The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 6, Episode 3 - Dave Blankenship's Oak Island - full transcript

Marty: Come on, baby,
be something good.

Matty: For seven years,
fans of The Curse of Oak Island

have come to treasure
rick and marty lagina's team

known as "the
fellowship of the dig,"

just as much as their
quest to solve this

- 225-year-old mystery. - Yes!

Well, tonight,
we're paying tribute

to one of its most
colorful members.

A man who has not only spent
more than half a century here

helping to fulfill his legendary
father dan blankenship's dream,

but also, a man who has
an incredible story all his own.



Of course I'm talking
about dave blankenship.

And I'm about to sit
down with dave to discuss

his recent decision
after all these years

to retire from the oak
island treasure hunt.

Do you feel like you
accomplished everything

you could accomplish
here in terms of the search?

I would finish 10-x.

I'd bring a seven-foot-nine can

and take it right down

to 235 feet.

Get ready,
'cause it's crown time

and this is drilling down.

♪ ♪

matty blake,
how you doing there?



- How you doing, buddy?
- Doing great, and you?

It's been too long.

So, uh,
retirement's treating you

- pretty well.
- I'm doing great.

- I want to talk to you about that.
- If you want to go around

to the back,
we'll talk in the tent.

All right,
I'll meet you back there?

- Yep. - Okay.

Matty: I know we've all missed

seeing dave out there searching

with rick, marty and the team,

so I'm eager to catch up on why

he's chosen to step away now

and what the
future holds for him.

This is nice out here. Where are we going,
here?

- Yep. - All right.

I also want to talk
to him about his story

and the decades
that he has spent here

searching for the oak
island "spendables,"

as he likes to call them.

- Hey, david! - What?

What's this right here?

(laughs) gold!

- I found it!
- A (bleep) gold bar!

There it is, right there!

Here you go, here's your share.

Go buy you a boat.

Go buy you a boat.
That ought to do it.

Rick: David is always
on about spendables.

Get the spendables.

My brother is
about the treasure.

I'm about the story.

(laughing)

it's official.

You are now a
retired treasure hunter.

Definitely.

How are you and garnette gonna

spend your time? What's
your golden years plan?

We want to travel.

Heartbreaking as it
is to kind of lose you

on the day-to-day treasure hunt,

I'm really glad that you're
taking this time to really,

you know,
smell the roses and enjoy what you've done.

I'm not saying I
may not come back.

So there's always...
You never say never.

Ah, I love to hear that.

I think there was
something here to begin with.

Whether it's still here now or not,
I have no idea.

But I'm hoping it is.

I was hoping that we
would find something

before my dad died.

Dave, what do you know
about your dad's childhood?

He lived up in upper new
york there in lake kitchawan.

Do you know what kind of
childhood they had... were they,

were they poor,
were they middle-class?

Well,
they grew up during the depression.

They had a little truck farm.

Then you got world war ii
happening at the same time.

Matty: Born on may 23, 1923,

dan blankenship was
one of seven children

in a humble,
working-class family

during the great depression.

Upon graduating
from high school,

dan enlisted in the
united states army.

It was the height
of world war ii

and dan soon found himself

in the middle of major combat
missions across europe,

including the
historic 1945 capture

of the ludendorff bridge in
the nazi stronghold of remagen.

Your dad was a
bit of a war hero.

Dave: Well,
he was the first jeep to cross over

remagen bridge,
and they were shooting at him.

He could see the bullets
ricocheting off the wood deck.

- Wow.
- As he was driving across.

Yeah, I do remember him
telling a couple of war stories,

uh,
and they were really close calls.

Oh, yeah, he had

a buddy on either side of
him had their heads shot

by a sniper.

The only thing dad could think of,
there must have been

a twig or something
in the sniper's

line of sight that
didn't get dad,

but one on either side of him.

Wow.

After the end of the war
and numerous close calls,

dan returned home
where he married

his high school sweetheart jane

and then soon after,
moved to miami, florida,

where they raised
their three children,

david, janet and linda.

Together, dan and jane also ran

a very successful
contracting business.

I don't know a lot
about your life in miami.

- Like being a kid... what was life like?
- Great.

- It was great.
- Was it a happy childhood?

Oh, yeah, yeah,
I really enjoyed my childhood.

- Were you a beach kid? - Yep.

Senior year I spent
every sixth period

- on the beach surfing.
- Matty: No kidding, a surfer?

Dave: Yep, yep. Except weekends

when you were
working with the old man.

Matty: When did that start?

- Probably when I was about 12.
- Really?

- Dave: Yeah, yup. - That young?

Matty: And what,
would he take you to the jobsite?

