Bering Sea Gold (2012–…): Season 6, Episode 2 - Pressure - full transcript

Narrator:
Nome, alaska.

The race for summer gold
is kicking into high gear.

Heading towards the east,
honing in on this pay streak.

Narrator: The captains
of the dredging fleet...

Shawn: I'm the one that has
to provide for everybody.

If I don't go out and do my job,
everybody hurts.

Narrator: With great power...

We're about
to try the diesel.

...Comes great
responsibility.

If I don't make this happen,
I'm letting down everyone.

This is what
250 horse sounds like.



[ engine revs ]

Yeah! Today, I want to put
a lot more gold in the box.

I'm really putting
all of my reputation

And my skills on the line here.

Everyone's looking at me
for their cut of the gold.

Narrator: Uneasy lies the head
that runs the dredge...

If I risk my future
and my mom's future on this,

If the kellys
are ever gonna be successful,

This is the season.

Narrator:
...And the pressure is on.

I'm gonna be a rock star, baby.

This is what it's all about.

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

[ dog barking ]



Narrator:
In a summer of gambling,

One of the biggest bets
of the season

Is about to hit the water.

Oh, that's awesome.
It's coming together.

We got everybody
working together.

Everybody's got
their own little chore.

They've all got a list.
They know what they're doing.

Narrator: In a matter of hours,
the bering sea will meet

The biggest suction dredge
in its history.

-So this is the last one?
-Yeah, that's it.

[bleep]
let's do it.

Narrator:
Enter the high noon,

A massive 25-by-50-foot beast

With over 70 feet
of sluice box,

Unheard of
12-inch suction nozzle

And a turbo-charged
250-horsepower engine.

Probably the biggest,
nicest dredge

To launch in the last couple
years I know of.

$400,000-plus into this boat
in less than three years,

And it's all my money.

Narrator: At the helm,
34-year-old veteran miner,

Derek mcclarty.

I showed up in nome in 2004,

And I thought I had everything
figured out.

But you can't just come up here

And be like,
"oh, I'm gonna go to nome.

I'm gonna go gold mining."

You have to pay a little bit
of your dues.

Narrator: For derek...

I'm clear. Go for it!

...Paying his dues has gone
from the lazy gator...

Hold that.

Take this boat...
To the eroica...

And see how it does
without a crew.

...To the wild ranger.

You direct the show
out here.

I'll talk to you
through the door.

Sounds good.
I'll watch it.

Derek: Huddle up.

Now, after spending
his life savings...

We'll back her up
towards the ramp.

We'll stop.
We'll look at it.

We'll talk about it
a little bit more

Before we jump
in the water.

...Derek's making the jump
from crewman to captain.

Derek:
You got to live your own life,

And what I wanted in my life
was more adventure.

So I got rid of my house,
sold everything I owned,

And put it towards this dredge.

And now I'm flat-broke.

Everybody told me I was crazy,

But this is my dream.

And I don't let anybody else's
opinion of what my dream is

Hinder where I'm going.

Narrator: The dream?

Setting the new standard
in dredging.

Derek: The high noon
means two things --

It's a showdown.

[ whistles ]

And then the noon
represented a 12.

So it's a 12-inch
suction dredge...

Hey, don't forget
to kick-start it.

[ imitates engine
turning over ]

See, the 12-inch, to me,

It's just
the natural progression

Because you just look at

The history of suction dredging
in nome.

Four-inch dredge,
then it went up.

Somebody built a six.

And then an eight-inch.

Well, then somebody
built a 10-inch dredge.

Why did
this progression stop?

Oh, man.

I'm pretty nervous,
but I'm cool with this.

This is gonna go well.

It has to.

Narrator:
While derek preps to launch,

Six miles to the west...

On the christine rose...

Come on.

I want to find
the mother lode.

Narrator:
Mr. Gold, shawn pomrenke,

Is back on the hunt.

Shawn: I want to do
100 ounces in a day.

