It would be silly to have a boat for recreational use if you could not use it without having to always find another boat to go with you. There are just certain conditions when it is safer to have other boats around -- like cold weather/water, strong winds, threatening conditions, sailing on open water with an offshore wind.....

But even in the best of conditions it is important to let somebody on shore know the general area where you will be sailing and approximately when you will be back to shore. If you can't make it back by your target time, it is nice if you have a cell phone on the boat so you can call your contact person and let them know that you are becalmed or whatever, so they don't call out the Coast Guard to search for you.

The thing I love most about sailing is being alone on my boat and alone on the water. But when I am sailing my Hobie Wave on our sound, I tell someone how long I plan to be gone and I try to stay within a line of sight from our dock. When I am alone on the boat, I also tether myself to the boat in case I fall overboard, because becoming separated from the boat is a major concern when singlehanding.