Dave: Yup. The thing is,
when you're...

He's your dad and he's the boss,

everything is your fault,

whether you're even
on the job or not.

- So, he was a tough boss?
- Yeah.

And do you remember
the first times

you heard "oak
island" in your house?

Yeah. '65.

Dad said that he thinks

he's gonna be instrumental
in solving the treasure.

Matty: It was at the breakfast
table in the blankenship house

that dan was mesmerized
by a five-page article

in the January 1965
edition of reader's digest.

It told the story of a fabled
treasure at the bottom

of something called the
"money pit" on oak island.

And how scores of determined
searchers had tried and failed

to make a recovery going
all the way back to 1795.

I-I find this
fascinating. Hold on.

So, in 1965,
you're about how old?

- 16. Yeah, 'cause I'd just got my license.
- All right.

And that is your first conscious
memory of oak island...

- Yup.
- ...Being said in your house?

Well, he says, "well,
we're going on vacation."

- you actually took a trip?
- Yup.

What do you know
about your dad's activity

on that trip on the island?

Well, he met restall,
and he met dunfield.

He had a check for
$100,000 in his pocket,

that he wanted to buy in.

Matty: In August of 1965, dan,

along with 16-year-old david,
made a 2,000-mile road trip

to western shore, nova scotia

to offer himself and his years

of construction and
engineering knowhow

to the oak island treasure hunt.

After a short boat
ride from the mainland,

dan toured oak island
with childlike wonder,

but soon learned that
the treasure-hunting rights

belonged to a former motorcycle
daredevil named robert restall

who had been living on
the island with his family

for the past five
and a half years.

It seemed that it was
just not meant to be.

But then, a few days later,
tragedy struck.

On August 17, 1965,

robert restall, his son bobby,
jr. And two other men

lost their lives in a mysterious
accident at smith's cove.

Almost immediately,
m.R. Chappell,

the island's primary owner,
turned the rights of the hunt

over to california-based
geologist robert dunfield.

With only a six-month
contract to find the treasure,

and with winter
fast approaching,

dunfield needed help and money.

Dan blankenship now
had his shot at oak island.

With dan's investment,
dunfield immediately built the causeway

connecting the
island to the mainland,

and brought a massive
clamshell digging machine over.

For the rest of that year,
dunfield conducted the largest

and most destructive series

of excavations across
the island's eastern end.

He even dug a 100-foot-wide,

140-foot-deep crater
in the money pit,

only to see it cave in
from constant flooding.

By January of 1966,

dunfield gave up
and left oak island.

Dan blankenship,
along with a new financial backer

by the name of david tobias,

were now in control
of the treasure hunt.

So, your dad kind of

gets his chance to-to
run the search in a sense.

- Right. Yeah. - Under tobias.

- Yeah, david's paying for it.
- Got it.

And he can't be here

to supervise it himself
so he hires dad...

- Matty: I see.
- ...To supervise what he wants done.

Matty: So is that when your
dad comes here full-time?

He was traveling back and forth.

He'd stay a month here,
then he'd come home for two weeks,

and then come back and
stay another couple of months.

Still trying to
run his business?

Yeah. Still running the business

in florida and
running oak island.

Wow. Mom's back in miami?

Mom's back with us, yup.

That's... That had
to be a little difficult.

Sure. And I had two sisters
that are younger than I am.

So, to that end...

Dave: He convinces mom

to-to move up to
nova scotia with him.

Matty: Your dad gives up
his contracting business,

- comes here full-time.
- Yeah. Yeah, most...

Most kids leave home.
My parents left home.

Yeah,
that's what I was gonna say.

- Yeah.
- You took the words out of my mouth.

Like, that's a weird situation.

Yeah,
they left me. Not me leaving them.

How did you feel about that?

It's great. You're on your own.

- You're in miami beach.
- Yup. Yeah.

- Surfing.
- Surfing, you got the whole...

You got the world by the tail.

- Living in your dad's house?
- Yup.

Yeah,
I took over the mortgage payments on it.

And I got married when I was 21.

Matty: Good times, but I know...

I know that the good times
didn't last though there, right?

Dave: No, no,
they didn't last very long.

Basically,
I was going through a divorce.

Did the process of that divorce,

not having, really,
your family there around you...

Did that take a lot
out of you at the time?

Dave: You get
married to be together,

but she thought she should
party and have me pay for it.

That don't work with me.

So you're talking to
your dad and mom.

- Yup.
- And at some point your dad says, "hey, son."

- yeah.
- And that brought you to the island.

Yup. Yup.

But I'd gone
through the divorce,

and dad figured I
needed a change.

