Hi ggutshal,
I sure understand the lure of sailing - we've done a good bit of
charter sailing in the Abacos,
BVI, and
St Martin. That's how I first got interested in cruising. You might be surprised how quiet and peaceful (and inexpensive) power cruising at modest speeds can be - we travel the Inside
Passage mostly at 6 knots.
As for skills to acquire: one reason to look at my little book is that it discusses skills needed, in a way targeted toward a relative beginner. Does not include sailing skills, however. You could find it on Amazon or Lulu.com and look at the preview.
Not sure where to start on reference
books to recommend, especially for
learning sailing. For pleasure reading though, here are some I've enjoyed:
BOATS, CRUISING, FISHING, EXPLORATION, the SEA
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
The Sea Wolf Jack London
Alaska Blues, and others (travel and
fishing in SE Alaska) Joe Upton
As the Sailor Loves the Sea (commercial fishing SE Alaska) Ballard Hadman
The Curve of Time (early
small boat cruising on the BC coast) Wylie Blanchet
My Old Man and the Sea (Sailing around
South America and Cape Horn) Hays & Hays
In the Heart of the Sea (Moby Dick was based on this true story) Nathaniel Philbrick
Over the Edge of the World (Magellan's Circumnavigation) Laurence Bergreen
Mutiny on the Bounty Charles Nordhoff
Endurance true story - Ernest Shackleton’s Incredible Antarctic Voyage Alfred Lansing
South: Memoir of the Endurance Voyage Ernest Shackleton
The Perfect Storm (sinking of the sword fishing boat Andrea Gail) Sebastian Junger
The Hungry Ocean (and others) Linda Greenlaw
(stories by the real female sword boat
captain involved in The Perfect Storm)
Blues John Hersey
River Horse William Least Heat Moon
Grey Seas Under (Remarkable rescues on high seas of the north Atlantic) Farley Mowat
also: The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float
Adrift (True story of survival raft crossing the Atlantic) Steven Callahan
Cape Horn (scary true adventure, sailing the southern ocean) Hemingway-Douglass
Cod (the
fish that helped inspire discovery and exploration of N. America) Mark Kurlansky
Longitude (revolutionary improvement in
navigation - invention of Chronometer) Dava Sobel
Where the Sea Breaks its Back (discovery of Alaska by Bering and Stellar) Corey Ford
Working on the Edge, & others (King Crab fishing in the Bering Sea) Spike Walker
Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum
Travels in Alaska John Muir
Heart of the Raincoast (life on the BC Coast) Morton & Proctor
Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
Sitka (historically-based Alaska adventure) Louis L’Amour
The Blue Bear Lynn Schooler