Cinema is the most important art, as one leader of the world proletariat said. If he were acquainted with TV, which didn't exist that time, the palm of the most important art should have been sawed in half. Any another direction of chattering classes can hardly be compared with TV, according to influence on population's brains. And for this reason I took up my pen. Already the second year "Russian Extreme" TV programme is both pleasure and disappointment for Russian viewers. Many viewers watch this programme with palpitating heart and great interest, in spite of lack of experience and programme theme. It's very popular both among ordinary people and experts, who watch it sometimes laughing, sometimes with vexation ... And it's clear: a speaker's voice can graphically describe a usual mountain descending and diving as a monstrous risk, frightening a layperson off. But it's difficult to shoot really extreme show. It requires both well organized work of absolute professionals, much time and large budget.

Last spring Cuba underwater series became the talk of the town among divers. Maximum acceptable 30 meters depth and a dangerous animal moray, forcing divers to stop their actions and another horrors, happened with our divers and their foreign colleges, evoked a smile. Got an offer from "Russian Extreme" to make series of underwater movies, we became very thoughtful. The task was interesting - to make shooting on the red sea of 4 underwater movies with real, not fabricated extreme. Got the assurance of "Russian Extreme" that the movies' text would be coordinated with us, we threw scruples overboard and began work. As a result, we were not even shown released texts and films. Let's try to detach the truth out of concoction, analyzing only facts. We are going to leave some small details beyond our analysis. For example, such a phrase: "Guys, not drunk a coffee, are going underwater…". It's understood that coffee is not the right drink recommended before deep dives and there is no "extreme" drinking it. Well, let's turn to the facts.

The task's wording. Now, about extreme diving. What is to be shot: night diving, rapid current or dangerous red sea sharks? What's extreme in it? The answer was found by itself: of course, one should shoot deep decompression trimix diving and penetration into closed objects - caves and sunk ships. The one and the other are technical diving and it surpasses usual diving a lot according to degree of complexity. So, 4 plots were made: diving on a sunk ship at the depth of 103 meters, diving on 105 meters deep, penetration into a cave, diving on sunk vessels with penetration indoors. So, a first-hand story about how it really was is offered to a reader.

The first plot. An unknown ship is at the depth of 103 meters. The location and the ship's history.

The ship lies near a northeast reefside Shabrur, situated in an hour to the north of Hurgada. Ship's dimensions are large- the length is about 70 meters; displacement is no less than 2000 tons. Natives remember that the vessel sank about 15 years ago and has been sinking for a long period of time. How long, whose vessel it was, what was the name - nobody remembers. Already during several years trimix techno divers (but single ones) dive on this vessel - and why has nobody known the name and the history of this wreck till up now?

There are some impartial difficulties. The vessel lies transversely to the reefside, a little far from it, but the reef is required as a guiding line for wreck's search. It's known that a north current and a north wind predominate over the north part of the red sea, it means that a dive boat can't moor to the north reefside. We jump underwater from a drift vessel; a current in this place can be rather rapid. Even if everything is ideally thought over and we jump in the correct point, taken a right current correction and not spent any excess minute, we dive in the exact point of the side straight away and move to the wrack. It takes 10 minutes to swim from the reef to the vessel along the vessel and backwards, and it's already too much at the depth of 90-100 meters. Longer staying on the bottom prolongs decompression much. 4 cylinders can be not enough for deep works and surfacing. And because of sharp limit of time nobody had time to find and read the ship's name. Moreover, we have only taken up an ideal version of a quick vessel's finding. During one of last trips our English colleges found it only from the third time, although earlier they dived on this ship more than once. One should understand that 3 trimix dives are 3 days. Shooting during trimix dives is a separate and difficult task. Huge equipment, weighing 100 kg or more, sharp limit of time, necessity of housing use with work depth up to 100 meters - all these facts don't increase the popularity of deep underwater shooting. Perhaps, we haven't got all the information, but we think that earlier nobody made shooting on such depths. Our task was not only to make simple shooting, but also create theatrical shooting: well-planned actions of every participant, namely "actor", lighter and operator should be fulfilled being on schedule, using every minute (it's literally).

Real extreme. Any trimix diving on 100 meters deep in the real sea conditions in an autonomous order falls into the category of difficult diving. The task becomes complicated by staying there as long as possible (for shooting making) and necessity of well actions' coordination of every participant. Usual trimix dive is fulfilled in condition of complete concentration on diving itself, on control of depth, time, on schedule's moving, on pressure control in any cylinder. Under fulfillment of theatrical shooting the most part of attention turns to work.

