If you have a mooring or a dock slip and just want to go out for a few hours, then it can be fun to just 'sail' with hardly any wind. But, if there's no wind and you need to get somewhere (not because of a schedule but simply because you want to make progress in the desired direction of the cruise) then that often means motoring. In many places in the NE, for instance, the sea breeze doesn't pick up until the afternoon. But, by that time you have already been underway for many hours or at your desired anchorage. The overcrowding of anchorages is also a factor: you don't want to arrive too late for fear that you won't have an adequate spot to anchor.

Jerry