[MRM]

I think that you could do the trip, but I strongly believe that hiring a captain will be money well spent that will pay dividends for years of boating into the future.

All boaters learn by running into things and ruining parts of their boats and then coming back and never making the same mistake twice. The issue isn't whether you make mistakes that will require some repair; it's how expensive the repairs will be. If you're lucky, you'll learn by having close calls rather than actual incidents.

The experience of having a real captain piloting your boat and tutoring you on how to operate it is so invaluable I can't over stress it. As an added extra value you get a much more relaxed trip that can be a vacation, not a minute by minute stressed survival course. And you have a happier and more relaxed wife.

The benefit of having a pro really teach you how to do things the right way the first time will be worth whatever you pay him and will be paid back in spades by saving the cost of replacing important parts of your boat that you dont destroy by learning on your own.