Your not being difficult at all, you should see the posts I have to deal with. :)
I really can not give you good advice. Though I have shaved with a Feather it is so far from what its like to shave with a straight as to not really relate well to the "once over" or water pass.
The straight is so smooth that you'd clearly see the value in this process and the comments from the barbers manual would make a lot more sense.
In fact the only advice I could give you about the Feather is to forget about a water pass or once over pass and actually do the full two passes. That is to say always reapply lather before shaving with a Feather. I might even recommend shaving oil, though I can't due to lack of experience. I tossed mine after 5 painful shaves. One of my favorite semi-retired members used to say the key to the Feather was "negative pressure", that is holding the razor up away from the skin and not really using full weight contact in order to shave.
I can get a great straight shave without ever applying lather, its simply that smooth. With a regular straight there is great utility in shaving little sections while the face is still wet and not reapplying lather. A regular straight actually seems to perform better when there is no lather in the way.