Hell, I want to do
100 ounces in an hour.

It pays to prospect.

Narrator: After scratching out

A 77-ounce,
$92,000 first cleanup...

Shawn:
See what the hell's down here.

Narrator: ...Shawn has spent
the last 5 hours

Trying to get back on
pay dirt.

Gold's not everywhere out there.

It's in concentrated,
little pockets,

And those spots
are getting smaller and smaller.

So I'm spending way more time
prospecting than I am mining.

I like an ounce an hour.

That's how we've grown this
business to where it's gotten,

And I'm not gonna settle
for anything less.

I don't like it.

Gonna keep on moving,
keep on panning.

I'll find it.

It's just getting
harder and harder to find.

Right now, the only thing making
this company money is this --

Me, right here,
out here on the bering sea

With the christine rose.

Otherwise,
dad's just spending it

As fast as I can make it.

Narrator:
For more than a year...

Are you in on the inland mining
or out?

Narrator:
...Shawn's old man, steve,

Has spent all their profits

On a new
inland mining operation.

They looked like
a good deal,

So we're getting them.

Narrator: Now...

Sometimes, just,
the way he operates

Scares the hell out of me.

Narrator: ...The family business
is paycheck-to-paycheck.

Shawn: I'm out here.

I got to take care of
all the guys that work for us,

And he don't seem
to care about that too much.

There's a lot of people
that count on us

To take care of them.

I mean,
we provide for the whole family.

Right now,
I'm the one wearing the shoes,

And he's kind
of riding second to me.

And I think dad
wants to fill those shoes again.

Narrator: As sole provider
for the company...

Come on, come on.

Narrator:
...Shawn has to keep the dredge
on gold 24 hours a day.

Shawn: Oh-ho-ho,

That's what I'm talking about.

That's why we prospect.

That's a good pan there.

That's 25 ounces a day
right there.

Game on!

¶¶

It's time to dig!

We're gonna make some gold
today!

Whoo!

Didn't find the mother lode.

I found the father lode.

It all goes to my father.

Narrator:
37 miles to the east...

...At the reaper...

We're going out today.

The first prospecting day
of our new claims.

This is gonna be awesome today.

I'm telling you.
We're gonna kill it.

Narrator: ...The fightin' kellys
are kicking off

Their summer dredging
adventure.

This isn't gonna be easy
by any means.

This is gonna be
a [bleep] hard-core mission,

Uphill both ways,

And we got to fight everybody
that I know.

Right, dad?

Good.

Narrator:
After gambling 10,000 bucks.

On untouched mining grounds
far outside town,

Brad and his sons

Are heading out to put
their eyes on their prize.

We got everything
invested in this.

It's got to pay off
for us this season.

It just has to.

I put a lot of my own money
into this buying claims,

Hoping they're gonna pay off.

This could be a big deal for us.

This could change our life.

We don't really know
until we get down there though.

Narrator: Getting down there
is another story.

We got about two miles

Before we meet
the mouth of the ocean,

And then about
another two miles back

So we can get to our claim.

It's all gonna be worth it.

All of this risk,
it's gonna be worth the reward.

We just got to get out there
and make this happen right now.

Narrator: With no boat launch
this far from town,

Getting rich at solomon

Is the simple matter
of a four-mile sea cruise...

Brad: Crack the whip,
open this baby up.

Narrator:
...At a top speed of two knots.

Four miles is kind of [bleep].

Can we go a little faster?

Brad: No.

Narrator: While the kelly boys
are on their way,

27 miles west...

On claim 14...

I think we're getting at
some good stuff right now.

I hope those little flurries
continue.

Narrator:
...Captain emily riedel has
the eroica back up and running.

The first trip...

...A pontoon leak
and broken combox...

Daryl g.:
Aah! [groans]

...Pulled emily's star diver
off the gold.

[bleep]

Now...

Yep,
there's gold in this.

Emily: [bleep] yes!

Narrator: ...The pressure's on
to make up for lost time.

