I was thinking of this very thread this weekend as I was sitting on the wrong side of a marker aground. Well, my first thought was complete confusion. "How the !@#$% am I aground in the middle of the channel!!" Obviously, I wasn't.
I was coming down the river from my marina. The same river, marina and markers I've travelled at night for many, many trips. The upper portion is all day marks. The red triangle was missing from the piling when heading down river. I heard a small 'gonk', to which I said "What the heck was that". No sooner, the boat silently slowed to a stop and I looked and I was in 2.4 feet of water. (Probably a bit less than 3.4 since the transducer is under water and there is no offset set on the display).
I realize my mistake and, and realize I have 1 more hour of a falling tide.
I quickly moved 400lbs of lead ballast from the bilge up to the bow, plus 2 coolers and the admiral. I launched the dinghy and tried to pull us off, but no luck. One of the folks in my marina passed and offered to tow us off. I then headed for an emegency haul and inspection.
I sanded about 3 feet of paint off of the keel and put a ding about half the size of a pinky finger, fingernail in one blad of the prop. Spun the shaft which remained true and the rudder was fine. After we re-launched, I went slowly through the rpm's up to redline and didn't feel any vibrations. I got LUCKY.
This was on our 22nd anniversary (Friday) and we were headed to Block Island, RI for the first trip of the year. Thankfully I didn't completely ruin our anniversary or our trip.