Seafaring and Sea Gypsies

My love of the water first started when as a child I stole my father's canoe to take out on to the lake. When I was old enough I joined the fishermen and women, then the traders who travelled down the river. My journeys took me further each time until I finally set my eyes on the sea that stretched out forever. Since then I've rowed and sailed in service of  many different merchants and kings. It matters not under which flag I journey, as long as I'm looking out at that horizon.

- Toa Amak the Navigator 

It's interesting to speculate whether the earliest inhabitants of Sundaland attained seafaring skills approaching that of the famed Polynesians in later times. Certainly people were capable of navigating across the open sea as evidenced by the colonisation of Australia.

And remember that even before the floods that submerged Sundaland there were countless islands to travel between which must have allowed the early seafarers to gain confidence in their abilities and develop their skills.

In the earliest times the paddle and oar powered canoes would be one of the primary forms of transport on the countless rivers and along the coasts. Later, with the invention of the sail, boats could be constructed in larger sizes which could more confidently navigate across open sea.

Resources:

Wikipedia: Ancient maritime history
Wikipedia: Crab Claw Sail A traditional type of sail used by the Austronesian people.
Wikipedia: Outrigger Boat Traditional boats that could be as large as ocean going catamarans.
Wikipedia: Polynesian Navigation Descriptions of navigational techniques.
Wikipedia: Tanja Sail Scroll down to Usage to see the types of boats used in this part of the world.

Sea Gypsies

Southeast Asia is home to groups of people sometimes called Sea Gypsies that live their lives in boats on rivers and seas. The question again is whether they always had this way of live or whether they adopted it as a consequence of the continuous flooding of their homelands?

Read more about these cultures here: Wikipedia: Sea Gypsies