Paul,

A 30 foot boat is still too big for a first boat. Get a boat around 21
feet long and learn what your doing with it, then move up after two
years. It's a boat, not a car, and it takes time to learn to operate a
boat properly.

I would disagree, based on experience.

My first boat was a 34-foot, single screw trawler. Twenty some years ago. No
bow thruster, no stern thruster.
No serious problem.

To this day, some experienced boaters are known to remark about my current
boat, (not much larger at just 36 feet) "How do you handle a single screw? I
have enough trouble with twins and a thruster!"

Biggest difference? I had some excellent, hands-on instruction from a qualified
instructor who knew what he was doing. Other wise, you are probably right:
if the learning process is going to involve just setting out and bouncing off
everything in sight until some workable substitute for proper technique is
accidentally stumbled upon, we should all start with a very small
dinghy.....preferably an inflatable. :-)

Learning to handle a 21-foot boat teaches you..................how to handle a
21-foot boat. There will still be a learning curve when stepping up to the
larger vessel, and there is no valid reason to be fearful of a medium size
craft like a 30' express cruiser- even as a beginner. Again, the key is going
to be qualified, hands-on instruction in boat operation. Power Squadron and
USCG AUX courses are fine, too, but you won't learn how to handle a boat in a
classroom.

(If you notice the details in the original post, the party isn't even strictly
a beginner.)