It's not about cost. It's about enjoying the time you have available.

God I hate to go sailing with anyone aboard who has to "be somewhere" at
a certain day. Ruins the whole trip.

Uh yeah, because YOU CAN'T BE SOMEWHERE with any sort of predictability.
Quite a lot of folks don't have the leisure of gambling with how much travel
time it'll take to go boating. I'm all for the idea of sailing, bravo to
those that like it, but it's quite obviously not the right choice for
everyone.