So, he asked me if I'd come
up for a month to help him.

I said, "yes. Why not?"

I had nothing to
tie me into florida.

It'd be a new adventure.

It changed your life.

Changed it. That's
definitely sure.

And I would say for the better,
yes.

Yes,
I would definitely say for the better.

O, dave,
describe the circumstances in your life

that were going on in miami

that eventually brought
you to oak island for good.

- Basically, I was going through a divorce.
- Mm-hmm.

And dad figured
that's a good time

for me to get away from it all

and come up here,
and it started as a month.

- Oh, that's good.
- Well, guess what.

- You didn't go back.
(laughs) - I didn't go back, no.

In terms of his
experience with his father...

He always said, "look,
I didn't come up here

"to invest myself
in the mystery.

I came up to help my dad."

and he was of tremendous help.

Dave is a hard worker.

But then,
I know something really major happened

that definitely kept you here.

Yeah,
my dad introduced me to my wife.

Matty: I didn't know that your
dad also introduced you to garnette.

Dave: Oh, yeah. She was a
hostess at the oak island inn.

And that's where they used to
have supper every-every weekend.

They'd go there
and have dinner out.

- Matty: Okay.
- Dave: So when I come up here,

he introduced me to her.

Matty: Wow. So he
brought you here...

Dave: And introduced
me to my wife.

And 41 years later
we're still together.

Matty: Wow. And family...

She had children,
is that correct?

- Yeah, she had two.
- Two children.

A boy and a girl.

Amanda is the oldest,
and travis.

- Instant family. - Yep.

We tried to adopt them,
but her ex wouldn't allow it.

Matty: Oh, okay. But did you
guys all live together at that point?

Dave: Yep.

We lived over on... Where
the old post office was

in western shore.

And how were those early
years with the new family?

- It was great. - Yeah.

It was a big difference
from just me and her,

to me and her,
and then bringing two kids coming along.

- Indeed. - But we made it work.

Matty: As dan was helping
david get himself back on track

here in nova scotia,
david was happy to

return the favor,
working with his father

on a project dan had
started two years before:

Looking for an alternate
way to the fabled money pit

treasure vault.

And in 1969,
while using an ancient method

known as dowsing,
dan located what he believed

was a man-made chamber
some 225 feet below ground.

When he ran a camera
down the 27-inch borehole

that he dubbed "10-x,"
he recorded evidence

of what he thought were tunnels,
ancient tools,

a treasure chest,
and even human remains.

Eager to prove that his
discoveries were real,

dan decided that he
would need to investigate

the hole firsthand.

How dangerous was
that work he was doing?

Well,
we never thought it was dangerous at all.

So you didn't feel
it was dangerous,

but it was dangerous,
wasn't it, because...

Well,
we found out it was dangerous.

Matty: In 1972,
dan and david made

a series of exploratory descents

into 10-x using a
fabricated pulley hoist.

One day, while down at a
depth of 140 feet in the shaft,

dan found himself
in grave danger.

Dave: He's not down
there three minutes...

"get me up! Get me up!"

matty: Massive underground
pressure was suddenly causing

the steel-cased hole to collapse

more than 40 feet above
where dan was suspended.

Dave: The (bleep) starts
falling down on his head.

He didn't realize that
the caisson had broke.

So I jumped across the table,
kicked it in gear,

and got him up in
something like 30 seconds.

Matty: Wow.

And wasn't there a part
of that story... Something...

Oh, you're trying to say when dad come up,
he said,

- "don't tell your mother."
- yes. Is that true?

It's true, yep.

And the first words
out of dad's mouth

when we got home was,
"the caisson collapsed on me."

he ended up saying it?

- Yep. Yeah, he told her. I didn't have to.
- Wow.

Matty: After that close call,

dan came up with another plan

to get to the bottom of
10-x using steel railway cars

with the ends cut off,

as well as reinforced concrete.

Dan,
along with dave and a young treasure hunter

named dan henskee,
spent more than a decade

widening the hole to
eight feet in diameter

all the way down
to the 181-foot level.

And all by hand.

But much to dan's dismay,
just 45 feet short

of the believed man-made chamber,
he ran out of money

to complete the
expansion of 10-x.

Talk about the incredible
work that you and your father did

to make 10-x.

I mean, when he was
describing to me lowering those...

What'd he use? Railway tanker cars,
right?

Yeah,
he put three of them together.

And then he would
literally lower himself down,

- undermine it and drop another one while he was down there?
- Yep. Yep.

Well, we built a platform,
so I...

They're all welded together.

You know I've always loved 10-x,
and I share your belief

that there might
be something to it.

