Just go to marinas and talk to yachties, post up flyers saying what you want to do, a tiny bit of info about yourself. and little tear off email addys or phone numbers for peoplpe to contact you. sit on the jettys and try and work out the rigging just by staring at it. you'll most likely figure out a bit, and somebody will probs come up and ask you what your up to.. good convo starter with a capn' and shows your eager to learn. most grottie yachties sail around by themselves and pick up random crew at random places, so they're usually up for company and teaching some fresh meat.
also refer to the seasonal yacht movement post I put in the boat hitching thread.
as for getting your own boat. expect alot of repairs and modding for world sailing... MASSIVE food water stores, solar + wind generator. and much much more.
but it sounds like an amazing project.. I personally want to get a yacht and mod it with an Ice breaking hull and sail around the arctic... I'm probably to slack though.
AND CHECK OUT lillyloves thread on boat hitching.