Daryl's a great diver.

He's a great dredger.

I need daryl
to make this operation work.

Oh!

A picker.
Emily: Yay!

We're on lease 14.

A lot of it's
been cleared out,

But there are still
some hot spots on there.

And daryl is pretty much

The only one who seems
to be able to find them.

So daryl's
like a star football player,

And I'm a sports agent.

If it's paying
an ounce an hour,

It's definitely
worth staying here.

Daryl g.: Yeah.

We're gonna eat up

An unbelievable
amount of ground

If we keep dredging this.

You're doing great.

You're on, like,
hour six down there.

Ohh! Hold it!

Hold up, sluice box
has fallen off.

Oh, my god.

Narrator: Off the coast of nome
on the eroica...

There's gold on these rocks
right up here.

Narrator:
With diver daryl galipeau

On the best gold
of their season...

Hey, daryl,
cease mining operations.

The sluice box
is falling off.

Uh-oh.
Don't lose that picker.

Narrator:
...The sluice box broke free,

Putting emily's entire haul
in jeopardy.

Emily: Why don't you go ahead
and come up?

Man: Watch your step.

It looks like
quite a bit of material

Might have been
dumped out.

We've got another ratchet strap
on board.

Do you want to try that?
-Oh, yeah.

Uh-oh.

Emily: I don't know.
We've definitely lost some.

Bering sea is back
with a vengeance.

It looks like this bolt...

...Had been broken halfway.

And then it just
snapped the other side.

You can see this part,
it's all rusted.

And this is
a fresh, clean steel

So this bolt
was broken already.

I think that
we're not gonna be able

To get that turnbuckle on there
unless we go in.

Narrator: For the second time
in as many trips,

A lucrative dive
is being cut short.

We're, like, making money
on the bottom of the ocean.

And then our [bleep] sluice box
is gonna dump it out.

Then we're not making
any progress.

The way it's been going,
I can't stay up here.

Narrator:
Now the sluice box is the least
of emily's problems.

Every time I dive,

It ends up short
for one reason or another.

I make my living
off of gold.

That's it.

I don't make gold
if I don't get hours.

Emily: There's no loyalty
where daryl is concerned.

If my boat's
not making a lot of money

Then he's gonna find
a different gig.

And if daryl walked away
at this point in the season,

It would be really devastating.

Well, I'm gonna go ahead
and make a marker buoy

And drop it right here.

Once we get the sluice box
rigged up,

We're gonna head back
and check out the spilled gold.

Narrator:
While emily retreats,

Eight miles to the west...

...On the rockwall claim...

Zeke:
We're in a great spot.

Her former partner,
zeke tenhoff,

Has been on the gold
for 6 hours.

Tasked with making
500 ounces of gold

For his corporate masters,

Zeke's pulled in
just 8.7 ounces to date.

Hey, jesse. There's gold
all over the place here,

And I want to tell you
to dredge it up.

Thanks.

In order
to deliver the goods...

Ha! Ha!

He'll have to rely on

His company-assigned
dive team.

After our first cleanup
didn't end up being
all that great,

There's a lot of eyes on me
and a lot of pressure.

So my job was to put the havilah
on gold and get divers,

Get a lot of hours out there
sucking up that gold.

Narrator: First up,

Former havilah lead diver,
jesse solomon.

This is a 4-inch layer
of fine gravel on top of clay,

And there's some gold
under it.

And you can just go...

I can do that.

Jesse is an experienced diver
and dredger.

He's confident,
and it looks like he's excited.

If I can get him on the gold,

And he can put in the hours,
then it should be a success.

Okay, fire it up.

[ engine whirring ]

Zeke: All right, jesse.
We've got your pump going.

How's it look down there?

All right.

That's feeling
like business, baby.

Let's get some of this.

Get to it.

This thing's moving material.
Whoo!

Copy that.

Let me see if I can get you
into some glitter here.

Whoa!

Never get your hand
in front of the pump.

