Years of Madness
Self-sufficient life – 2020 had already started strangely. It continued to get even weirder. But it ended very strangely. In that weird year, the truth was declared the greatest lie. Lies have been elevated to the highest pedestal of truth. Deceit has become respected and honesty despised. In that weird year, people were afraid of each other.
This is a video about the year in which everything were turned upside down. This is a video of how it affected the Catamaran Ariki and its crew.
Year 2020
A media storm was arrived. It has been coming slowly since the late summer of 2019, and from December 2019 to March 2020, it has intensified. Then life stopped. But the media storm did not stop. On the contrary, it became even stronger.
During those spring months he raged without respite. During the day, movement was limited to the municipalities, but at night the movement ban still applied. Gatherings and socializing in small groups were prohibited. Events and concerts have been cancelled. All shops, except for groceries, were closed. Even there, you could only buy food and alcohol, but everything else you could just watch.
Life retreated behind home walls. People became alienated from each other. They sat in front of the television screens and absorbed the constantly repeating poisonous story that filled them with endless fear.
Like everything else, tourism were also decline. Already in January and February, the influence of coordinated media propaganda was felt. Foreign guests in Slovenia were a rarity at that time. After the closing started, however, there was no one left. All inns, hotels and tourist spots were also closed.
Bookstores and all other sales points, where our books about Slovenia are sold, also suffered the same fate. The sales network has shut down.
If nothing is sold, that means there is no more income either. This is where a serious problem arises, because fixed costs and taxes remain unchanged even if you have no income. Now you really have to find your way!
We had no choice but to reduce costs to a minimum. Although we lived more modestly up until then, we have now given up many things, including the sea.
Repair of the Wooden Pier
At the end of March, a good week after the closing began, the sky also darkened at sea, where our Ariki is moored. The stormy weather was accompanied by strong winds, and a huge amount of water poured into the sea.
The wild weather has left a bit of confusion in its wake at our pier and elsewhere along the canal as well. A few boats sank. Some piers broke. The boat moored at the beginning of our pier also went to the bottom and dragged a considerable part of the pier with it.
Neighbors from the pier, who live nearby, lifted the sunken boat from the sea and tied it back to its place. They pumped the water out of the boat and made sure that the pier would not collapse any further.
Others, who are from further away, from other parts of Slovenia, were not allowed to drive half the country to the sea. At that time they really teased and scared us. People were so scared that they immediately called the police if a stranger appeared near them. That’s how it was here under the mountains and that’s how it was also at sea.
Therefore, we agreed to repair the pier as soon as the tyrannical pressure of the authorities is released. We waited a long time. At the end of May, we finally got the long-awaited freedom.
At the end of May, two months after the agreement, my friends and I met at our pier.
Long and thick stakes made of acacia wood and a pile of 4 m long and two inch thick boards of spruce wood were already waiting on the shore. The locals took care of that.
About the Stakes
Stakes made of acacia wood must be driven at least half a meter deep into the hard bottom of the canal. It’s a tough job. First, we cut them with a chainsaw at the lower, thicker end, just like sharpening a pencil. Than we just cut off the thinner end, and tightly wrap the top of the stake with a rope. This prevents the wood from cracking due to heavy hammer blows.
If you don’t wrap the stake with a rope, it will crack after just a few hits. After the next few hits, however, the top of the stake turns into cods. Then you have no choice but to go get a new stake.
The stakes are connected to each other with thick slats. These are attached to the stakes with long screws.
Two-inch-thick planks are nailed to the crossbars. With such a construction, it is sufficient that two stakes with a crossbar are placed every two meters.
Stakes made of acacia wood driven into the bottom of the channel last for about 9 or 10 years. Spruce boards should be changed more often. Every 4 to 5 years.
Ariki's Part of the Pier
Our pier is about 35 years old. Catamaran Ariki has space at the end of the pier. This has been his home for 16 years. We repaired that last part of the pier two years ago. Now only a minor intervention is needed there.
This is the last time we are repairing our pier. It reached us the bad news that our piers will be torn down and a footbridge a few meters wide will be built parallel to the road, which will serve as a sidewalk for walkers and as a mooring for boats. When they are demolishing and building, all the barges will have to go out. Only boats with a maximum length of 6 m will be allowed to return to the channel.
Of course, this will not happen this year, but in the following years. We will see what will actually happen. We have been hearing stories about various variants of the canal’s urbanization, which are expected to happen in the near future, for decades. But all this time, nothing has happened.
self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-self-sufficient life, sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life, self-sufficient life,
Self Sufficient Life
We spent summer and autumn at home. It was not possible otherwise. Very few foreign tourists came to Slovenia that summer. Slovenians did not go abroad either. As a result, sales of our travel books were also very low. If your pocket is empty, you can’t go anywhere.
We were brutally bombarded with fear propaganda from all media. There were no more restrictions on movement, but masks had to be worn. You couldn’t go anywhere without this “fashion accessory”.
Fortunately, we do not live in a city where life in such conditions is very difficult. We have been living in a small house, that we built ourselves, for 25 years. The house is located in a small settlement of small houses in the middle of the forest under high mountains.
The surrounding landscape is rural. There are many farms and there is always a need for hardworking hands on the farms. So, with a little effort, you can fill your pantry very well. Just by the way, some change falls into the pocket too.
