I think boaters that go a SIGNIFICANT distance offshore are usually better educated regarding the equipment they using and the environment they're operating in. There's a uneasy feeling you get the first few times you're out of sight of land and you're alone in the boat. It then becomes more than throttles and tabs.
On a typical inland lake you're usually a couple minutes from shore, you'll never experience that same uneasy feeling. Ed

I have a 22 foot boat with 650 hp.... even my trip from the ramp to the gas dock looks like that....

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7815e234a3.jpg
I experienced many years testing with my boss, good 'ol Arneson. .....San Francisco Bay. When it was just for top speed, we had a favorite north bay / semi-calm water. (205mph)
When it was a race test, it was middle of the bay ( yikes !! )
So we had quite a menu of conditions. But, I trusted Howard..... I was not "scared"..... But I got "excited"..... Chime walking was a bit worrisome in early days when hulls were only 80 mph.......
All conditions were fun or nervous..... It's all about how you manage the conditions.
We had so many style boats,,,,,, But we used them the same way....... So, different boats had different personalities in similar conditions.
Jumping off ferry boat wakes ( passengers on lowest windows would see the bottom of our hull )... Shooting a wake, and punch through a foot below the top of swell, etc....
Raising the surface prop under a low bridge ( Richmond San Rafael Bridge) ...and a salt water car wash for the above traffic......
But...... all the darn sail boats..... They thought we were crazy...... Naw..... we were having fun at work !!