Self-Rescue Strategies for Running Aground?

[mstrebe]

We ran aground in the middle of San Diego Bay today for the first time in 20 years and had to be towed off. It was a little embarrassing, but mostly I don't like paying $350 unexpectedly.

We were only 20 feet from the deepwater channel north of Coronado Bay Bridge in an area we've tacked through hundreds of times when the depth alarm came on and we simultaneously struck ground. It was low-tide which obviously contributed, and we could have waited six hours for high tide to float off, but we have friends with us and didn't want to inconvenience them.

We were stuck pretty hard--reversing did nothing, push-poling with a boat-hook did nothing. The tow-boat rotated us but also couldn't pull us out until I hoisted both sails to heel the boat after rotating out of irons (we ran aground mid-tack).

What self-rescue strategies (besides waiting for high-tide) are there that I may not know about? I considered rigging the bosuns chair to the jib halyard and swinging my bodyweight (270 lbs.) off-board to try to pull the boat over as we reversed to lift the keel, but paying $350 bucks to avoid injury seemed more prudent.

What tactics have you used that worked?