Civ IV Colonization

Been trying out another game that is available cheap: Civilization IV Colonization (or, more simply. Colonization II). As with Anno 1404 I've found it a bit frustrating. The manual is OK in that it does describe the basic game mechanics, but it doesn't tell you how to use those mechanics. As a result, my first game was a total disaster, even on the easiest level, but I'm doing a little better in my second game. Being forever told that you can't do something, or that something is wrong, without any explanation can be a bit frustrating. Part of the problem is that I'm used to the Civ games, but Colonization works quite differently. Anyway, I'm sure there is a good game in here, and it's clearly more focussed than the Civ games, so no more playing for weeks to complete a game. Here are a couple of screenshots from my second game: