Stuck?!

12.2.10

This morning we woke up to freezing cold weather and 20 knot winds. It seemed our friendly wind from yesterday had swung down and brought the nasty Northern weather with it. So with the wind at our back and every stitch of clothing on that we could find, we set off.
We had decided to sail that day, rather than motor the ICW, but as we approached the mouth of Sarasota Pass out into the Gulf, the waters were raging and the depth sounder was saying we were in shallow water. So, rather than chance getting stuck in the middle, we decided to play it safe and motor.
The day was uneventful, and might I add much warmer on the inside than it would have been had we gone out in the Gulf! We were only 5 miles from our anchorage site when suddenly we ran right into a pile of mud. We were stuck tight. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHANNEL!! WHAT THE HECK?!
We tried and tried to get out of the mud, but to no avail. As we were trying to unstuck ourselves, the current actually pushed us out of the channel and over the side and into shallower mudbanks - the whole time without letting us out of the mud. Spectacular.
After 45 minutes of fighting a losing battle, we called TowBoat US - thank goodness we renewed our coverage! - and had someone come and tow us 20 feet off the mud bank. He told us that due to the strong North winds for the past few days, the water has been lower and that particular spot has been silting in for the last few months anyway. He said that he has had numerous calls for that exact same spot in the last month. Although that did make us feel a little better, we still felt dumb. Who gets stuck in the middle of the channel?!!
But, problem solved, we pressed on to be anchored by sundown. We picked a very quiet little area called Cape Haze and had the most peaceful nights sleep we have had in a few days!!