1) NO tower is not nessicary
2)Nope... how do you think we all started
3) go to your local shop and talk to the salesman... most of them are pretty knowlegable and will be able to help ya... ( and to give you any info on here we'd need to know how tall you are and how much you weigh)
4) possibly, you could get a package deal from your local shop
5) Boat (duh), rope, board, bindings, friends help too