<P> Aboard the Mayflower were many stores that supplied the pilgrims with the essentials needed for their journey and future lives . It is assumed that they carried tools and weapons, including cannon, shot, and gunpowder, as well as some live animals, including dogs, sheep, goats, and poultry . Horses and cattle came later . The ship also carried two boats: a long boat and a "shallop", a 21 - foot boat powered by oars or sails . She also carried 12 artillery pieces (eight minions and four sakers), as the Pilgrims feared that they might need to defend themselves against enemy European forces, as well as the natives . </P> <P> The passage was a miserable one, with huge waves constantly crashing against the ship's topside deck until a key structural support timber fractured . The passengers had already suffered agonizing delays, shortages of food, and other shortages, and they were now called upon to provide assistance to the ship's carpenter in repairing the fractured main support beam . This was repaired with the use of a metal mechanical device called a jackscrew, which had been loaded on board to help in the construction of settler homes . It was now used to secure the beam to keep it from cracking further, making the ship seaworthy enough . </P> <P> The crew of the Mayflower had some devices to assist them en route, such as a compass for navigation, as well as a log and line system to measure speed in nautical miles per hour (knots). Time was measured with the ancient method of an hourglass . </P> <P> On November 9, 1620, they sighted present - day Cape Cod . They spent several days trying to sail south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, where they had obtained permission to settle from the Company of Merchant Adventurers . However, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, well north of the intended area, where they anchored on November 11 . The settlers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact after the ship dropped anchor at Cape Cod, in what is now Provincetown Harbor, in order to establish legal order and to quell increasing strife within the ranks . </P>

Where did the pilgrims get off there ship