Matty: Every time I
look into that hole,

I think of the ingenuity
and the hard work

it took for you
guys to make that.

Talk about your father's
vision and how far he got.

Dave: Well, we got down to 181 feet,
we anchored it in the bedrock

so we couldn't...
Wouldn't lose it.

And then we ran out of money.

That's the biggest
problem on oak island.

You never had enough money to,
once you started a project,

to finish it.

What was that like for him,
do you think, to get so close

to his target and
do all that work?

Oh, you're-you're pissed off.

Sometimes I think that
gets lost in the shuffle, dave,

as us fans of oak island,
you know, we think of you

and your dad working here away,
but you built an entire career

- in town here. Tell me about that.
- Yes.

Well, I had to. I mean,
you got a wife and two kids.

- They like eating, and I like eating, too.
- (both laugh)

so I went back
to doing iron work.

I did iron work in miami.

Served my apprenticeship in miami,
come up here,

I just turned my
book in in halifax

and started working
in nova scotia.

Uh, and you worked constantly,
right?

Yeah. The only time I
would get off is when I wanted

to take time off between jobs.

Yeah,
I worked all over this province.

And were you
supervising jobs of welders,

or you just a lone wolf?

Well, when we were down
in yarmouth on the tin mine,

I-I was supervising welders,
yes.

- There was, I don't know, 14 in my crew at one time.
- Wow.

That's amazing.
You-you built a career,

and I know, you know,
we talked about an incident

that happened to
your father here.

And I know you had your own.

And this incident
actually was instrumental

in changing your life in
ways that you could have

never foreseen, right?

Well, how would you like
to learn to walk and talk

at 36 years old again?

, take me back to the
day that changed your life

in such a significant way.

- March 31, 1986, at 9:54.
- Wow.

You've still got the
exact date and time.

Exact date and time, yep.

- Tell me about that morning.
- I'll never forget it.

It was the first day on the job.

We were putting a new bridge
across number seven highway.

And the first day on the job,
we were unloading equipment.

We had a compressor
at the front of the truck.

My boss and I are dragging
it to get it closer to the crane

so he could pick it up.

Well, he cleared the deck,

but when he cleared the deck,
it broke the crane.

The compressor hit,
one wheel hit on the truck,

the other one missed,
and it rolled down the embankment.

But when it rolled down,
the safety on the top of the crane

was off, so when the cable jumped off,
that caught me

behind the leg.

I was thrown 46 feet,

took the windshield
out on the crane,

and woke up on the ground.

- You were launched into...
- I was just like an arrow.

I took one step. I
remember the boom break,

and I hollered at
my boss. He went...

Turned around and went that way.

And I turn around this way,
took one step

and woke up on the ground.

- Do you remember flying into the windshield? None of that?
- Nope.

I don't even remember
the cable hitting me.

- Were you cut from the glass on the windshield?
- No.

No, I broke it with my back.

- Wow. Oh, you went flying backwards.
- Backward, yeah.

Man. Hold on, so you're on the ground,
you're conscious,

- you're talking...
- Yep. The first thing I did is

- ask a buddy of mine for a cigarette.
- (both laugh)

and he give me a cigarette,

and they put me on...
Load me on a backboard.

(siren wailing)

matty: And you get... you're
transported to the hospital.

- You remember all that. - Yeah.

You get to the hospital,
and when do things

start going downhill for you?

I tore the end
of this finger off...

And broke the little
bone in your leg,

- and they put a paper cast on.
- Okay.

We're waiting and
waiting and waiting.

- Plastic surgeon come in and sewed up my finger.
- Okay.

An then sewed up the one
cut on the back of my leg.

So at this point,
you're thinking, like,

- "I got off pretty easy."
- oh, yeah.

Matty: Although dave
was in the hospital

and being treated for what
his doctors at first believed

to be some broken bones,

no one realized that he
was bleeding internally,

and it would soon lead to a
much more serious condition.

I had torn the artery
behind the ear,

and there was nothing
they could do about that.

My brain is swelling.

Today, they'll drill a hole
and release the pressure.

- But in '86 they wouldn't.
- No kidding.

I had a stroke. And
then all of a sudden,

"well,
you're going to the operating room."

matty: So you go into surgery...

Dave: And wake up. I can't move.

Took five nurses to
move me in the bed.

(monitor beeping)

totally paralyzed
on the left-hand side.

Matty: Life was never going
to be the same again for dave.

However, he, nor his family,
were about to accept

that the injury would keep
him from making the most of it.

They told garnette,
mom and dad that I was gonna be

totally paralyzed.

But they forgot to tell me.

Well, wasn't there a story
about your father getting

involved at that
point with the doctor?

