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Welcome to the forum!
You didn't ask for any inpur, so clearly I'll offer some (get used to that here!).
I'll offer a bit of my own experience that seems related to your situation. A couple years ago we decided to stop boating locally on the Mississippi River and moved our boat to Lake Superior. When we did this, I forced myself to reframe my thinking about the costs of boat ownership. At home, we were on the river, friends and family were a phone call away, and I could work on projects myself. If I didn't finish, I'd pop back later.
Once we moved so Superior (which is not an ocean, but feels like one sometimes) the game changed considerably. Weather changed more quickly, and the distances were dramatically longer. Help was not just a phone call away to a buddy - there wasn't even BoatUS available in many of the cruising areas. Plus the boat was 4+ hours away from home. I didn't have all the time in the world to work on projects like I was used to.
I took good care of my boat before, but my maintenance went to another level. I proactively maintained things that I thought maybe could wait another year. I bought spares and learned how to change them. I upgraded things and tightened things and sealed things and cleaned things and tracked all of it. And I paid the yard to do a bunch of things that I could have probably done on my own, but was no longer willing to put off until "someday". We also did professional training, and did several charters in the Pacific NW to gain experience on bigger waters.
Boating suddenly became much more expensive. But it honestly became much more enjoyable too. I felt a sense of ownership and a satisfaction in being prepared. We felt safer, and because of that more relaxed. Most importantly we did all of this together, so it was "our" thing rather than "my" thing, which honestly made all of the difference in the world.
Anyway, what I'm saying is Congratulations! Keep doing all the things that you're doing to learn and prepare. Be open minded, be planful, be adventurous, and above all have fun! If your experience is anything like ours, you'll never regret a minute or a dime of it.
BD
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