Was there anything from Part 1 of the book (Chapters 1-36) that prepared Pi for survival?

One thing Pi learned from zookeeping that prepared him for survival was that in order to get animals used to the presence of humans, you must diminish their flight distance—the minimum distance at which an animal wants to keep a perceived enemy.

Pi also understood that animals will attack you for threatening their territory.

Both of these things help Pi to survive while on the water with the wild animals.