I have fished them Two years now and you most definitively need to be prepared I practice hard all week long and burn 10 to 20 gallons of fuel a day for seven days. This is many hours on the boat. So my advice to you is bring back up equipment. Prop, trolling motors, you could be in some sketchy water quick. also not being familiar with a body of water like james river can be devastating to your boat in a hurry. for instance i took a huge chunk off my skag there last year running the flats. And was in 5-6 ft waves on erie thank goodness for extra bilge pumps. And remember there are very great anglers in this circuit. and average cost was $3000 for the week!