The voyaging was by no means easy. There was always a danger of swamping or capsizing in heavy seas, of having sails ripped apart or masts and booms broken by fierce winds. Canoes could smash their hulls against unseen rocks or reefs.

There were grass or leaf shelters on the decks of voyaging canoes, but the voyagers were often exposed to the wind, rain, and sun, with only capes of leaves or bark-cloth wrappings for protection. A stormy night at sea, even in the tropics, can be extremely cold.

If supplies of food and water ran short during a long voyage, and no fish were caught,or rain fell to collect fresh water, then starvation or dying of thirst became a possibility. On some of the long trips many of the paddlers died.