Did he go on the voyage to die

People are saying he didn't have an emergency beacon that he could have reasonably purchased at a price within his means if he could afford the boat, and that it was a 'lazy plot device' that he didn't have one. That got me thinking - was the voyage supposed to be a final trial that he wasn't going to survive?

I wondered if it was also some sort of penance he had placed on himself, maybe he somehow felt he had to fight so survive, or die trying to survive.