That almost
broke my wrist.

Yeah, yeah, you can't --
don't let that happen.

Yeah.

[chuckles]
I can't, you know...

Don't do that.
[chuckles]

All right, jesse.
You good?

[bleep] that hurt.

Really hard-packed stuff.

Just get it.
Right.

Copy that,
but get all up in it.

That's what
we're gonna do.

Sounds good.

Load it up.

Crisis averted.

[ laughs ]

Whoa! Son of a bitch!

What's up?
Cannonball.

Gigantic rock
went up the pipe.

What's that?

[ grunts ]

Trying to get a [bleep] rock
out of this thing.

Hold tight.
Get on to it.

He's got a rock jam.

So how we're gonna get to
the rock jams to get them out,

Is turn the pump off.

Then hopefully the rock jam
will fall through the hose.

Look at that.

Dude, like,
rock jams like this,

They shut us down
for like 25 minutes.

Dude, corporate
doesn't need know.

They don't need to know
a thing about this.

Got another one.

What are you gonna do?

Sometimes
you get jammed up.

Okay,
this is looking good, boys.

Fire it up.

There we go.
Get that money.

Did it come out up there?

Zeke:
I think it came through.

Thank god.

It's moving so fast

I can't get my hand
in front of it

To stop those big rocks.

I mean,
he's got to be patient, dude,

And just hope it works out
for the better.

Narrator: While zeke's diver
works it out...

...Two miles west
on the tomcod claim...

Shawn: Looks like we're doing
pretty damn good.

Right now,
the weather's still good.

We're gonna keep running.

Narrator: With his old man
burning up their bank account,

Shawn's working overtime
to keep the barge on gold.

Shawn:
He needs to start backing off

And making due
with what we have.

Buying this and wanting this
and wanting that,

And "I want this,
I want, want, want."

I was like, "well, what if
we don't make much gold

With the c.R.?

What are we gonna pay
all the guys with?"

This area will start
to look really good.

Big rocks, big boulders,
big rocks, big gold...

Maybe we'll get
some nuggets today.

You ready to come dig?

Brent: Game on!

Looks like brent's
getting the gold fever

Pretty bad already.

Narrator:
After a grueling 9 hours
in the chair,

Shawn needs deckhand
brent wacker

To keep moving pay dirt.

Brent's my stepbrother.

He's been around heavy equipment
his whole life.

He's a great worker.

Well, just head in that way
till --

You'll see where you get
to the end of the cut.

Here we go.

[ engine turns over ]

Yee-haw!

Hard digging.

So right now,
I'm digging that way,

And I'm trying to follow
shawn's dig lines.

Crash course on this gps --

It's smarter than
the human brain is already,

You know?

[ rattling ]

[ engine slowing ]

Whoa! [bleep]

At times,
he gets a little rough.

Why so angry?

Wacker's getting
a little aggressive up there.

He's whining.

What's all this shaking
going on?

It's [bleep]
hard digging.

Stop. Stop!

Narrator:
Off the coast of nome,

On the tomcod claim...

Almost lost
the boom cylinder.

Hopefully that pin
didn't break.

The christine rose's
most crucial asset...

[bleep]
exactly what happened.

...Is hanging by a thread.

This pin runs all the way
through the boom.

It's a solid pin.

That pin snapped
and broke.

It's coming out this side.

It's not good.

With the entire
family business

Relying on the dredge...

This cylinder
supports all this weight,

The whole boom stick,
bucket, and all the dirt.

...Losing the front
of the excavator

Would cripple their season.

Lift it up easy,

And then put the bucket
flat down on the deck here.

Huh?
Try it.

With the pin snapped,

Getting the arm back on deck
is make-or-break.

Just watch that winch.

Oh, whoa, whoa.

Right there.

We need to go to town.

Go to the yard,

Get that shaft
out of the whole excavator,

Come out here
and replace the shaft

So the night shift
can keep digging.

We ain't putting any hours
on the box right now.

