The vessels are add ons that you must buys, ecept for Jumb Javelin, which you can get by going to your forum profile and downloading it for free.
People are on MP(Multiplayer, just so you know) at all times, since everyone is from different parts of the world and have different time zones than you.
Running lines ashore is easy, you just click on the mooring button on the bottom menu bar and click on the bollard. first you must pick the orange circle that you want the vessels lines to start from and then click the bollard on shore that you want to connect to. the red x's are just what you click on to throw the lines.