Stay at least 20 feet from any navigation aid for safety and best water. When traveling long straight stretches, periodically look over your stern to be sure you are not being pushed out of the channel. Crosswinds and currents may be setting your boat toward the shoaler edges of the channel. With this chartbook you'll be able to follow your progress closely on the charts. It is critical to have charts at the helm station where you can see them.
Many groundings occur when boaters misinterpret buoys or daymarks at channel junctions.
In some places it is tempting to cut corners, but do so with caution. Depths outside the charted channels are unreliable, and these areas are more prone to having snags or sunken debris. When you go aground, chances are the bottom will be soft, gooey mud. Usually you'll be able to back off the way you came, but this doesn't always work. If you use plenty of throttle in reverse, the back end of your boat will be sucked down by the prop.