As it was. Three together: Alexander Anisimov, Viktor Trostyanski and Mikhail Safonov made deep underwater dives. The last one was an operator; guys worked in shot and they lighted with hand lamps. Work depths on the ship were from 90 to 103 meters. Oleg Bozhok shot us, diving at the depth of 30-40 meters, and met with videocamera during decompression. The first dive was made with 4 cylinders (2 cylinders were with trimix, one - with 32d nitrox, and another one - with 70th nitrox). We didn't find the ship, but, swum far away from the reef, we came to be in some fantastic canyon worthy of a separate film. This crack in the bottom (it's unclear - reef or another origin) is 2-5 meters width, not less than 30 meters depth (from 80 to 110) and more than 100 meters length. We haven't explored it completely. Nobody of techdivers, whom we showed shot material, including Karim and Khelal - a founder of technodiving in Egypt, saw anything of the kind in the red sea. Later we managed to organize a special diving on that canyon; shot materials would be included in one of the films in series "Russian Underwater Expeditions".

Next day we made a wind correction and reached the needed place - right at the ship's stern. The ship's name wasn't possible to read, we made some frames and returned on deck - we were 10 minutes on the bottom and got up about 90 minutes. It became clear that travel shooting was possible only under diving's prolongation. That evening we prepared sets of 6 cylinders: we added 1 trimix and 1 nitrox ones. We swam and trained on shoal. Well, wear such a suit during rolling is not very large pleasure. The total weight of equipment (without video housing and light) is more than 150 kilos. On the other hand, this set allowed us to be underwater at the depth of 90-100 meters 17 minutes and after that we passed decompression for 2 hours. For 2 such dives we made the most part of shooting broadcasted in "Russian Extreme".

The ship's name proved to be "Gulf Fleet Nо31"; a registration's port was New Orleans. We didn't see shell-holes' tracks; navigation and radio equipment was dismantled. Searched in files, we found out that vessel-refueller belonged to American Navy, sank in 1984 for some unknown reason. And we couldn't find another information.

"Russian Extreme" added just a little to the truth - increased the depth to 107 meters and duration of stay to 41 minutes (actually, I repeat, 17 minutes - it's a limit with six cylinders). Analogy with "Kursk" was shrewd. There are another conditions there; more complicated work and quite another technics and methods are used. With all our enthusiasm we can't use a method of autonomous diving for life-saving deep work (without supplying with mixtures from the surface and decompression in pressure chamber), which requires many hours staying on the ground. Our requests not to draw an analogy with "Kursk" tragedy were ignored by "Russian Extreme" - a viewer so adores it.

The second plot. Diving is on 150 meters deep.

Objective difficulties and real extreme. It's very deep. A nervous syndrome of strong pressures already appears under quick diving deeper than 120 meters. It's necessary to care for own state all the time and decrease diving's speed after symptomatology's beginning. We had to not only reach this depth but also shoot it.

As it was. After ship's shooting at the depth of 100 meters we began to prepare for diving on 150 meters deep. Housing Amphibico is the most deep-water one from available equipment for us - it failed to work at the depth of more than 102-103 meters. We dived at that depth, found out the place. There is a reef at the depth of 90 meters near the Island Small Giftun, and then on rather far distance the reef suddenly stops and the depth is more than 300 meters. The view is fantastic. If you are going to get to this steep walking from the reef it will take too much time staying very deep. And the time of decompression, diving on 150 meters, makes up more than 3 hours - it is a limit with 6 cylinders. The conclusion is easy: on surface it is necessary to chose a correct place for diving and fall down. The task is to get to the brink of a cornice. If we miss it to the side of a shoal it will take much time to swim to the depth; if we are not on schedule we begin surfacing even if the aim isn't reached. . If we miss it to the side of a depth - we dive to 80 meters and if the bottom or the wall is not seen we go back. It's stark mad to dive on 150 meters not seeing some guiding lines.

We made a trial dive on 130 meters. After it we didn't dive a day: we made desaturation from amassed nitrogen and helium. And at last - desired 150 meters were reached. We dived in the same group - Alexander Anisimov, Victor Trostyanskiy and Mikhail Safonov. Decompression lasted about 2,5 hours. That time it was a record for Russian technical divers. A month later (we dived in September) our friend and college Dmitriy Orlov together with Jane Meyer (Great Britain) made dive on 160 m. But if we speak about the Russian team - our record stays to be a record. We made that dive without video - a housing wouldn't have stood it. Oleg Bozhok met us with a camera on 40 meters deep. For shooting we made an individual dive: my camera and me took up position under the abyss on 100 meters, and both Vitya and Sasha went on the depth. It was just what was broadcasted.

