I know there are people who like to sail at all costs, or don't even have a motor. Before reliable diesel auxiliaries, you sailed because you had to. Now we have the choice. The boat I owned in SF Bay I put less than 100 hours on the engine in 15 years of ownership. A significant part of that on a trip down the coast with no wind coming back. The boat before that had an outboard auxiliary that lived out its life in the lazarette. Normally in San Francisco, there is a very reliable breeze every single day from May to October. Not so on the East Coast.

I just did about 2600 nm in 'Anomaly', and put 268 hours on the engine. Since we motor at about 6.5 knots that is enough to motor 1750 of it ignoring warm ups and charging (less than 5%). We motored nearly all the way from Toronto to Quebec City, there was simply no wind most days; just insufferable heat, humidity, and bugs. We motored much of the time from Quebec City to Prince Edward Island, either no wind or very light from behind meaning 3 knots sailing speed or less. We got a few good days up to Newfoundland and back, two decent days of sailing on the Bras d'Or, a couple on the Nova Scotia coast.

But many days, no wind, or wind very light from behind, or very light from ahead, or wind only for a couple of hours. Yes you could sail, but you were looking at 2 days to do 50 miles, or arrivals in unfamiliar ports well after dark. We can sail pretty well in 7 or 8 knots provided it is not dead astern. I can make pretty good speed in 5 knots from ahead, but quite low VMG. Other days, waiting in port for the occasional gale or hurricane to blow through - on some of them it would have been possible to sail if you enjoyed the abuse, but this is a vacation for us.

With unlimited time (to wait for conditions) and the willingness to spend extra nights at sea (either because of low speed or to stand off a harbor until daylight) we could have sailed the whole way. I estimate it might have taken 6 - 9 months instead of three, that might mean it would take 2 years instead of one summer, the season being as short as it is. It is all well and good to say you don't have a schedule, but the reality is almost everyone does: it is a race to the end of the season, or the end of life at a minimum.

I sail anytime I can and make reasonable progress, the definition of which may change depending on circumstances. But I have found that in the Northeast, sailing conditions are not reliably or even frequently encountered. Last year, 150 hours were put on the engine to go about 1500 miles from Toronto to the North Channel and back. Motored nearly all the way up (no wind....) sailed all the way back (wind!) including down the rivers.