Swim from the USSR (11 photos) Bashny.Net

Great jump and swim Stanislaus Kurilova.





He made this escape the Soviet (and later the Canadian and Israeli) oceanographer Stanislav V. smoked. His story can be found in various sources, including Wikipedia, except that he wrote a book about it, which can also be found on the Internet.


From childhood he was a good swimmer, graduated from high school, then the Institute, "oceanography" and lifelong dream to visit the tropical countries. Having learned that the way to get it ordered (who does not know - from the Soviet Union could not leave without the permission of "competent authorities", and he was not given permission because it was a potential "defector" - he lived in Canada, a sister) He was preparing to escape.
Thank perfectly swim and dive, including without scuba gear, was engaged in self-publish books on yoga, I could not eat for several days without compromising the activity.



In 1974, in December, everything is thought out and prepared, he bought a ticket on a cruise from Vladivostok "From winter to summer" on the ship "Soviet Union" (pictured in the title of the post). These cruises are very popular with not much spoiled the Soviet population, and are a unique know-how of the Soviet Union - a cruise to nowhere. That is two weeks of December Vladivostok ship come to the shore to the hot equator, there is described a semi-circle and came back, without going into any of the ports. What, in fact, allowed the glory, like other citizens, without an exit visa, buy a ticket for this cruise.



Despite the training, it was not so simple - the boat was either accidentally, or not specifically designed to jump from it. Here is how he describes it KURILOV:

"The last thing the plane was adapted to escape - like a good, nice prison. Line side of the deck was not straight down, like all courts, and round off the "barrel" - if someone falls out of the board, it does not fall into the water, and the roundness of the board. All the windows turned on the diametrical axis, dividing the round hole in two. I was hoping to quietly go overboard in one of them, but it is a semi-circular hole godilos except for the one year old child! Just below the waterline on both sides of the ship from bow to stern, and were welded underwater metal wings and a half meters wide. To jump from the board would have to run up on the deck and dive swallow to get in the water as far as possible from the body, and those wings. This is difficult to perform a jump from the upper deck, where there is a run - their height exceeds twenty meters, and on the move could have done except Tarzan.
After careful examination of the stern of the ship of the future through the eyes of a fugitive, I realized that you can only jump two places: between the blade tips and a giant screw hydrofoils, where the jet of water is discarded from the body. The distance to the water here was fourteen meters. I had plenty of time to jump into the sea from the rocks or with a ten-height add-small boats. But with such a great height ... on speed ... ".



Leap, frankly, was more than risky - in addition to the risk to get to the screw itself or the hydrofoil, the swimmer may reverse turbulence tighten under the blade. Frankly speaking - it must yearn to break free to decide on such a jump. And that's just on the jump - if I can jump, if you can swim, if all goes unnoticed and the ship will stop and send in search Motorboat, that even if all these "if" work, then the swimmer will swim two days to the nearest land among sharks other unpleasant creatures that swarm the sea without food or water. I admire the courage of this man of iron.

"Flying over the water seemed endless.
While flying, I crossed a psychological barrier and ended up on the other side a completely different person ...
Surfacing, I turned my head ... and froze in fear. Near me at arm's length - a huge body liner and a giant rotating propeller! I could almost feel the movement of his blades. Some juggernaut pulls me closer and closer. I'm making a desperate effort, trying to sail away - and linked in a dense mass of stagnant water, tightly linked with the screw.
It seems to me that the ship suddenly stopped - and in fact only a few moments before he walked at a speed of eighteen knots! Through my body vibration are terrifying infernal noise, rattle and hum of the body, slowly and inexorably, they are trying to push me into a black abyss. I feel like crawling into the sound ... Screw seems animated - he gleefully smiling face, I firmly hold its invisible hands.
Suddenly, something throws me aside and I quickly fly to razverzshuyusya abyss.
I got a strong jet of water right of the screw, and I was thrown to the side.
Holding my breath, I tried to stay under the water surface as long as a large light spot projectors feed will pass. Soon there was complete darkness. I already threw unnecessary towel, put on a mask with a tube and took a few deep breaths. The water was quite warm at this temperature can go a very long time. I put on my flippers and gloves with webbed fingers. Bag became no longer necessary. My watch with a luminous dial showed 20 hours 15 minutes on the ship's time, I threw them away later, when I noticed that they had stopped.
The liner was removed rapidly ".



It was December 13, 1974. Two days later, on December 15, smoking swam to shore Siargao Island, Surigao, Philippines. For some time he spent in custody, then worked as a laborer in the Philippines, then - in Canada, then worked in a lot of different companies around the world, everywhere in specialties related to his favorite seas and oceans.



From Hawaii to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. When his story became known to the BBC, it decided to make a film. Filming locations appointed Israel, where smoke and went. With movie for some reason it did not work, but after returning from Israel Glory could not forget loved by his country and as a result, in 1986, moved to Haifa, where he worked in Haifa Oceanographic Institution. January 29, 1998 at the age of 62 Thank KURILOV died of a heart attack while underwater exploration in the Sea of ​​Galilee.

Such is the story of a man who wanted to be free and do what he likes.



In Canada KURILOV started as a laborer in a pizzeria, then worked in the US and Canadian companies involved in marine research, conducted surveys of mineral resources and oceanographic research in the Arctic, the Pacific Ocean. In 1986 he moved to Israel, where he became a member of the Haifa Institute of Oceanography.



In Russia, after his escape, he was not even once. The verdict, according to which he was sentenced to ten years for high treason, was abolished in 1990. And in 1991, excerpts from the book "Escape" was published in the "Ogonek", and the Glory was awarded the magazine.

Thank KURILOV died January 29, 1998 while diving at the Sea of ​​Galilee in Israel. Exempt from fishing nets equipment on the lake bed, tangled in nets and developed the air.