I told you
not to dig so hard.

Narrator:
The bucket's safely on board.

It's now a rush
to replace the pin

And get back to the gold.

We got to do 20 ounces a day
with the christine rose

For a decent day.

I mean, it sucks.

I found a nice, little area

That I believe's gonna pay
pretty well.

But we're gonna
have to leave it behind.

Break it, fix it.

That's all we can do.

Narrator:
While shawn heads for town,

37 miles to the east...

¶¶

On the reaper...

This is what
it's all about.

The [bleep] dream
right here.

Going off
into unexplored lands,

Who knows what the hell
we're gonna find there?

There's gonna be danger
around every corner,

And that's just
the way it is.

...After a four-mile trek...

This is exciting though.
I'm excited.

You know what,

I think we're gonna [bleep]
kill it.

And I'm glad
we got out here,

Even though nobody
else is out here.

You [bleep]
stress me out, man.

...The kelly boys
have finally arrived

At their very own claim.

Kris: I'm excited.

We've got our own claims,
bad-ass boat.

My brother's a great diver.

I got to give him that.

My dad is gonna work hard
this year.

He's got a new kid.
He needs the money.

Brad: Are you ready?

Narrator:
Now it's the simple matter

Of finding a spot
with some gold...

Feels like sand.

...In the 120 acres
of sea floor.

Kris:
All I want to find is cobble.

We're trying to find
the clay layer

Where the gold
will sit on top of it.

A [bleep] load of sand
so far.

Let's just cruise out here,
and see what we see out deep.

Brad: We have a certain amount
of money to prospect gold.

If we don't find gold
within that period of time,

Then we have to go back
to nome.

I trust in god
to lead me the right direction.

Tell dad, "go left."

What's it feel like?
Sand?

Still sand.
[bleep]

We have so many acres
out that way.

It's disgusting.

It'll take us 10 years
to prospect all of this [bleep].

Come on, you [bleep] sandbar,
piece of [bleep].

Narrator:
If at first you don't succeed...

Kris:
We're gonna go to plan b.

Narrator:
...Try something different.

We call it the andy cam.

I'm still optimistic
that the claim's gonna pay off,

Even though we haven't found
any cobble.

My brother's a great diver --

Great diver,
great at finding gold.

Andy: Okay.

Ah, [bleep]

I'll just do a hole
right here real fast.

Yeah, sand is looking
way too deep.

Okay,
well, that's not good.

This is a bogus area,
man.

Narrator:
If you still don't succeed...

Kris:
Okay, hook up the hose.

Let's rock and roll.
Okay.

...Drag your little brother
under the boat.

Okay, we're moving, guys.

I know.
But we've gone 35 feet.

Andy: Yeah, there's no cobble.
It's all sand.

Kris: We took a big risk
to go back to work with my dad,

Kind of thought we were just
gonna jump off the boat

And at least find
half an ounce an hour.

But I might be [bleep].

Kris: [bleep] sand.

There's no cobble here.

That sucks [bleep].

Narrator: 36 miles west...

On the havilah...

Jesse, how does it feel
down there?

With a 500-ounce quota
to meet...

Jesse: Not bad.

Oh, there was
a little fleck.

...Zeke needs
diver jesse solomon

To get on the gold.

Not a whole lot,
but it was a little.

But so far...

Feels like it's --

Aah!

[bleep]

Ugh!

All he's managed
to stay on...

...Is the rocks.

To a certain degree,

You get a rock jam
that's bad like that,
it's your fault.

He [bleep] up.

I got the worst jam
in this climb I've ever seen.

Totally jammed...

Zeke: Only unskilled dredgers
get a lot of rock jams.

If we can't keep
from getting rock jams,

That means we're failing
to dive effectively,

Which means we're failing
to make money

For the corporation
and ourselves

And we're just failing
in general.

That's got to stop.

Two rocks jammed
like a mother.

They are not leaving
out of the [bleep] pipe.

