I've never been all that great at sharpening knives using a whetstone either, but during my brief career as a dishwasher one of the cooks taught me how to use a sharpening steel - so that's my preferred method.
Here's a link to a video that demonstrates the process fairly decently.
Sharpening A Knife With A Steel
One thing I learned just a few years ago is that you should
never-ever wash good knives in a dishwasher. The chemicals etch the steel and over time you can turn a good knife into trash.
If your knives are salvageable, take them to a butcher and ask him to sharpen them for you. Keep them out of the dishwasher and just touch them up with a sharpening steel each time you get ready to use one (takes a few seconds once you get the hang of it) and you should be good for years.
Your last alternative might be either an electric kitchen knife sharpener, or a little ceramic sharpener like this.
I have one of those that I use while hunting, but I use cheap knives for that purpose.
The only problem with electric or ceramic sharpeners is that knives sharpened that way don't hold an edge for very long.