Night boating creates challenges, dangerous situations on Lake Norman

Lake Norman is the most popular lake in North Carolina, but isn't only busy during the day, it's busy at night, and that can be a challenge for the officers who have to patrol the waters.

Channel 9 embedded with the Division of Wildlife as they went out on the lake, in the dark.

"There is a good bit of night boating that goes on," said Sampson Parker, a wildlife enforcement officer.

Parker and his partner Brandon Barbee know the waters well and are aware of the dangers after dark.

Two boats crashed on May 16 on Lake Norman, throwing four people overboard at night. One man never surfaced.

Channel 9 learned that one of the boats wasn't properly lit, which was a contributing factor to the deadly crash.

"Nighttime we run into a lot of boats that don't have lights," Parker said. "That can be anything from forgetting to turn them on, or having a malfunction,"

It didn't take long before the officers spotted a boat without the proper lights.

Two men were out after dark and their navigation lights weren't working.

The driver admitted to drinking and was given a field sobriety test. He passed, but the lighting was still an issue. The officers ended up giving them glow sticks to navigate back to shore.

Minutes later, officers spotted another boat with a lighting issue and stopped it. They were able to quickly fix the problem, and it ended with a warning ticket.

But all too often, simple issues like this end in tragedy.

[READ MORE: Boating accident reports]

There were 16 boat accidents in 2016 on Lake Norman. Two were fatal. There were nine boat accidents in 2015, and again, two were fatal. Both of the deadly accidents involved alcohol.

That's why the officers are out on the dark waters, hiding in plain sight, hoping to stop the increase in accidents.

"We have to be highly alert and on guard because we're out here a lot at night, and it's a dangerous thing to work night boating," Parker said.

Cox Media Group