Bering Sea Gold (2012–…): Season 12, Episode 7 - Gold is Thicker than Blood - full transcript
♪
shawn: My father has been
a bully to me my whole life,
and I'm not letting
him do it anymore.
Basically had enough of it.
Well, do you think you
owe me an apology
for the way you've treated me?
Oh, why?
What are you going to do,
beat me up?
Intimidate me? [bleep]
what?
Bully me around?
You know what?
All this gold,
all these [bleep]
piles of gold, steve,
that's not going
to replace your son,
and that's what you're
going to end up losing.
For some pile of gold.
captions paid for by
discovery communications
♪
♪
narrator: As the season enters
the home stretch...
Don't know how long we're going
to be out there, buddy.
Narrator: ...Shawn pomrenke
responds to a sudden call
from the christine rose.
Let's go rescue
this boat.
And he's bringing
the youngest generation of
the pomrenke empire with him,
9-year-old son, luke.
Here we go.
On our way.
Well, we're headed out
because the christine rose
lost power
to the excavator.
Excavator is shut down, so now
we got to go get it going.
With remaining mining days
limited and an ambitious goal
to pay off his debts
from a business deal gone bad...
Well, they're not digging,
so they haven't got it
figured out yet.
...The captain can't afford
any downtime
the rest of the way.
But he's not about to let that
interfere with his job as dad.
Shawn: That's the hardest
thing out of everything to do
is to find that balance
between running the business
and spending quality time
with my son.
My relationship with my dad
has been basically next to none.
I feel a lot better knowing
that I'm not going to
have that kind of relationship
with my kids.
Whee!
There's some gold
in there.
It's flowing, dude.
This is a good spot, man.
We're just starting
to get into it right now, too.
Oh, that looks amazing.
Pulling in.
Now is going to get
this excavator running.
♪
[ beeping ]
[ whirring ]
♪
shawn: We're dead in the water
right now.
We got issues with
the safety switch
that allows you to start
and activate the hydraulics.
Where's that wire run to?
It looks like it goes
to the fuse box.
There's something
grounded out.
Yeah.
But I don't know
where exactly it goes
and what it unlocks.
This is a major deal.
I got to get the christine rose
back up and running asap.
This late in the season,
this late in the game,
the freeze could come in
and set in,
and it could be all over
any day now.
We're dead in the water.
We're dead in the water.
Means that we can't [bleep]
pick up the spuds.
We can't move.
The wind comes up, we're [bleep]
narrator:
With shawn focused offshore...
Steve: Yeah, I guess
I'm out of retirement.
I want to be retired,
but I got to come back here
and keep this going.
It's the only thing
paying the bills.
Narrator: ...Father steve has
kept the wheels turning
at the inland mine throughout
the season away from his son.
Somebody's got to save
shawn's ass.
He ain't making no money
with the christine rose
or out on that ocean
like he's supposed to be.
♪
[ engine sputters, starts ]
this puppy's high tech.
Right now, we're in a battle
here to get the bills paid.
Inland and ocean mining.
So I've been letting shawn
handle all that court work.
Shawn's been having
to deal with that.
He just don't understand
what's going on.
I'm not even talking
to him right now.
Well, there's a lot of things
about shawn that
people don't know.
He's not the greatest
business man in the world.
Now we're down to zero money.
I mean, the kid's burned up
a huge amount of money.
Narrator: The giant debt that's
saddled the pomrenke's
has strained
the family business.
Well, he thinks
the money is never ending.
Well, the money is going to
come to an end right now.
Narrator: But the father and son
aren't exactly strangers
to strained relationships.
Don't need you to run
the christine rose.
You think we need you
that bad?
You can run it?
You [bleep]
damn right I can.
Run it! Yeah!
Just like you've run it
for the last five
[bleep] years!
How many [bleep] days
have you spent out there?!
Busting your [bleep] ass!
All as you, as a manager,
is that what the [bleep]
you're [bleep] here
all day!
I wasn't in charge
of the crew!
Oh, you're not in charge
of the crew out here!
I was moving dirt!
You ask an outsider looking in
who's in the wrong?
Yeah, ask everybody!
Who is the [bleep] wrong?!
You!
Shawn: I work way too damn hard
for this family.
And when I hear [bleep] people
not appreciate me,
it [bleep] sucks, it hurts.
I got some advice for you.
If you need to go into business
with your family...
You're a [bleep]
oh, you gonna [bleep]
hit me?!
...Don't.
Get the [bleep]
out of here.
♪
I would like to retire
one of these days.
I can't afford
to let this company go bankrupt
because that's my retirement.
It has to make money
and has to survive.
Narrator: While the pomrenkes
look to get back on track...
♪
...11 miles west...
After all this long time,
it sure feels good
to get up and into production,
starting to have my doubts
if it was ever gonna happen.
Narrator: After a long stint to
dry dock tending to repairs
on the gold ship,
the adkison family
is finally back on the water.
And not a moment too soon.
It's been a rough season.
We went through a lot.
And now the season's
coming to an end,
and we've got to hammer it,
get all the gold
we possibly can.
So that we can afford
to come back another day.
Narrator: The patched up
gold ship is ready
to start gobbling up gold.
But with winter looming,
the old skipper will need
to get on a pay streak
with lightning speed
to have any chance at all
of hitting his season goal.
Time to get out there
and get mining.
Season's getting close
to an end.
Vernon: We're gonna go for it.
We were just starting
to taste the gold
before the equipment went down.
We're gonna get back out there
and drop right back
down on top of it.
We got to make up
for lost time and fast.
Okay, here we go.
I got my fingers crossed.
[ engine starts ]
today will be the big test.
♪
here we go.
Okay.
♪
yeah, roger, roger.
♪
♪
hey, gary,
how's it going?
Gary: Oh, going good.
Hell, yeah.
That's awesome.
We'll know here
pretty quick.
Yeah, this looks
good stuff.
♪
okay, good. So we got it coming
through the box. Let's go.
♪
all right.
I thought I was gonna have
to do a lot of prospecting.
But it looks like
we dropped right down
on some pretty good
cobble ground.
♪
equipment's working.
Hopefully
we're making money.
For the first drop down,
this sounds great.
Yeah, this is
good stuff here.
It's always good with you drop
down on top of the gold
first shot out of the box.
