Where do people come up with these notions? Years ago I had a slip next to a newbie guy who owned a 29-ft "fixer-upper" that he was getting ready to "sail" to Seattle from Long Beach.
A Newport 30 with a bigger, newer engine (but still an old boat) suddenly came on the market so he swapped for it, worked on that boat for a year or so, then took off for Seattle on a windy afternoon in May, I believe. I guess he lumped along up-wind under power in 20 kt, not even getting as far as Paradise Cove (33 n. mi.)--a common overnight stop--before the engine sputtered out.
Single-handing; he tries to sail the boat home (b/c there ain't no way he was going to single-handedly sail that boat the remaining up-wind distance to Paradise Cove on that afternoon!) when something else breaks such that he becomes essentially "disabled"--now evidently seasick as well
. Vessel Assist finally got to him b/f full darkness and put him back in his slip.
The boat was sold within about a year; no more talk of "sailing to Seattle."