The third plot. Diving into the cave. Location, description and history of the cave. The cave is situated in the reef, which surrounds the island Um-Gamar (it takes an hour and a half to get by a usual dive-boat to the north from Hurgada). The gate to the cave is on 28 meters deep, maximum registered depth in it is 29 meters. The gate, which is about 3 meters width, goes to a tunnel, widening in a first hall to 10 meters. Its width is about 20 meters; the hall height is nearly 3 meters. There is a passageway at the cave's floor level in the far left corner, where a man without an aqualung squeezes with difficulty. This gate (approx 5 meters length) leads to the next hall.

Real extreme. It is possible to get there only taken off the apparatus (of course, 2 cylinders with 2 regulators). 2 years ago a very skilled Belgian instructor tried to do it; he didn't reach the 2nd hall, he got stuck in the passageway, but could get out. His assistant helped him, who stayed in the first hall. Air in cylinders at that Belgian was already coming to an end. Nobody had made a registered penetration into the internal hall before us. And probably an unregistered one hadn't been done either.

As it was. We worked at the depth with nitrox 32 (32% of oxygen). The time in the cave made up 61 minutes. It took us exactly that time to: unfasten decompression cylinders, take off 2 cylinders, pass through the passageway, put on cylinders inside, swim all around the internal hall with a camera and return. After that the time of decompression was more than an hour using nitrox-70.

"Russian Extreme" increased depths (from 28 to 40) and instead of a real story about a Belgian it thought out its story about an Italian.

The fourth plot. Sunken ships.

During the shooting of first 3 movies authors of "Russian Extreme" fought with themselves and more or less followed the real course of events. On the fourth movie it was begun…

Ships' location. The shooting was carried out on 4 vessels, situated in the north part of the red sea: on "Genice D" and "Khrisule K" laying on the reefside Abu-Nukhas, on "Thistlegorm" (it's the most well-known and visited ship of the red sea), which sunk at the entry of Suetskiy Gulf, and "Rosali Muller". The last vessel is especially interesting. This is a large transport, ruined by the air force just after "Thistlegorm" in the same year - 1941. The vessel reposes on 55 meters deep to the north of the island Gubal. It was revealed lately and stays to be little known, as diving is difficult there: it lies not on the side and it is necessary to make rather quick deep dive at once (the main deck is on 40 meters deep), there is almost always a strong current and a roughness near the wreck.

One way or another, this vessel has got neither to the lenses of videocameras no to the pages of magazines till now.

Real extreme. Of course, diving on usual depths around a sunken steamship doesn't harbour anything especially difficult. But the difficulty increases much with penetration inside the vessel. In contrast to deep dives where everything is calculated with any margin of safety, which a diver chooses for himself, there are some additional risk factors connected with object's decay on the sunken vessels. The farther we are from the gate and the more decay constructions are in the ship the more difficult diving is.

As it was. During shooting of those series a little replacement happened and Konstantin Chibisov - PADI & TDI instructor (Underwater Club of Moscow State University) presided diving instead of M. Safonov, who returned home. Maximum power was spent on shooting. Penetrations inside the ships "Genice D", "Khrisule K" & "Thistlegorm" were shot. And it was time-consuming operations; almost every dive was with decompression in spite of relatively shallow depths - 20-30 m. Application of deep diving technics on the air (Extended Range) allowed to investigate and shoot holds of "Rosali Muller", situated on the depths more than 50 meters. It was the most interesting and difficult dives. We gave all shot materials to "Russian Extreme".

That's just what turned out. It is unclear for me till now what induced "Russian Extreme" to tell stories about radiation on "Thistlegorm" - this is a 100% invention from the beginning to the end. Nobody dived there with a dosimeter. A device, looked like a dosimeter, was shot by someone later. I think that to show real extreme of serious wreck diving it is necessary to spend rather much time and strength of high professional specialists - scenario writer, text writer, producer and montage - and see material of many hours. One can act easier - select what lies on the surface and tell a terrifying story about radiation. Nonprofessionals will believe it, housewives will cry in front of their TV, everybody will be happy for our fellows, saved the red sea from radiation. And if divers laugh, it doesn't matter, there are just a few of them. There are relatively a few.

Mikhail Safonov and Oleg Bozhok

Underwater Club