We're gonna make money.
Alright, great, great.
Alright.
All right.
We're in production.
Unless we have some
major foul up,
we should get some
gold in the box.
♪
well, gary's getting a bit
of a workout.
♪
[ groans ]
♪
[ groans ]
♪
hey, gary, are you still
seeing it down there?
Yep.
Oh, you got a headache?
Yeah.
[ groans ]
is there anything
we can do to help you?
[ groans ]
yeah, yeah, okay.
Oh, boy.
Lot of things can happen
to the divers
when they're down there.
They can get dehydrated.
There's a lot of pressure
bearing on their bodies.
Gary's as tough as they come.
If he's complaining, you better
believe there's something wrong.
[ groans ] yeah, I'm pretty
whupped here, guys.
-Yep, yep okay. All right,
well, come on up, gary.
Yep, I'm coming up.
This is killing me.
We just got back on the water.
Everything was going good,
and now this happens.
It's just frustrating
beyond belief.
♪
narrator: Coming up...
I'm showing my dad
how the boat works.
Pretty much
un-trainable.
Why?
-What?
-Don't open that valve.
There's a lot to remember.
I'm pretty overwhelmed.
Narrator: On the gold ship
wild ranger...
What was the depth
you were in?
I went 35 feet.
35 feet, that's safe.
Narrator: ...Captain vernon's
lead diver is out of the water
despite tapping into
a hot pay streak.
So an ambitious rookie
is taking his place...
Wasn't really expecting this.
But I'll take it.
Narrator: ...To make sure
the team stays on the gold.
Well, I'm getting suited up in
a miscellaneous wet suit.
I'm gonna jump in there
and see if I can contribute.
Would you drop
the damn attitude?!
Narrator: The adkison
father-daughter
working relationship
has been rocky in the past.
I'm not gonna get
any cooperation out of you.
That's just
a fact of life.
Yeah, you're right.
I got business, right?
Yeah!
You answer the damn phone
when I call you!
Get your [bleep] ass
off this boat!
Get off the freakin' boat!
I'm sick of your [bleep]
narrator: And this summer,
elaine is putting it to the test
with an ambitious plan.
Elaine wants to eventually
be the captain.
She's willing to do
whatever it takes
to have the operation
be successful,
even willing to jump in and dive
at these depths,
which she has not done before.
I'm nervous because
of how deep I'm diving.
It's a long way up if
I were to lose air,
elaine is a stubborn,
hard headed individual
and I don't know where
she got that from.
But once she decides
she's gonna do something,
she'll stick with it
until it happens.
You know, my end goal has never
been to be a diver,
but I'd like to prove
that I can do it
and just gain that experience
down on the bottom.
Diving's not easy.
It's dangerous.
Especially on the bering sea.
But truth is, we need the gold.
The main thing is don't panic.
That's what kills.
No matter what happens
down there, do not panic, okay?
We need to get down there
and fill in and make sure
we got the right number of hours
so that we can make it happen.
Good luck.
Stay safe.
♪
♪
♪
okay, you're looking good.
Your breathing sounds good.
Elaine: Holy [bleep]
you'd be better off going
a few feet down the hose
and hang out.
You're in the danger zone.
♪
♪
yeah.
Yeah. Copy.
We see it.
Yeah, that looks good.
That's the good stuff
right there.
And you should start seeing
gold all over the place.
Elaine: Okay. About how far
down does it go?
Yeah. Pretty much just
a foot right there.
That top layer
is all you're taking.
Okay. Copy that.
Just keep that
nozzle in motion.
Try to strip it
and get it all.
Yeah. Copy that.
Alright, well,
you're making money.
You might not
want to come up.
[ chuckles ]
oh, yeah.
♪
narrator: 10 miles east...
♪
[ groans ]
oh, I put
a big dent in it.
Sorry.
...As winter looms
on the horizon,
the final push of the season
is a family affair
for eroica captain
emily riedel.
I'm excited to get going.
Get emily off the dredge.
I've asked my dad to help me
manage the eroica
while I look into acquiring
another dredge.
But things have not
started off well.
Narrator: Emily and her dad's
mining relationship
hasn't exactly been golden.
Emily, don't be
smart with me.
I'm walking out of here
if you're gonna start
getting smart ass
with me.
Okay, walk all you want.
Okay, I'll see you later.
I'm out of here.
I'm just saying if you
want to call yourself
the captain, then be
the [bleep] captain.
It was captain,
and I was disobeyed
over and over
and over again.
Where are you?
I'm at the dock.
Emily: You missed the boat.
Narrator: Now to achieve
her goal of expanding
the riedel empire, emily will
need to rely on her dad.
Even now I'm taking a chance
bringing my dad on,
I feel like if you're going
to do that with anybody,
it should be family.
♪
oh, can't see a thing.
Oh, wait.
All the light,
that's weird.
We're gonna be trying
to do some mining today,
but also showing my dad
the ropes of how the boat works
and how to be the best tender
on the bering sea.
I'm pretty much
un-trainable,
but emily is gonna
give it a shot.
So there might be
hope for me.
You can lower this
fellow down like this.
And then we'll go ahead
and lower the foot valve.
Foot valve is
my favorite.
Have you heard of
air throttle control?
Air throttle? No.
The rpm gauges
don't work.
They work.
Are you starting it
the right way?
Yeah.
There it is.
There's a lot to remember.
I'm pretty overwhelmed.
Dad! Don't start the engine
with the motor idled.
I don't know why
you would do that,
but don't do that.
♪
why?
What?
Did you open
that valve?
Don't open that valve.
Emily: Look, I own the boat.
It's my boat, my rules.
I can't work with anybody
who can't respect that.
So hopefully there's
no conflict, you know?
He just needs to get on the boat
and do his job and go home.
And that's all that
needs to happen.
Narrator: With
the crash course complete,
it's time to get
lead diver daryl galipeau
in the water and hopefully
on the money.
♪
let's go do a comm check.
♪
♪
-hey, daryl.
-Yo?
How's the visibility
down there?
♪
daryl: Uh, it's pretty
un-sterile.
Oh, that's bad.
Oh, no.
I'm on some material.
I'm able to see gold.
It's pretty fine gold.
I'm gonna stay here
a little bit.
