Hello fellow boatie!
I'm in the South seas too, a bit too far South, getting a bit chilly round here.
I guess, if you are in fact an alcoholic, you are somewhere in the research phase. You ask a very big question which really has a very big answer. The first things to try are probably those that don't involve AA or God or spirituality. Learn to quiet the AV, think through the drink, consider the consequences, distract yourself by playing games, talking to friends, identify your triggers and eliminate them from your life, use your will power and exercise your power of choice. Read helpful books and above all believe in yourself. This seems to be one path, but it was a bit beyond me, I seemed to have slid a bit far down the scale.
Perhaps you are asking how can you get into a position where you can deal with alcohol like any other toxic item, to be generally uninterested in drinking, when tempted to recoil as if from a hot flame, to be in a position of neutrality, safe and protected, to feel like the problem has gone, that it no longer exists.
I seem to have managed to achieve this by taking the 12 steps of AA. I draw a big distinction here, because I see you are not impressed with slogans. The meetings are not the programme, they are the fellowship. The programme is not MY programme, it is the AA programme as spelled out in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. A good sponsor will help you through the steps, that is their job. They are not your God or permanent life coach.
The change of thinking is what we call a spiritual awakening which is the sole result of taking all 12 steps. Another definition of spiritual awakening is a change of personality sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism.
The How to take the steps is in the first 164 pages of the big book. At only 164 pages, iti is probably the shortest answer to your question in book form.