The challenge is that the lake in summer time can have really light winds during the day and is typically becalmed for some time after sunset, and the batteries for my trolling motor are good for about 1/4 of the total distance ...
This time, we had great winds, broad reaching in record time across the widest part of the lake. Even if the spinnaker had an actual knot in it when we first tried to set it
Normally, the winds die during the party, but the summer weather pattern has a pretty reliable night breeze that picks up later. Well, this was not a typical night, so the breeze kept going on the lake, all we had to do is motor out of the bay, to find that while it was not as strong as before, it had shifted into a slightly more favorable direction for the return. And it was still pretty warm, and the stars were out (sort of). There was absolutely no traffic; we owned the lake.
There usually is enough sky-shine around so it's possible to almost see everything in the boat, but not the tell-tales or the wind indicator (unless we light it up briefly with a flashlight). Still there's a lot more I do by touch and feel at night, so that's always fun.
Closer to the launch we have to pass some places that are a bit sheltered, and it's rare to get wind there at night. That's when the motor comes out and we drained one of the batteries to get us home.