I want to get on that
"t" side of the boat.
Emily: Okay, yeah, 10-4.
Sounds good.
If you need me to do
a box check, just let me know.
Yeah, 10-4.
Okey-dokie.
Well, I think I'm ready
for you just to leave.
I'm good to go.
My policy in training
new tenders is to be
out here during
the initial dive.
I just want you to get
familiar with the equipment.
Okay.
♪
narrator: Coming up...
All this gold,
all these [bleep] piles of gold,
steve, it's not going
to replace your son,
and that's what you're
going to end up losing.
What? For some
pile of gold?
You won't even
look me in the eyes!
'cause you're
an [bleep] lunatic!
Narrator: On the eroica...
Emily's being really patient
with me.
Dad's doing okay.
As long as he doesn't
drive me crazy first.
Narrator: ...With lead diver
daryl galipeau on the gold.
...Captain emily is still
putting her dad
through the paces.
Whew.
No, no, no.
Little micro-managing here
on emily's part.
Once my dad is trained up
and established on the boat,
I am gonna be free to pursue
other gold mining opportunities,
which could change the face
of how I operate in nome.
You want to see a picture
of the dredge?
Check it out.
Once I acquire the madre d'oro,
it'll be my job to get
the madre going and mining,
and then my dad's gonna be
running the eroica.
And this thing hauls.
You know, it goes
about 12 knots.
Oh, okay.
You know?
So it's pretty fast
for a dredge.
Narrator: But in order to
expand her operation,
emily needs capital.
So a big haul to round out
the final leg of
the season is critical.
♪
hey, daryl,
how's it going?
Daryl: Okay.
Yeah, I'm coming up.
♪
♪
♪
oh, yeah.
See some gold
in there?
It's actually looking
damn good.
Yeah.
But this.
Look at this.
Oh, no.
Look at this.
-Oh, no!
-[bleep]
-big gold nugget
-oh, yeah.
Steve: How dare it?
[ laughs ]
oh, look at that puppy.
Wow, look at that.
Sharp eyed daryl.
We're on great gold,
and dad seems to have
a pretty good handle
on things.
So if he can keep up
this momentum,
I can be freed up to go
and look into a second dredge.
Well, let's
find another one.
Find another one
in there, daryl.
[ laughs ]
come on.
You can do it.
Now dad wants to
find a nugget.
Yeah, I do.
[ laughs ]
narrator: 10 miles west...
I got to the solenoid
that's screwed up.
Now, that's locked.
And then when I push
this down...
It opens up.
Narrator: Shawn pomrenke
is fighting to get
the christine rose
back up and running.
Shawn: So if we just bring on
the top and put this back
together, that should
make it work.
Then we'll be
back into business.
♪
being a miner, it makes it hard
to find the time
to balance
between mining and family
because the mining season
is so short.
You have to make
a year's worth of income
in four to five months.
Definitely makes it hard.
[ beeping ]
♪
[ whirring ]
it's working!
Yippee-yah!
Let's go!
Back to making gold, boys.
Whoo!
[ whirring ]
it's working.
All right.
Well, you guys got this.
I'm gonna get my boy home.
He's got school tomorrow.
All right.
Back to business.
What's in the box?
Up to your left.
To your left.
By the header.
Your other left.
Whoa!
What do you think?
There's thousands of dollars
right there.
♪
there you go.
Good job.
I survived!
I want my son
to be proud of me,
and I want him to know
what I do is important.
Good job, guys.
I want him to look up to me.
♪
he makes it all worth while.
I got a pretty amazing family,
pretty amazing kids.
Only thing that's not
real amazing is my father.
I've always been waiting
for him to change,
but it's pretty sad to say
that I really don't like my dad.
But all I can do is not be
anything like him and change
and be way better to this kid
than he was ever to me.
Plan on being the best dad
I possibly can to him
and teaching him
everything I know
and let him go from there.
If he grows up loving the water
like I do,
I'll be a very proud man.
♪
narrator: Coming up...
Emily: Let's see what we got.
5...
30...
38...
41.
Ooh, look at that nice
pretty gold.
♪
okay, elaine, you're up
to about two hours.
You about done?
Elaine:
Yeah, I think so.
Narrator: Captain in training
elaine has now become
diver in training.
Vernon: So yeah, we'll go ahead
and heave you on up.
Okay. Copy that.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm proud of you
for the first time up to bat.
She'll be a diving gorilla
here before long.
♪
no other way to put it.
Elaine kicked some serious
butt today
just when we needed it
the most.
Whoo!
Good job.
I think everyone realized
that it was going to be
a challenge for me,
that I was a little bit nervous
and that it wasn't something
that was
in my comfort zone at all.
So just seeing me push myself
for the benefit of the crew,
I think was important.
All right.
Good job, elaine.
After everything we've put in it
and all the years
I've got up there,
when we have a good day
and we've been on the gold,
everybody's happy.
It's just a great feeling.
All right.
See what the box looks like.
Oh, man. Yeah.
That box is looking good.
Damn, look at all that.
That's big enough to make
a nose ring out of.
It's a nice little
picker there, elaine.
That's some
good gold in there.
I'm a full fledged
bering sea gold miner now.
That was fun.
Elaine always wants a pat
on the back and an atta boy.
You were
a great help.
Thank you.
I think she would
probably drop over if I ever got
all mushy like.
I let her know
in other ways.
♪
narrator: 11 miles east...
♪
♪
oh, my dad's cleaning gold
about 20 feet that way.
Narrator:
...Captain shawn pomrenke
is working up the nerve
to rip off the bandage
on an old family wound.
Spending time with luke today
really made me realize
how screwed up things
are with my dad.
9 times out of 10, you put my
dad and myself in the same room,
there's going to be a fight.
He's pretty good at avoiding me
and doing his own thing.
Heart's pounding.
The thing is, the business is
thriving and doing very well,
and it doesn't need
to be like this, but it is.
And it's unfortunate.
And it's really sad.
But what do you do?
For this operation
to be successful,
it's got to be healthy,
not just financially,
but from the heart, as well.
Got to do it sooner or later.
♪
♪
look me in the face.
Look me in the eyes!
You owe me an apology!
Shawn: You don't owe me
an apology?
Get the [bleep]
away from me!
No.
I ain't going nowhere.
