Jumping on the internet, looking around, and taking random recommendations and rules of thumb as law is not a good plan for success, as you have hopefully learned by now. In the really real practical world, especially when taking on DIY projects, Murphy's law dominates everything if it can. In all experimental/amateur projects, be prepared to fail multiple times. Even in many professional endeavors, trial and error is an essential part of the process after you leave the drawing board.
Even hiring a tradesman to do the tricky parts of the job doesn't guarantee success. All it does is relieve you of time and money before that portion of the project is completed. Instead of taking days, weeks, or months and a few relative dollars to reach a certain point, it takes many more dollars and much less time. In this case, you would most likely need to acquire (or have acquired) at least one or two permits before a pro could commence drilling your well for you. This introduces a whole new set of challenges and expenses to the project.
It's your project, so where to go from here is completely your decision to make. No one is going to bash you if you decide to throw in the towel. It seems to me that you have most everything you need to continue on site, and favorable ground conditions to eventually produce an acceptable source well. Your first attempt at drilling did not yield an acceptable end, and now you question everything. Sounds like Phase one of three or four to me. Whether Phase two will commence and how is yet to be determined. My boss would tell me to deal with it and hurry the #$%& up, I ain't got all day. That's the thing about being your own boss: you have to make all the hard decisions and keep yourself convinced and motivated (for free). Plus you get to pay for everything, for better or worse.
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