Ugh, jesse!

Ah, you big [bleep] go!

[bleep] rock.

Fire it up. Let's see
if it'll suck back through.

Come here!

This is jesse's rock farm.

[ engine turns over ]

Here she comes.

So when I ask you
to fire it up,

Please say, "copy,"
and do it.

Please let me know
when you're done there.

I am totally suspended
in the air.

I am taking a ride.

We are no longer
on the ground.

Wow, where the [bleep]
am I going?

Narrator:
Off the coast of nome,

On the havilah...

Please say, "copy,"
and do it.

...Just five hours

And five times
as many rock jams...

I am totally suspended
in the air.

I am taking a ride.

We are no longer
on the ground.

...Zeke's diver is really
starting to take off.

Wow, where the [bleep]
am I going?

I see jesse here.

I don't know if he's tangled,
or...

And I see the hose going down.

I see him following the hose.

He's to the nozzle.

Now he's coming up the nozzle.

Get me the tag line!

Tag line!
The tag line.

Well, that was
a [bleep] dumb rodeo.

I'm calling this joke.

Zeke: I don't even know

If jesse really put anything
into the box.

Like, I know that it's just been
kind of a [bleep] show.

Man: What happened?

The hose
is 100% buoyant.

It started floating me
the [bleep] away.

Narrator:
With a quota to produce
and a misfiring crew...

...Chief gold officer
zeke tenhoff

Is gonna need another plan.

I think we're probably spending
$500 to $600 per day on fuel.

We got to be [bleep] rocking

10 ounces a day minimum
on this boat

For it to be worthwhile.

It's a lot of stress for me

For this all
to be on my plate.

I have to have these cleanups

Where I have all these people
looking over my shoulder.

So I need to have somebody
on that boat other than myself

That's not green.

I'm gonna have to employ
some different strategies.

I got to make it pay.
I'm gonna make it pay.

[ scoffs ] ugh!

Narrator:
Six miles northeast...

At the pomrenke compound...

You guys ain't out digging.

You're supposed to be
out digging right now.

What about it?

Snapped in half?
Snapped in half.

Started to...
Shut the [bleep] down.

While brent was digging,

The [bleep] pin
started coming out.

Maybe a little too aggressive

For the equipment we have,
brent.

Narrator: Looking to scrounge up
a replacement boom pin,

Shawn has come to his father's,
uh, work site.

You gonna go
replace that pin?

I mean...

[ laughter ]

Whatever the hell,
brent.

Here.

Narrator:
While shawn's been working
on delivering ounces of gold...

It ain't that bad looking,
I know that.

I have a feeling this was full
a little bit ago.

...Steve's been working
on 12 ounces of his own.

Dad says
he's busting his ass

Getting ready
to go inland mining.

And he's sitting out there
drinking beer.

I thought you guys
were working.

He's got to get his ass in gear

And get this stuff
up and running

So we can actually recover
some of the money

He has spent
on this thing.

You got to get
them end plates off.

Shawn: I got the end plate
off the other side.

I'm just gonna
pull it out this way.

Wrap the strap around her.

Hook it to the skid-steer.
Do something.

That's what
I'm looking for.

He's the best gold finder
out there,

But he ain't
the best mechanic.

We did our work
for the day.

Okay, back up.

It's gonna fly
right out of there!

Back up!

Go! Wide open!

I ain't [bleep] you.

There. There.
There! There!

[ speaking
indistinctly ]

Guys, you [bleep] got it.

Is it out?

All right,
now that's what you get.

Get it right out.

We're just getting going.

Narrator:
On the other side of nome...

Derek:
Oh, lordy. Here we go.

...For derek mcclarty
and his $450,000 investment,

It's judgment day.

Well, gentlemen.
God bless america.

God bless this dredge.

Let's make a lot of money
this season.

Man: Whoo!

Let's launch this boat!
Yeah!

Derek: We're looking at
a couple of ferraris.

We're looking at a --
a new lambo.