I'm gonna stand right here
until [bleep]
don't push me around.
You don't owe me
an apology?
Oh, a lunatic?
I mean, you work hard,
so do I.
But it doesn't give you
any right to treat me
or talk to me
the way you do.
Look at me in the eye.
Let's figure it out.
But you can't
even talk to me.
Buy me out,
mr. [bleep] big shot,
mr. Big gold.
Oh, oh.
But mr. Big shot,
big gold
that bought all that
[bleep] equipment back there.
[bleep] you.
What? That ocean didn't pay
for any of that equipment?
It wasn't my half of
[bleep] my money
that paid for all that,
half that equipment?
You know what?
All this gold,
all this [bleep]
piles of gold, steve,
that's not going to
replace your son,
and that's what you're going
to end up losing.
What?
For some pile of gold?
This [bleep] that's going on
needs to [bleep] end
because I can't sleep,
I can't think.
But it's all going
to come to a [bleep] end.
Get out.
True colors.
Your true colors.
What?
You won't even
look me in the eyes?
'cause you're
a [bleep] lunatic!
You can intimidate
everybody around here.
You're not intimidating
me anymore.
I ain't trying
to intimidate you, dumb [bleep]
oh, yeah.
I'm a dumb [bleep]
but one thing I am
is a father.
Well, good for you.
Because you don't know
how to be one.
Shawn:
I've been on the ocean 19 years,
but I mined with my dad
for quite a few years
prior to that.
When I come up with the idea
for the christine rose,
he was inland mining, broke,
ready to go under.
And I come up with the idea
for the christine rose.
Well, it was good for
a couple years
because he needed me.
At the beginning, it was
to prove something to my dad
and try to get him to accept me.
If this don't earn
my father's respect,
I don't know what will.
Hey, dad.
Wow, something to pay
the bills with today.
Looking back now,
I would have never gone
into business with my dad.
I would have been just fine
doing what I was doing
the way I was doing it.
Pisses me off that we're even
in this situation, but we are.
♪
steve: You know,
crews on the water.
Where's the box?
You can't get a hold
of them.
Shawn: For two hours?
Do you know
what I was doing?
I was being
a father to my son.
I know it's not
important to you,
but it is kind of
important to me.
Narrator: Captain shawn is
trying to get the pomrenke house
in order.
In the last 12 years,
I haven't taken the time
for me and my kids.
I've focused on
building the shop,
building the man camp,
working all winter ice mining
so that we got money coming in
from all over the place.
You're not going to
disrespect me anymore.
'cause I'm not some
little [bleep] boy
you're not gonna
disrespect --
then show me some
[bleep] respect!
Because you know what?
When you're not here,
we all [bleep] do just fine.
♪
well, you got no retirement
money, basically.
You know, my half
of the company in my retirement,
and I'm supposed
to rely upon you,
the greatest boss
in the world,
to keep this
company rolling.
When you're here,
I don't -- I can't --
you make me feel unwelcome,
and I don't want to be around.
If I'd never come to you
with the idea
of the christine rose,
we wouldn't be sitting
in this room doing
what we're doing right now,
in the position
we're in right now.
There's one constant
in the universe --
don't do business
with your family.
And if you do, be prepared for
a lot of heartache.
♪
narrator: One mile away...
♪
emily: All right, scoop time.
Narrator: ...After
a lucrative day on the gold
while training her father,
it's time for emily riedel
to see just how close she is
to affording a second dredge.
Dad is up here, and I'm teaching
him how to tend on the boat.
And so far, so good.
Seems to be
picking it up just fine.
My goal in bringing him up here
to kind of help me run the boat
while I focus
on the second dredge,
it's working out so far.
There might be an ounce here.
Emily: These little gold flakes,
bringing me closer
to that second dredge.
Let's see what we got.
5...
12, 13, 14...
26...
And...30.
38...
41...
Ooh, look at that
nice pretty gold.
54...
55...
55! [ laughs ]
all right, guys, nice job!
55.
55.
That's beautiful.
Narrator: 55 ounces
is worth over $83,000.
That's emily's biggest
clean out of the season.
And her plan to create a budding
riedel empire is now on its way.
We're on some pretty good gold,
and that second dredge is
becoming more of a possibility.
As long as my dad
and my crew keep on the gold
and keep putting the ounces
in the sluice box,
I think we're good to go.
This is awesome.
Time for a second dredge,
yeah, whoo!
Narrator: Across town...
I'm excited to see
what we come up with.
Narrator: ...After vernon's
daughter elaine jumped
feet first to the rescue,
it's time to see the results
of her maiden dive.
That's looking pretty good.
Well, it's getting well down
into the second tray.
All right!
We're on
the second stage, guys.
Looking pretty good.
We've got quite a bit
of time on the box.
I'm expecting a big cleanup,
and that's about damn time.
-Ready?
-Yeah.
-Oh.
-Wow.
You know, like rows of corn,
except it's golden corn.
Let's get it cleaned up.
Put it on the scale,
then we'll know for sure.
-All right.
Okay, here we go.
All right.
-13...
-14...
14, 15, 16, 17...
17.85.
17.85.
-Whoo!
-17.85.
-All right, you guys!
-All right!
Narrator: 17.85 ounces is worth
over $26,000.
And elaine's heroics have
vernon's team back on track.
This is just what
the doctor ordered.
I've got no doubt
we'll be going full steam
into the rest of the season.
You killed it.
Just to know that I was
able to contribute
is really cool.
You keep it up,
we're got to make ourselves
some serious gold
this season.
All right, gary.
All right.
Give it to me
good job, you guys.
You too, elaine!
Good job!
Narrator: While ken
clings to the lead,
emily banks her best haul yet.
And vernon finally
make some noise.
We're so far behind right now,
I'm gonna take the night shift
we're gonna run all night,
party all day.
Looking pretty weak.
Where we had gold,
we don't have gold now.
Holy [bleep]
crabber is sinking.
We're taking on
water!
We have to help
them right now.
It's a bunch
of [bleep]
dad, don't provoke
the diver.
No, no, no.
Cold means gold.
Okay.
Best gold I've seen
in the box in years.
Oh, look at that. No way
shawn-o can keep up with us.
I'm kenny kerr.
I'm the best miner in nome.
