If you want a twin stick controller, a great entry level one, with lots of programmability is the Flysky FS-i6.
However you will need to make this small upgrade to it.
As for motor and prop. That's not my expertise. I'm a scale model builder so all my boats need low speed and torque which is achieved with large brushed motors. I've never actually used a brushless motor. Every time I try I find that the brushed motors are just better and less expensive for my applications. Brushless is great for lots and lots of things, except for slow speed high torque.
I have had great luck with the Mtroniks Speed controllers but there are a lot of good ESC's on the market, these are just the ones I've had good luck with. No one in my club has ever had one fail. However they are mostly for bushed motors. They are a bit more expensive than some you might find.
https://www.mtroniks.net/cat/Boat-Speed-Controls
Given this is your first model. I might recommend just buying a motor/ESC kit where both are included. It would guarantee they are matched and take a lot of the guess work out of the equation.
Batteries. I'd start at 2C Lipo, something in the 5000mAh range. That's pretty low end, but affordable and a little safer than the 6c monsters. You will also need a charger. I use a version of this little guy but it's not exactly high end:
https://www.venompower.com/Venom-Pro-4-60W-AC-6A-LiPo-LiHV-NiMH-RC-Battery-Balance-Charger
One other thing you should be aware of is that ESC's will say lipo ready or not for lipo. The only difference is a battery protection circuit that shuts down the ESC if the battery gets too low. Lipo batteries can quickly be damaged to the point of no recovery if they are drained too low. You can achieve the same thing with a beeping battery monitor like this:
Once you hear the beep, bring the boat in immediately and charge the battery. There are a billion different brands of this beeping thing and they are all the same so shop around, that was just the first one I found.