That's what's sitting
on that trailer.

It just has to work --
it has to.

The moment of truth.
How's it float?

[ horn honks ]

Tell spencer to start
trimming down.

Yes, sir.

Finally happening,
this is awesome.

Man, this is awesome!

Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it.
Do it. Do it.

-Yeah, she'll float!
-Whoo!

Whoo!

[bleep]
boy, look at that!

Yeah, buddy!

Oh, thank god.

Look how nice this boat
sits in the water.

Damn, we built a badass boat.

Thank god. That's 450 grand
actually floating on the water.

This is so awesome!
This thing floats like a champ.

I'm looking at it. I'm like,
"is it really on the water?"

It's really on the water.

That thing is so bad.

Look at it.
Ripped, brand-new everything.

I've made the most money
I've ever made in my life

And put it all
into this question mark.

It's a make-or-break moment.

All our debts could be washed,
or we'll all be broke.

[ laughs ]

This is the most badass dredge
I've ever seen.

Time to go meet 'em at the dock.

Narrator: With the high noon
officially seaworthy,

In the center of town at
emily riedel's summer home...

Emily: I've cleaned gold
in a lot of interesting places.

But I've never cleaned it on
the front porch of a hospital.

This is a creepy, old hospital.

But the real estate
is really tough in nome, and I

Didn't have anywhere else to go
that was reasonably priced.

So...

All right, gold.

Narrator: After patching up
the broken sluice box...

See if we lost anything.

Narrator: ...It's time to assess
the damage.

Emily: Daryl's getting pretty
frustrated.

I know that my position is weak
in terms of my crew.

The only thing I can do to keep

My people around is to make sure
they keep on making money.

So I'm hoping for at least
20 ounces out of this cleanup.

All right.
Here we go.

Three...Six...

Oh, we're over nine.
-Oh!

-Oh!
-Oh, yeah!

Man:
That's what I'm talking about.

Narrator: In nome harbor...

-How was your trip?
-Get a lot of diving in.

Narrator:
Zeke has landed himself...

How's it going, keith?
How are you?

...In the middle
of a performance review.

I've been dying to see
what you guys came up with

Since you're now the captain
of that vessel, mr. Tenhoff.

Managerial tip --
when faced with a question

You don't want to answer...

There was a good amount
of on-the-job training going on.

...Filibuster.

So, you know,
it's a learning experience.

Expectations
are all over the place,

And you know, there's a bunch
of considerations

To mix up in there.

You know, where it's like --
especially with --

With, uh, you know,
some fairly new divers.

How many hours
did you put on that box?

We're gonna
have to tally it all up.

You know,
that's what it's gonna take.

Narrator: In downtown nome...

Emily: See if we lost anything.

Narrator: ...Checking to see
if her sluice box

Coughed up gold...

...Emily riedel is hoping for
20 ounces or more on the scale.

Emily: All right.
Here we go.

Three...Six...

Oh, we're over nine.

-Oh!
-Oh!

-Oh, yeah!
-That's what I'm talking about!

-10.76.
-Oh!

Narrator: 10.76 ounces is worth
just 13,000 bucks.

I don't -- I think this cleanup
isn't where it should be.

So there's a good chance
we lost some gold.

Some gold though...

Daryl v.: It's same old [bleep]
different day.

The sluice box has got to work.

In order for us to hit
anywhere close to the number

We're hoping to get,
we can't lose any gold.

Emily:
You know, I live in a world

Where I can never be sure
of anyone's loyalty.

People want to make money,

And they're out
for their best interest.

So the moment that I become
less appreciative of daryl

Or stop giving him what he
needs to function on the boat,

Then I start to lose him.

We need to go back to that spot
and mine around a little bit.

See if we can't pick up
a little bit what we lost.

Our next cleanup
better be 50 ounces.

Narrator:
While emily frets over her crew,

Seven miles west
on the christine rose...

There we go.
That's it.

Just got the new pin in.