Everything okay?
-Pull me up!
-It's produce or die.
♪
shawn: My father has been
a bully to me my whole life,
and I'm not letting
him do it anymore.
Basically had enough of it.
Well, do you think you
owe me an apology
for the way you've treated me?
Oh, why?
What are you going to do,
beat me up?
Intimidate me? [bleep]
what?
Bully me around?
You know what?
All this gold,
all these [bleep]
piles of gold, steve,
that's not going
to replace your son,
and that's what you're
going to end up losing.
For some pile of gold.
captions paid for by
discovery communications
♪
♪
narrator: As the season enters
the home stretch...
Don't know how long we're going
to be out there, buddy.
Narrator: ...Shawn pomrenke
responds to a sudden call
from the christine rose.
Let's go rescue
this boat.
And he's bringing
the youngest generation of
the pomrenke empire with him,
9-year-old son, luke.
Here we go.
On our way.
Well, we're headed out
because the christine rose
lost power
to the excavator.
Excavator is shut down, so now
we got to go get it going.
With remaining mining days
limited and an ambitious goal
to pay off his debts
from a business deal gone bad...
Well, they're not digging,
so they haven't got it
figured out yet.
...The captain can't afford
any downtime
the rest of the way.
But he's not about to let that
interfere with his job as dad.
Shawn: That's the hardest
thing out of everything to do
is to find that balance
between running the business
and spending quality time
with my son.
My relationship with my dad
has been basically next to none.
I feel a lot better knowing
that I'm not going to
have that kind of relationship
with my kids.
Whee!
There's some gold
in there.
It's flowing, dude.
This is a good spot, man.
We're just starting
to get into it right now, too.
Oh, that looks amazing.
Pulling in.
Now is going to get
this excavator running.
♪
[ beeping ]
[ whirring ]
♪
shawn: We're dead in the water
right now.
We got issues with
the safety switch
that allows you to start
and activate the hydraulics.
Where's that wire run to?
It looks like it goes
to the fuse box.
There's something
grounded out.
Yeah.
But I don't know
where exactly it goes
and what it unlocks.
This is a major deal.
I got to get the christine rose
back up and running asap.
This late in the season,
this late in the game,
the freeze could come in
and set in,
and it could be all over
any day now.
We're dead in the water.
We're dead in the water.
Means that we can't [bleep]
pick up the spuds.
We can't move.
The wind comes up, we're [bleep]
narrator:
With shawn focused offshore...
Steve: Yeah, I guess
I'm out of retirement.
I want to be retired,
but I got to come back here
and keep this going.
It's the only thing
paying the bills.
Narrator: ...Father steve has
kept the wheels turning
at the inland mine throughout
the season away from his son.
Somebody's got to save
shawn's ass.
He ain't making no money
with the christine rose
or out on that ocean
like he's supposed to be.
♪
[ engine sputters, starts ]
this puppy's high tech.
Right now, we're in a battle
here to get the bills paid.
Inland and ocean mining.
So I've been letting shawn
handle all that court work.
Shawn's been having
to deal with that.
He just don't understand
what's going on.
I'm not even talking
to him right now.
Well, there's a lot of things
about shawn that
people don't know.
He's not the greatest
business man in the world.
Now we're down to zero money.
I mean, the kid's burned up
a huge amount of money.
Narrator: The giant debt that's
saddled the pomrenke's
has strained
the family business.
Well, he thinks
the money is never ending.
Well, the money is going to
come to an end right now.
Narrator: But the father and son
aren't exactly strangers
to strained relationships.
Don't need you to run
the christine rose.
You think we need you
that bad?
You can run it?
You [bleep]
damn right I can.
Run it! Yeah!
Just like you've run it
for the last five
[bleep] years!
How many [bleep] days
have you spent out there?!
Busting your [bleep] ass!
All as you, as a manager,
is that what the [bleep]
you're [bleep] here
all day!
I wasn't in charge
of the crew!
Oh, you're not in charge
of the crew out here!
I was moving dirt!
You ask an outsider looking in
who's in the wrong?
Yeah, ask everybody!
Who is the [bleep] wrong?!
You!
Shawn: I work way too damn hard
for this family.
And when I hear [bleep] people
not appreciate me,
it [bleep] sucks, it hurts.
I got some advice for you.
If you need to go into business
with your family...
You're a [bleep]
oh, you gonna [bleep]
hit me?!
...Don't.
Get the [bleep]
out of here.
♪
I would like to retire
one of these days.
I can't afford
to let this company go bankrupt
because that's my retirement.
It has to make money
and has to survive.
Narrator: While the pomrenkes
look to get back on track...
♪
...11 miles west...
After all this long time,
it sure feels good
to get up and into production,
starting to have my doubts
if it was ever gonna happen.
Narrator: After a long stint to
dry dock tending to repairs
on the gold ship,
the adkison family
is finally back on the water.
And not a moment too soon.
It's been a rough season.
We went through a lot.
And now the season's
coming to an end,
and we've got to hammer it,
get all the gold
we possibly can.
So that we can afford
to come back another day.
Narrator: The patched up
gold ship is ready
to start gobbling up gold.
But with winter looming,
the old skipper will need
to get on a pay streak
with lightning speed
to have any chance at all
of hitting his season goal.
Time to get out there
and get mining.
Season's getting close
to an end.
Vernon: We're gonna go for it.
We were just starting
to taste the gold
before the equipment went down.
We're gonna get back out there
and drop right back
down on top of it.
We got to make up
for lost time and fast.
Okay, here we go.
I got my fingers crossed.
[ engine starts ]
today will be the big test.
♪
here we go.
Okay.
♪
yeah, roger, roger.
♪
♪
hey, gary,
how's it going?
Gary: Oh, going good.
Hell, yeah.
That's awesome.
We'll know here
pretty quick.
Yeah, this looks
good stuff.
♪
okay, good. So we got it coming
through the box. Let's go.
♪
all right.
I thought I was gonna have
to do a lot of prospecting.
But it looks like
we dropped right down
on some pretty good
cobble ground.
♪
equipment's working.
Hopefully
we're making money.
For the first drop down,
this sounds great.
Yeah, this is
good stuff here.
It's always good with you drop
down on top of the gold
first shot out of the box.
We're gonna make money.
