Years ago I sailed the Potomac river below Washington DC, which is well known for shifting sandbars. We had a 23-foot sloop with swing keel. Draft was 1.5 feet with the keel up, and 6-feet with the keel down. Since the river is narrow and we didn't want to tack unnecessarily on upwind legs I hit upon the idea of sailing with the keel down until we ran aground and then we'd tack and pull the board up just enough to free us, and then let it back down again. This strategy served us well.

On my first date with my (now) wife, back in the early 1980's I took her sailing and when we ran aground I sent her below to crank the board up. I yelled down below to be careful not to get her hand in the way of the winch handle if she lost control of it ... just as I heard it cut loose. Brr-rrr-rrr-rrr-WHACK! Oweeeeeee! It broke a bone in the back of her right hand. Amazingly she still married me!