Lesson 1, 2, & 3: To learn how to sail, sail.
My great friend Erik started bicycle racing a few years after I did, and we went out on his first training rides together. He was strong and had great potential, but on those first few rides he couldn't keep up. A couple weeks later though, he was able to hang in the group with no problem. After his first feel-good ride, he said that he wasn't in better shape, but that before he just did not believe he could push himself that hard.
That's a beautiful sentiment, with no negativity, and telling of the human condition. We all have the ability to do things that seem impossible at first, but once tried, that difficulty is manageable.
It happened to me when I first went out to look at the boat I bought. I had all of the initial inabilities one would expect.
a.) My motor-control had atrophied, and I was all thumbs - I dropped the first shackle pin I opened into the sand.
b.) I had a hard time dragging the boat up the beach - my body was used to sitting in front of a computer, not dragging 300+ lbs. boats over the sand.
c.) I assumed things worked, sorta in an undo, redo, fix-it-later way. I didn't check every bolt and screw for security. And, of course, a bunch of them fell off during the first couple times out.
I can sail a sport catamaran, because I hopped onto a sport catamaran. My hands hurt, but I can pull a boat up the beach, I'm more careful, and I check stuff.
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