Alright, great, great.
Alright.
All right.
We're in production.
Unless we have some
major foul up,
we should get some
gold in the box.
♪
well, gary's getting a bit
of a workout.
♪
[ groans ]
♪
[ groans ]
♪
hey, gary, are you still
seeing it down there?
Yep.
Oh, you got a headache?
Yeah.
[ groans ]
is there anything
we can do to help you?
[ groans ]
yeah, yeah, okay.
Oh, boy.
Lot of things can happen
to the divers
when they're down there.
They can get dehydrated.
There's a lot of pressure
bearing on their bodies.
Gary's as tough as they come.
If he's complaining, you better
believe there's something wrong.
[ groans ] yeah, I'm pretty
whupped here, guys.
-Yep, yep okay. All right,
well, come on up, gary.
Yep, I'm coming up.
This is killing me.
We just got back on the water.
Everything was going good,
and now this happens.
It's just frustrating
beyond belief.
♪
narrator: Coming up...
I'm showing my dad
how the boat works.
Pretty much
un-trainable.
Why?
-What?
-Don't open that valve.
There's a lot to remember.
I'm pretty overwhelmed.
Narrator: On the gold ship
wild ranger...
What was the depth
you were in?
I went 35 feet.
35 feet, that's safe.
Narrator: ...Captain vernon's
lead diver is out of the water
despite tapping into
a hot pay streak.
So an ambitious rookie
is taking his place...
Wasn't really expecting this.
But I'll take it.
Narrator: ...To make sure
the team stays on the gold.
Well, I'm getting suited up in
a miscellaneous wet suit.
I'm gonna jump in there
and see if I can contribute.
Would you drop
the damn attitude?!
Narrator: The adkison
father-daughter
working relationship
has been rocky in the past.
I'm not gonna get
any cooperation out of you.
That's just
a fact of life.
Yeah, you're right.
I got business, right?
Yeah!
You answer the damn phone
when I call you!
Get your [bleep] ass
off this boat!
Get off the freakin' boat!
I'm sick of your [bleep]
narrator: And this summer,
elaine is putting it to the test
with an ambitious plan.
Elaine wants to eventually
be the captain.
She's willing to do
whatever it takes
to have the operation
be successful,
even willing to jump in and dive
at these depths,
which she has not done before.
I'm nervous because
of how deep I'm diving.
It's a long way up if
I were to lose air,
elaine is a stubborn,
hard headed individual
and I don't know where
she got that from.
But once she decides
she's gonna do something,
she'll stick with it
until it happens.
You know, my end goal has never
been to be a diver,
but I'd like to prove
that I can do it
and just gain that experience
down on the bottom.
Diving's not easy.
It's dangerous.
Especially on the bering sea.
But truth is, we need the gold.
The main thing is don't panic.
That's what kills.
No matter what happens
down there, do not panic, okay?
We need to get down there
and fill in and make sure
we got the right number of hours
so that we can make it happen.
Good luck.
Stay safe.
♪
♪
♪
okay, you're looking good.
Your breathing sounds good.
Elaine: Holy [bleep]
you'd be better off going
a few feet down the hose
and hang out.
You're in the danger zone.
♪
♪
yeah.
Yeah. Copy.
We see it.
Yeah, that looks good.
That's the good stuff
right there.
And you should start seeing
gold all over the place.
Elaine: Okay. About how far
down does it go?
Yeah. Pretty much just
a foot right there.
That top layer
is all you're taking.
Okay. Copy that.
Just keep that
nozzle in motion.
Try to strip it
and get it all.
Yeah. Copy that.
Alright, well,
you're making money.
You might not
want to come up.
[ chuckles ]
oh, yeah.
♪
narrator: 10 miles east...
♪
[ groans ]
oh, I put
a big dent in it.
Sorry.
...As winter looms
on the horizon,
the final push of the season
is a family affair
for eroica captain
emily riedel.
I'm excited to get going.
Get emily off the dredge.
I've asked my dad to help me
manage the eroica
while I look into acquiring
another dredge.
But things have not
started off well.
Narrator: Emily and her dad's
mining relationship
hasn't exactly been golden.
Emily, don't be
smart with me.
I'm walking out of here
if you're gonna start
getting smart ass
with me.
Okay, walk all you want.
Okay, I'll see you later.
I'm out of here.
I'm just saying if you
want to call yourself
the captain, then be
the [bleep] captain.
It was captain,
and I was disobeyed
over and over
and over again.
Where are you?
I'm at the dock.
Emily: You missed the boat.
Narrator: Now to achieve
her goal of expanding
the riedel empire, emily will
need to rely on her dad.
Even now I'm taking a chance
bringing my dad on,
I feel like if you're going
to do that with anybody,
it should be family.
♪
oh, can't see a thing.
Oh, wait.
All the light,
that's weird.
We're gonna be trying
to do some mining today,
but also showing my dad
the ropes of how the boat works
and how to be the best tender
on the bering sea.
I'm pretty much
un-trainable,
but emily is gonna
give it a shot.
So there might be
hope for me.
You can lower this
fellow down like this.
And then we'll go ahead
and lower the foot valve.
Foot valve is
my favorite.
Have you heard of
air throttle control?
Air throttle? No.
The rpm gauges
don't work.
They work.
Are you starting it
the right way?
Yeah.
There it is.
There's a lot to remember.
I'm pretty overwhelmed.
Dad! Don't start the engine
with the motor idled.
I don't know why
you would do that,
but don't do that.
♪
why?
What?
Did you open
that valve?
Don't open that valve.
Emily: Look, I own the boat.
It's my boat, my rules.
I can't work with anybody
who can't respect that.
So hopefully there's
no conflict, you know?
He just needs to get on the boat
and do his job and go home.
And that's all that
needs to happen.
Narrator: With
the crash course complete,
it's time to get
lead diver daryl galipeau
in the water and hopefully
on the money.
♪
let's go do a comm check.
♪
♪
-hey, daryl.
-Yo?
How's the visibility
down there?
♪
daryl: Uh, it's pretty
un-sterile.
Oh, that's bad.
Oh, no.
I'm on some material.
I'm able to see gold.
It's pretty fine gold.
I'm gonna stay here
a little bit.
I want to get on that
"t" side of the boat.
Emily: Okay, yeah, 10-4.