Our opinion is that it is possible to live with very little money, as long as the pantry is well stocked and basic expenses are covered. Yes, a full pantry means comfort and prosperity. Aren’t these two important elements of happiness?
It's pouring out from the media: YOUR LIFE WILL CHANGE!
And indeed, our life has changed. No more sea and sea wanderings. Just home, chores around the house, in the garden and in the fields. In our free time , long walks through the local forests.
I could count on my fingers the number of times I was in the store that year. The path there rarely led me. Once every few weeks. Matjaž, however, only went where he did not have to wear a mask. He didn’t want to put it on. But there were very few such locations.
With the arrival of winter, the spread of fear from the media intensified even more. All of a sudden, a mask for entering a store, gas station, pub, library, school, workshop, factory and elsewhere was no longer enough. Tyrants came up with an upgrade. A real scam with chopsticks, shoved deep into people’s noses.
That's how spring passed. Summer passed, then autumn walked across the land.
That summer and fall we grabbed every job that was available. We worked a lot in the fields harvesting various crops. We picked potatoes, cabbage, carrots and other crops. We worked in fields where industrial hemp was planted. It was an interesting job. Perhaps, if you are interested, we will talk a lot more about it in one of the next videos.
That autumn we harvested the hemp by hand. It grew so high that it could not be harvested by machine. It took a week to cut a 1 ha field. 15 people worked. From morning to evening.
The protests started in the fall. Although they were peaceful, tyrannical politicians sent disguised robocops over the people. They watered the crowd with water cannons, brutally beat older people, shot rubber bullets, threw tear gas… And not only over the protesters. Victims were also unsuspecting passers-by and even children playing on nearby playgrounds.
December has arrived. The crops have been harvested, our storeroom is full. Even in the wallet, it was some money. We ended the first year of madness quite well. Even though our book business literally shut down, we covered all expenses. We even had some change left in our pockets.
Christmas
Catamaran Ariki spent all this time at her mooring at the end of the pier. We didn’t go to the sea again that year. Even though he was on our minds all the time, we were not worried. He was watched over by the watchful eye of our friend Tom, from the village above the channel.
The day before Christmas, the phone rang. Tom called. He said, that there was a strong bora and that the harvest was excellent. Grapes had a lot of sugar. This is why this year’s young wine is also excellent. Ah yes, that he don’t forget, one of the ropes with which the catamaran is tied to the stake gave way on Ariki. Now Ariki is in the middle of the channel about 10 m away from the pier.
“Yes, of course, we´ll come down. But today the day is turning into night, and tomorrow is Christmas. You know what Tomo, we’ll come the day after tomorrow, on St. Stephen’s day. We’ll have a drink and chat as befits old friends.”
On the last day, when movement was still allowed, we drove, in a blizzard ,towards the sea. There was no snow there. But a strong bora was blowing. It is a cold north wind blowing in strong gusts. It is typical for the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Catamaran Ariki defies strong storm surges in the middle of the channel. We have a roll of rope and an inflatable kayak with us. If there’s no other way, we’ll blow it up. But… in this cold and wind, rowing in such a small boat can be very uncomfortable.
Misfortune never rests
Matjaž first tried the best in a simple way. He tied a large knot at the end of the rope and throwed the rope towards the catamaran. The rope did not reach the catamaran. The wind blew it into the water. The rope soaked up water and became heavier. Therefore, the second throw was more successful. The knot flew directly into the cockpit and got stuck in the gap between the cabin and the rear crossbeam. Matjaž dragged Ariki towards the pier. I turned off the camera and put it away. I wanted to help him. But then the rope came off and Matjaž flew back onto his back into the cold sea. The suit, soaked with water, dragging him to the bottom. It was not possible to swim to the shore. The wet suit dragged him to the bottom. He would sink like a stone.
As he crawled back onto the pier, cursing, he throw the rope once more. He was successful this time too. The water was pouring off him as he dragged Ariki and also pulled him to the pier and tied him up. Only then he did change into a dry suit. Yes, you have to be prepared for such things. Whenever you go on a boat, you have to have everything with you: panties, T-shirt, socks, shoes and everything else. It is true that it is very rare that you need this reserve. But when disaster strikes, you’re very poor if you don’t have it.
Epilogue
We came home late at night. The last day when movement was still allowed. The next day the tyranny began again. This time she was accompanied by a curfew and, of course, police terror on people. Socializing was again prohibited, shops and taverns were closed again… Celebrating the New Year was also banned. We spent that winter again on long walks in the local forests.
However, something has changed. People weren’t so afraid anymore. Slowly came the realization that this serious infectious disease was a big fraud. If the inns are closed, we opened ours. Undeclared, without receipts and taxes. There was no smoking ban in such taverns, the prices were symbolic. Everything was at the price level in stores. There was plenty of happy company. The fear, which were still sown by all the media, were almost disappeared.
*****
Thank you for taking the time to share this special moment with us. If you liked the article or if you have any interesting experience, please share it with us in the comments below. Your opinion is extremely important to us.
We are happy to share our stories and experiences with you. See you in the next article, where we will explore new adventures together. Until then, stay curious and smiley!
