So we were out for a late afternoon sail on Thursday. As usual we motored out of the marina harbor and once past the no-wake signs turned up into the North winds and raised sails and then had a nice afternoon of it. We headed back around 7pm and once inside the buoys, we furled and dropped the main and went to start the motor... nada! nothing! zilch! The electric lift motor still worked sort of but very slow and weak. It was apparent the battery was toast. And an electric start outboard is dead in the water without the battery. We thought we might try to sail to our slip which might have been possible in a light steady breeze, but all we had at this point on the inside were some flukey gusts and sailing was hopeless. I started paddling with my emergency canoe paddle but then a little gust would come up catch the bow of the boat and turn me around. We drifted over close to the launch ramp and I poled it as about 4' deep. So I took off my shoes and climbed down the ladder. Walking along the sandy bottom I held the boat steady while trying to decide what to do... wondering if I could walk it around the outside of Dock A and B to C dock and our berth. About then a fellow sailor called to me from shore asking if I needed a tow. Enthusiastically I said yes... so he walked back to his boat, also on C Dock, started his outboard and motored out to meet us. We tossed him a line and he towed Libby and boat back to dock C while I walked up the ramp, put my shoes on and jogged back over to Dock C in time to catch Libby as she swung it into the slip. Whew! A sign of relief! We secured the boat and went home for a late dinner. Next morning I drove over to the marina, dug the battery out of the hold and took it to the Interstate Battery store where I exchanged it for a new deep cycle maintenance-free battery. Turns out the sticker on our battery indicated first date of service as January 2012! The guy at the store laughed and said we definitely got our money's worth out of that one! A new one cost me $170. I took it back to the boat, connected it back up and the boat started instantly. We had a nice sail again Friday afternoon with no further incidents. We have had that boat since 2009 and have NEVER been stranded and dead in the water. That was a first. Just grateful we were near the marina when it happened and someone was there to help!