Sounds good.
If you need me to do
a box check, just let me know.
Yeah, 10-4.
Okey-dokie.
Well, I think I'm ready
for you just to leave.
I'm good to go.
My policy in training
new tenders is to be
out here during
the initial dive.
I just want you to get
familiar with the equipment.
Okay.
♪
narrator: Coming up...
All this gold,
all these [bleep] piles of gold,
steve, it's not going
to replace your son,
and that's what you're
going to end up losing.
What? For some
pile of gold?
You won't even
look me in the eyes!
'cause you're
an [bleep] lunatic!
Narrator: On the eroica...
Emily's being really patient
with me.
Dad's doing okay.
As long as he doesn't
drive me crazy first.
Narrator: ...With lead diver
daryl galipeau on the gold.
...Captain emily is still
putting her dad
through the paces.
Whew.
No, no, no.
Little micro-managing here
on emily's part.
Once my dad is trained up
and established on the boat,
I am gonna be free to pursue
other gold mining opportunities,
which could change the face
of how I operate in nome.
You want to see a picture
of the dredge?
Check it out.
Once I acquire the madre d'oro,
it'll be my job to get
the madre going and mining,
and then my dad's gonna be
running the eroica.
And this thing hauls.
You know, it goes
about 12 knots.
Oh, okay.
You know?
So it's pretty fast
for a dredge.
Narrator: But in order to
expand her operation,
emily needs capital.
So a big haul to round out
the final leg of
the season is critical.
♪
hey, daryl,
how's it going?
Daryl: Okay.
Yeah, I'm coming up.
♪
♪
♪
oh, yeah.
See some gold
in there?
It's actually looking
damn good.
Yeah.
But this.
Look at this.
Oh, no.
Look at this.
-Oh, no!
-[bleep]
-big gold nugget
-oh, yeah.
Steve: How dare it?
[ laughs ]
oh, look at that puppy.
Wow, look at that.
Sharp eyed daryl.
We're on great gold,
and dad seems to have
a pretty good handle
on things.
So if he can keep up
this momentum,
I can be freed up to go
and look into a second dredge.
Well, let's
find another one.
Find another one
in there, daryl.
[ laughs ]
come on.
You can do it.
Now dad wants to
find a nugget.
Yeah, I do.
[ laughs ]
narrator: 10 miles west...
I got to the solenoid
that's screwed up.
Now, that's locked.
And then when I push
this down...
It opens up.
Narrator: Shawn pomrenke
is fighting to get
the christine rose
back up and running.
Shawn: So if we just bring on
the top and put this back
together, that should
make it work.
Then we'll be
back into business.
♪
being a miner, it makes it hard
to find the time
to balance
between mining and family
because the mining season
is so short.
You have to make
a year's worth of income
in four to five months.
Definitely makes it hard.
[ beeping ]
♪
[ whirring ]
it's working!
Yippee-yah!
Let's go!
Back to making gold, boys.
Whoo!
[ whirring ]
it's working.
All right.
Well, you guys got this.
I'm gonna get my boy home.
He's got school tomorrow.
All right.
Back to business.
What's in the box?
Up to your left.
To your left.
By the header.
Your other left.
Whoa!
What do you think?
There's thousands of dollars
right there.
♪
there you go.
Good job.
I survived!
I want my son
to be proud of me,
and I want him to know
what I do is important.
Good job, guys.
I want him to look up to me.
♪
he makes it all worth while.
I got a pretty amazing family,
pretty amazing kids.
Only thing that's not
real amazing is my father.
I've always been waiting
for him to change,
but it's pretty sad to say
that I really don't like my dad.
But all I can do is not be
anything like him and change
and be way better to this kid
than he was ever to me.
Plan on being the best dad
I possibly can to him
and teaching him
everything I know
and let him go from there.
If he grows up loving the water
like I do,
I'll be a very proud man.
♪
narrator: Coming up...
Emily: Let's see what we got.
5...
30...
38...
41.
Ooh, look at that nice
pretty gold.
♪
okay, elaine, you're up
to about two hours.
You about done?
Elaine:
Yeah, I think so.
Narrator: Captain in training
elaine has now become
diver in training.
Vernon: So yeah, we'll go ahead
and heave you on up.
Okay. Copy that.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm proud of you
for the first time up to bat.
She'll be a diving gorilla
here before long.
♪
no other way to put it.
Elaine kicked some serious
butt today
just when we needed it
the most.
Whoo!
Good job.
I think everyone realized
that it was going to be
a challenge for me,
that I was a little bit nervous
and that it wasn't something
that was
in my comfort zone at all.
So just seeing me push myself
for the benefit of the crew,
I think was important.
All right.
Good job, elaine.
After everything we've put in it
and all the years
I've got up there,
when we have a good day
and we've been on the gold,
everybody's happy.
It's just a great feeling.
All right.
See what the box looks like.
Oh, man. Yeah.
That box is looking good.
Damn, look at all that.
That's big enough to make
a nose ring out of.
It's a nice little
picker there, elaine.
That's some
good gold in there.
I'm a full fledged
bering sea gold miner now.
That was fun.
Elaine always wants a pat
on the back and an atta boy.
You were
a great help.
Thank you.
I think she would
probably drop over if I ever got
all mushy like.
I let her know
in other ways.
♪
narrator: 11 miles east...
♪
♪
oh, my dad's cleaning gold
about 20 feet that way.
Narrator:
...Captain shawn pomrenke
is working up the nerve
to rip off the bandage
on an old family wound.
Spending time with luke today
really made me realize
how screwed up things
are with my dad.
9 times out of 10, you put my
dad and myself in the same room,
there's going to be a fight.
He's pretty good at avoiding me
and doing his own thing.
Heart's pounding.
The thing is, the business is
thriving and doing very well,
and it doesn't need
to be like this, but it is.
And it's unfortunate.
And it's really sad.
But what do you do?
For this operation
to be successful,
it's got to be healthy,
not just financially,
but from the heart, as well.
Got to do it sooner or later.
♪
♪
look me in the face.
Look me in the eyes!
You owe me an apology!
Shawn: You don't owe me
an apology?
Get the [bleep]
away from me!
No.
I ain't going nowhere.
I'm gonna stand right here
until [bleep]
don't push me around.
