I'm thinking of ships used in expeditions to the New World. How did they unload their cargo and set up colonies without the deep waters of a harbor or the associated mechanical infrastructure? Did ships just beach themselves and then get pushed back out to sea when it was time to leave? How did they lower their cargo on their own?
Hi, I wrote an answer to a related question awhile back. But if there was no port facility, it was usual for a ship to anchor in a harbor (somewhere sheltered from the wind) and use the ship's boats to transfer cargo and supplies to and from shore. The boats would be hoisted over the side using the ship's yardarms (davits were only developed around the turn of the 19th century) and cargo would also be loaded into them from lines from the yardarm.