All nice, tight...

Narrator:
...After shutting down to
replace a busted excavator pin,

Shawn is itching
to get back to moving dirt.

Shawn:
Could've been a lot worse.

If we didn't have another pin,
we would have been screwed.

Broke right in half.

Sure hope we don't have
too many more problems

Like that this year.

Bada boom, bada bing.

Back to mining.

Whoo!
Back on the water, baby!

Narrator:
With the fix in place...

Shawn: Time to get repositioned.

Get back to digging some gold.

Since I'm the one out here
paying all the bills...

The summer is so short here
in alaska, every day counts.

...At least one member
of the pomrenkes

Is holding up his end
of the business.

Shawn: Dad's dream
is to go inland mining,

And I'm out there busting my ass
to make it happen.

Dad's probably
in the yard drinking beer.

I don't understand that guy.

He needs to get his ass in gear.

He needs to start moving
some dirt, making some gold.

Narrator:
Over in nome harbor...

Now we're about to find out
real world if this thing hums

Or fizzles.

Narrator: ...Before heading out,

Newly minted captain
derek mcclarty

Needs to test one big part of
his half million dollar machine.

It's about to get crazy.

Narrator: A 70-foot sluice
with rock and roll roots.

You'll notice the high noon

Looks exactly
like a flying v guitar.

That wasn't just for function.

That was for
heavy metal feng shui.

Ignition sequence.

Turn everything on.
Make sure everything works.

Okay.
We do have power.

Fire in the hole?

-Yeah! Fire it up.
-Moment of truth.

Oh, please, dear god, work.

[ engine turns over ]

Here goes nothing.

[ engine revs ]

Holy [bleep]

Yeah!

Whew.
1 in 30 new conceptual designs

That come up here
for dredging works.

You know, if I'm gonna be
that 1 in 30, I have to back up

Everything that I've been sayin'
since I started saying it.

I mean,
there's no room for failure.

It can't.
It cannot happen.

I'm not going back.

Narrator: With all 250 horses
galloping...

It's time to go make some money.
Holy cow.

Narrator: ...The high noon
is ready for a showdown.

30 miles to the east,
at the solomon river...

What a waste.

Right now I've got
the best system we've ever had,

Great suction...

-And we're on no gold.
-And no gold.

After a 4-hour round-trip,

2 hours of dragging an anchor,

3 hours of dragging an andy,

So far the kelly family
solomon adventure...

Really all we're doing
is taking our money

And throwing it
right down the toilet.

...Well, kind of a drag.

Everything is -- everything
I do just seems

To work out bad for me.

No matter what I do,

It never seems to be
good enough, you know?

Like, seriously, I'm not
that much of a piece of [bleep]

Narrator: Finally,
back at the boat launch...

There's yet another problem...
That's not our problem.

We didn't know we were
on your claim, first of all.

-What'd they say to you?
-Gonna have to deal with it.

So you own out past the 48...

Oh, yeah, dude.
You can have anything in there.

All I know is what I was told,
and what we thought.

Honest to god, let's take --
come and take a look at my box.

I really do apologize,
and it won't happen again.

My dad's [bleep]
we all know that.

Narrator:
Turns out, the only thing

Missing from their trip
to the new mining grounds

Was actually being
on the new mining grounds.

Brad:
So it turns out we were not even
working on our claims at all.

Strangely enough, our claim
might have cobble on it.

[ laughter ]

Do you think we should prospect
our own claims tomorrow?

Now that we know everybody
else doesn't have gold.

Oh, they can keep 'em.
There's nothing there.

I left my backpack.

Narrator: While the eroica
limps on to the leaderboard,

The fighting kellys need to go
play in their own sandbox.

Derek:
Game on in a whole new way.

This is so badass, dude.
Ka-boom!

[bleep]
there we go.

What the [bleep] happened there?

You told 'em not to.

The hell I did!

Gold, look at all that gold!

I think this is the one of
the swiftest operations around.