Can a first-person narrator speak directly to the reader—and get away with it?

Few thoughts of Top Authors:-

I've always thought of first person as speaking directly to the reader. But I wouldn't draw attention to it. If you write something like "Dear Reader", you have, I think, crossed the line.

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Now, it may be a line you *want* to cross, but it should be absolutely intentional and you should be aware of how it changes the narrative-reader relationship; most readers suspend some self-identity as they read in order to be fully submerged into the unfolding of the narrative, but as soon as you directly address the reader, you've broken that. I'm not sure you could pull it off unless you do it right at the get-go, otherwise the transition might be jarring enough to completely toss people out of the book.

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I wonder, in your novel, is this supposed to be a big-reveal moment? Like throughout the novel we've believed it was the 18-year-old speaking, and then the surprise is it was his older self, re-reading his old journals or something? If so, again I'm not sure if that's the best policy if you don't want to throw off your reader. I personally would get annoyed if I was reading something, digging it, chugging along, and then suddenly it turned into something else. But it's hard to tell if that's the case without actually reading your work, so ignore me if not! 

ETA: I just thought of an instance where that kind of change/surprise DID work ... The Sixth Sense. Throughout, we believe one thing about the narrator, and then we are thrown for a loop and realized we've been interpreting it wrong all along. In that case, it's very satisfying. So, just like anything, if done right, it can work!

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I've done it, so it's not really fair of me to say no, but I think it works best when it's done as a way to add humor than in a serious work, personally.

My biggest concern is that it sounds to me like, in your case, it risks being an extreme form of telling rather than showing. I mean, I don't quite see why you couldn't have him wondering about sailing out to sea and then thinking, "No. I couldn't do that. I had to face (whatever)" and then sailing back. Granted, it's still telling, but direct thoughts would work. The other option would just have him be to consider sailing out there, then we see him pick back up and head back to shore and face whatever he's afraid to face. 

Personally, I'd probably lean toward the latter, but having some direct thoughts in there could work, too. I'm not really sure I see what it gains from breaking the fourth wall in this instance.

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I hope it will help you to clear your mind. Last decision is always yours!