RedactedNarrative: On 5/30/22 at approximately 09:00pm a boating incident occurred on lake norman.  The incident occurred 1/23 miles south of the p1 channel marker.  There were 4 passengers on the vessel at the time of the incident.  1 passenger was sitting in front of the operator and the others were seated on the starboard and port side.  The bow of the pontoon struck a wooden shoal marker.  The impact resulted in the pole breaking off at the waterline.
  
  Around 8:45pm operator and the passengers on this boat left an area on lake norman known as the sandbar.  They had spent the afternoon and evening rafted up with other boats at the sandbar.  Sunset was around 8:30 that evening.  Operator turned his navigation lights and his docking lights on as he was leaving the sandbar.  He described his docking lights as pointing to the side and not straight forward.  
  
  They left and headed south towards kingsport marina to dock their boat for the night.  At approximately 09:00pm, the bow of the pontoon struck a lighted wooden shoal marker.  The impact caused the shoal marker to break at the waterline.  The top half of the pole then fell on top of the bimini cover.  The weight and momentum of the pole caused the bimini top to break.  
  
  The initial impact of the pole caused a major gouge in the front deck of the pontoon boat.  The aluminum and wooden floor was pushed back and lifted in an 8 inch by 8 inch area at the center bow of the pontoon.  This damage was caused by an 8 inch diameter wooden pole.  Operator and the passengers were caught off guard by the sudden impact.  A passenger that was sitting on the front port side of the boat was struck in the head when the bimini top collapsed.  She had no visible injury, just complained that her head hurt.  Operator and the passengers drove the pontoon back to kingsport marina and docked it at approximately 9:20pm.  Out of caution, operator took subject to the emergency room.  No injuries were noted at the hospital.  Operator and the other passengers did not suffer any injuries.
  
  The pontoon boat struck a wooden shoal marker causing it to break in half.  The pole then feel into the boat on top of the bimini causing it to break.  The incident was caused by the operator's failure to keep a proper lookout.  At 9:00pm.  That night, it was low light but not completely dark.  The shoal marker also had a working light that was on at the time of the collision.  Operator will be charged with negligent operation of a vessel.
  
  **please note:  this report was manually entered into bard due to transmission issues between report beam and bard.**
  
  ***bard:  please do not delete this report***
  
  **********end of report**********
  