Indonesia lays claim to more than 15,000 islands, with 10 million tons of fish caught yearly. I spent one morning with an Indonesian fisherman in Bali.

This is the boat we took, my camera says it was 2:46AM. A 15s exposure shows more than the naked eye. It was seemingly pitch black, rainy, and the scooter I rented to get here wouldn’t start for 15 minutes. But alas, I made it to our boat Ganesa, appropriately named after (as google informs me), the Hindu God who ‘removes obstacles’.

It was perfectly quiet gliding along the water to the supposed ‘perfect fishing spot’ 2km out to sea, just off the coast of Ubud in Northeast Bali. The morning light revealing the beautiful landscape of Bali’s volcanoes – and our local fishing guide nonchalant about the whole thing – another day, another dollar, another fish (hopefully?). More tomorrow.

Hoist the sails!

No fancy gear here, just a line wrapped on the knee. Now we wait.

While we wait for the line to catch, the sun rises over the second highest volcano in Indonesia, Mt Ringani. We spot another fishing boat in the distance.

Catch of the day: a few mackerel. Time to head home.

Fin.