Polynesians sailed thousands of miles of oceans. In order to get their way across places they often used their own senses and also stars. They used the motion of specific stars (where they rose and set) as a 'compass'. They also used the waves and different natural resources.
Vikings
The vikings used tools such as weather vanes, bearing cycle, sunstone, sunboard and semi-wheel as a form of navigation to guide their voyages. They also used the North Star to guide them.
Chinese
Chinese navigators and pilots used the water compass to guide them during their voyages. To find latitude, they used an instrument called the qianxingban. It is a board that consists of 12 pieces of wood. A simpler instrument that was used was a liangtianchi, a vertical ruler.