Yep, do the sharpie and the 1k to be sure you're setting a good bevel. Otherwise all you'll do with your 4k and 8k is polish the spine and a little bit of bevel just shy of your actual edge. You'll get two narrow shiny lines along your blade, but nothing else to show for your time.

Your hope to find someone local is the most sensible hope of all--a day of hands-on teaching can save months of reading, trying, erring, re-reading...

See my sig file for info on finding meetups, and look here to see if there's someone within reasonable distance who can help you.

Best wishes and good luck