I sit about 3 inches higher in the water with a life-jacket. A PFD restricts your movement and interferes with higher harnesses. You will see many people use them, I suggest it for newcomers and beginners. If you are warm, conscious, floating and not in the direct path of a barge you will live long and sail hard. All important factors, SPF 15 or higher is the party line from the American Academy of Dermatology.
Booties help in the cold and prevent cuts.
Tender hands made soft and delicate by surviving 50 weeks of living in a cubical and are very sore after a week of sailing. Duct tape and gloves can help, but I find the best remedy for tender hands is to sail a lot and escape from cubical jail on a regular basis. Do not sail to exhaustion, stay hydrated and maintain calories. Oh ya, drinking water from the Columbia River is sometimes unpreventable, try to avoid this as a habit because people from Seattle pee in their wetsuits. We are all concerned about the general quality of the water, so bring lots of Diet Coke, I hear the carcinogens from Atlanta absorb the radioactive materials leaking into the river from Hanford.