You don't owe me
an apology?
Oh, a lunatic?
I mean, you work hard,
so do I.
But it doesn't give you
any right to treat me
or talk to me
the way you do.
Look at me in the eye.
Let's figure it out.
But you can't
even talk to me.
Buy me out,
mr. [bleep] big shot,
mr. Big gold.
Oh, oh.
But mr. Big shot,
big gold
that bought all that
[bleep] equipment back there.
[bleep] you.
What? That ocean didn't pay
for any of that equipment?
It wasn't my half of
[bleep] my money
that paid for all that,
half that equipment?
You know what?
All this gold,
all this [bleep]
piles of gold, steve,
that's not going to
replace your son,
and that's what you're going
to end up losing.
What?
For some pile of gold?
This [bleep] that's going on
needs to [bleep] end
because I can't sleep,
I can't think.
But it's all going
to come to a [bleep] end.
Get out.
True colors.
Your true colors.
What?
You won't even
look me in the eyes?
'cause you're
a [bleep] lunatic!
You can intimidate
everybody around here.
You're not intimidating
me anymore.
I ain't trying
to intimidate you, dumb [bleep]
oh, yeah.
I'm a dumb [bleep]
but one thing I am
is a father.
Well, good for you.
Because you don't know
how to be one.
Shawn:
I've been on the ocean 19 years,
but I mined with my dad
for quite a few years
prior to that.
When I come up with the idea
for the christine rose,
he was inland mining, broke,
ready to go under.
And I come up with the idea
for the christine rose.
Well, it was good for
a couple years
because he needed me.
At the beginning, it was
to prove something to my dad
and try to get him to accept me.
If this don't earn
my father's respect,
I don't know what will.
Hey, dad.
Wow, something to pay
the bills with today.
Looking back now,
I would have never gone
into business with my dad.
I would have been just fine
doing what I was doing
the way I was doing it.
Pisses me off that we're even
in this situation, but we are.
♪
steve: You know,
crews on the water.
Where's the box?
You can't get a hold
of them.
Shawn: For two hours?
Do you know
what I was doing?
I was being
a father to my son.
I know it's not
important to you,
but it is kind of
important to me.
Narrator: Captain shawn is
trying to get the pomrenke house
in order.
In the last 12 years,
I haven't taken the time
for me and my kids.
I've focused on
building the shop,
building the man camp,
working all winter ice mining
so that we got money coming in
from all over the place.
You're not going to
disrespect me anymore.
'cause I'm not some
little [bleep] boy
you're not gonna
disrespect --
then show me some
[bleep] respect!
Because you know what?
When you're not here,
we all [bleep] do just fine.
♪
well, you got no retirement
money, basically.
You know, my half
of the company in my retirement,
and I'm supposed
to rely upon you,
the greatest boss
in the world,
to keep this
company rolling.
When you're here,
I don't -- I can't --
you make me feel unwelcome,
and I don't want to be around.
If I'd never come to you
with the idea
of the christine rose,
we wouldn't be sitting
in this room doing
what we're doing right now,
in the position
we're in right now.
There's one constant
in the universe --
don't do business
with your family.
And if you do, be prepared for
a lot of heartache.
♪
narrator: One mile away...
♪
emily: All right, scoop time.
Narrator: ...After
a lucrative day on the gold
while training her father,
it's time for emily riedel
to see just how close she is
to affording a second dredge.
Dad is up here, and I'm teaching
him how to tend on the boat.
And so far, so good.
Seems to be
picking it up just fine.
My goal in bringing him up here
to kind of help me run the boat
while I focus
on the second dredge,
it's working out so far.
There might be an ounce here.
Emily: These little gold flakes,
bringing me closer
to that second dredge.
Let's see what we got.
5...
12, 13, 14...
26...
And...30.
38...
41...
Ooh, look at that
nice pretty gold.
54...
55...
55! [ laughs ]
all right, guys, nice job!
55.
55.
That's beautiful.
Narrator: 55 ounces
is worth over $83,000.
That's emily's biggest
clean out of the season.
And her plan to create a budding
riedel empire is now on its way.
We're on some pretty good gold,
and that second dredge is
becoming more of a possibility.
As long as my dad
and my crew keep on the gold
and keep putting the ounces
in the sluice box,
I think we're good to go.
This is awesome.
Time for a second dredge,
yeah, whoo!
Narrator: Across town...
I'm excited to see
what we come up with.
Narrator: ...After vernon's
daughter elaine jumped
feet first to the rescue,
it's time to see the results
of her maiden dive.
That's looking pretty good.
Well, it's getting well down
into the second tray.
All right!
We're on
the second stage, guys.
Looking pretty good.
We've got quite a bit
of time on the box.
I'm expecting a big cleanup,
and that's about damn time.
-Ready?
-Yeah.
-Oh.
-Wow.
You know, like rows of corn,
except it's golden corn.
Let's get it cleaned up.
Put it on the scale,
then we'll know for sure.
-All right.
Okay, here we go.
All right.
-13...
-14...
14, 15, 16, 17...
17.85.
17.85.
-Whoo!
-17.85.
-All right, you guys!
-All right!
Narrator: 17.85 ounces is worth
over $26,000.
And elaine's heroics have
vernon's team back on track.
This is just what
the doctor ordered.
I've got no doubt
we'll be going full steam
into the rest of the season.
You killed it.
Just to know that I was
able to contribute
is really cool.
You keep it up,
we're got to make ourselves
some serious gold
this season.
All right, gary.
All right.
Give it to me
good job, you guys.
You too, elaine!
Good job!
Narrator: While ken
clings to the lead,
emily banks her best haul yet.
And vernon finally
make some noise.
We're so far behind right now,
I'm gonna take the night shift
we're gonna run all night,
party all day.
Looking pretty weak.
Where we had gold,
we don't have gold now.
Holy [bleep]
crabber is sinking.
We're taking on
water!
We have to help
them right now.
It's a bunch
of [bleep]
dad, don't provoke
the diver.
No, no, no.
Cold means gold.
Okay.
Best gold I've seen
in the box in years.
Oh, look at that. No way
shawn-o can keep up with us.
I'm kenny kerr.
I'm the best miner in nome.
Everything okay?
-Pull me up!
-It's produce or die.
♪