As an early adopter, I am far from those early stages ... but will never forget how filling that humble pie was. I don't think there's any shortcut. Other than a few freakishly athletic buddies, everyone I know has done the seemingly endless shame-walks and foil-mares that define this journey.
One way to shorten the learning curve is to talk to locals about gear and locations and timing. The wind community is so much more accepting and inviting than surfing. Everyone was a wind kook, it's part of the code that you help other kooks. And also that you look out for them, as your new buddy did. You'll do the same once you're expert.
The second part is once you ask for help, follow it. As a surfer, I tend towards doing things my own way in my own time, leave me alone I'll figure it out. Took a long time to realize that wind chasers are expert risk managers. They don't congregate because they like each other (though they do) but because they have assessed, through 1000s of repeated trials, that that spot at that time with that gear maximizes the probability for success. They still get skunked, everyone does ... but after a while, there's more success than failure.
It'll come, but like all good things, they don't come easy.
Finally, this forum's a good one for lots of stuff, but I think you can get lots more wind specific help elsewhere. Kiteforum, standupzone, seabreeze all have wing divisions that are more active (though not as active as they used to be...the age of discussion forums seems to be waning).
