanks for all the pictures!

[Capt SkUnK]

I bought a boat once that was caked with real hard algea growth. Was told to use Muriatic Acid on it. That sure cleaned it right up! It's nasty stuff and you need to be well protected when working with it. If i were you i'd try the car wash with a pressure sprayer, sponge, and some soap first. if it doesn't clean it off then try some Muriatic Acid. You can get it at hardware stores.

That's too bad about the rock chips. Hooligans! Even worse with the little ones with you.

All and all looks like you still had a great time. That is the one thing we love the most about boating is exploring new bodies of water.

I've lost a few anchors as well.... It happens!

Thanks for all the pictures!

Thanks for the comments.


I ended up using some toilet bowl clear this afternoon, used a sponge to apply it and remove the stains from the water line down.  I didn't let it sit long and was washed and wiped off within a few seconds.   I've read it can etch the gel coat if left too long.
 It worked really well, all the stains are gone.  I'll end up waxing the boat tomorrow after work. 

Ended up boiling a lot of water and filled up the hull of the boat with transom plugs in place.  Let it sit for an hour, continually adding hot water.  then took it to the car wash and pressure washed everything.  She's looking good once again. 

I'll let the boat dry out over the week as we plan to take it out this coming weekend to 2 different lakes.  Feed by the same river system;Kananaskis River.  So hopefully the weather will hold up and it will be super nice out.  These are cold Glacier feed lakes, so unless it's super hot out we will just be boating and fishing. Hopefully it will be nice so the kids can toss on the wetsuits and get some water sports done.
These aren't my pictures they are taken of Google images.

Saturday will be Lower Kananaskis Lake




And Sunday will be Barrier Lake



I'll be sure to take lots of photos and videos of these beautiful lakes.  They are both located about 30mins from our house.  So we need to check these off our boating list this season.

[thedeuceman]

That looks just amazing.
Also nice to see your pictures from the weekend, looks like you guys have a lot of fun up there.
Too bad about the window, if you don't mind not having the right tint I would go with acrylic or Lexan just because glass would get to be pretty expensive.


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[Capt SkUnK]

That looks just amazing.
Also nice to see your pictures from the weekend, looks like you guys have a lot of fun up there.
Too bad about the window, if you don't mind not having the right tint I would go with acrylic or Lexan just because glass would get to be pretty expensive.


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We have some wonderfully beautiful spots to enjoy that's for sure.  I couldn't imagine life without a boat after being a boat owner.  The whole family absolutely loves it.  It's real opened up a whole new world for us.  We hope to in two - three yeers be able to purchase another boat.  Something a little bigger possibly some kind of cabin crusier so we are able to sleep aboard the boat.



So I've got the boat scrubbed clean from bow to stern.  And she's now drying out.

I'm looking at the window and it appears the windshield frame is pop riveted together.  So removing/drilling the 6 pop rivits I should be able to remove the back channel to replace the glass..  is this correct.


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[Hyperacme]

Very cool !   
Your kids will remember this for the rest of there lives ...

My V-156 had plexiglass for side windows and the passenger side front window, still had some glass shards from broken front window in side pockets.
You could take out the other side glass and bring it to a auto glass company to have one made also.

Not sure how yours is assembled but might unscrew from bottom (under dash / deck) and slide up out of front windshield, making it easier to drill out rivets.
My CV had side arms rivets drilled out to remove arms, then screwed in with small screws.