Well, they told garnette
and mom and dad that I'd be

totally paralyzed, and dad said,
"don't you tell him that."

- really? - And dad said,

"you tell him that
and I'll punch you."

- really? - Yep. Yep.

Why? Why did he say that,
do you think?

So it wouldn't be in my
mind that I can just not try

as hard as I should
to regain everything.

That's pretty awesome.

Dave: Well, they said they'd
have me sitting up in six weeks,

and I was tied
into a wheelchair.

I walked out in six weeks.

Matty: Wow.

- And was your speech affected at that point?
- Yes, yes.

Yeah. Yeah,
I had to learn to walk and talk again.

- (matty exhales)
- 36 years old.

- At 36. - Yeah.

How has the process affected
you day-to-day now in your life?

- I mean...
- Well, I can't hold anything in my left hand

- unless I'm looking at it.
- Huh.

Because if I'm not
paying attention to it,

- it just opens up and drops.
- Right.

- Got it. So, you got to really be careful.
- Yeah.

You know, I mean, a-again,

I use the word
"inspiring" because of that.

Like,
I see you do everything everyone else does.

You-you're first off the line,
and...

And-and I know you're...

Half of you doesn't
feel anything.

- It's really amazing how you can do it, man.
- Mm-hmm.

- David's a great guy. He's a hardworking...
- Absolutely.

Just an honest,
straight-shooting kind of guy.

Rick: We're ready to cut.

Marty: He had an accident.

You know,
he's disabled on one side.

- Somewhat. - Rick: Somewhat.

Marty: But I'll tell you what,
he's a hard worker.

He can hold his
own against anybody.

Good. Right there. Same thing,
rick.

Second one in on that.

- Marty: David! - What?

Drain the swamp!

(engine starts)

- (cheering) - there you go!

- Crown time.
(laughs) - marty: Yeah.

And then talk about
when you started to realize

the personality
changes post-stroke

and how that was handled

and what they
told you about that.

Well, really,
I didn't notice it.

It's just... Well,
you know how I...

I swear,
I'm-I'm really trying not-not to.

I thought we would have beeped
you about a hundred more times

- this interview so far.
- (laughs)

but I know garnette does that.

When we're together off camera,
she'll say, "david!"

- yeah.
- You know, "come on." and then she'll always...

She'll always say,
"he was never like this.

- He was never like this."
- I know, I never swore.

- Is that right? Wow. - Yeah.

- Yeah.
- And what did they tell you about that?

- Is it just because of the...
- It's front lobal damage.

- Front lobal.
- When my brain bounced around inside the skull.

And they say it's never
gonna come back,

but they're wrong,
because I am...

If I think before
I say something,

- and I mean really think about it...
- Yeah.

'cause if not, it's...

- (laughs): You know what, it comes out.
- Yeah.

Can I ask you this? Have
you heard from people

who are fans of
the show who have

maybe been through something
like you've been through

who've been inspired by you?

I've talked to two people
that have had strokes since,

and they say what I say, too.

- You got to work at it.
- Awesome.

That must be a good feeling,
too.

- You can help other people.
- Oh, yeah.

After you recovered a bit

and life's going on, uh,

at what point does
it come into play

that, "hey, maybe we should
move onto the island full-time"?

Well,
when I got a good deal on the land.

I got... I paid two dollars
for an acre and a half.

And the only reason I
had to pay two dollars,

when mother found out that
dad was charging me a dollar,

she wanted her dollar,
too, 'cause her name was

- on the deed, too.
- (laughs): That's hilarious.

So, I paid two dollars

for an acre and a
half on oak island.

- Matty: Two dollars for all of this.
- Dave: Yep.

Matty: That's unbelievable.

Dave: I cleared all the land off

and had all the wood milled.

There's 132,000
board feet in that house.

Matty: So, dave,
you've been an integral part of this show

which chronicles
the laginas' era.

- Right. - Talk about the hunt

in terms of working
with them all these years.

What's it been like, uh,
in terms of, you know,

the laginas kind of
running things now.

How's that been?

Well, it's been fun.

I mean,
rick and I get along great.

- I mean, I tease the (bleep) out of him all the time.
- (laughs)

yeah, you do. I've heard it.

You put three screws
in it. That's plenty.

- I'm overengineering it.
- Dave: You're overengineering.

(bleep), you're going nuts!

There.

One on the end,
and you're (bleep) done.

We're done.

Charles: Perfect.

200 pounds of (bleep)
bouncing up and down,

- and it ain't moving.
- (all laugh)

now, correct me if I'm wrong,
but when we tell that story

about rick and marty meeting
your dad for the first time,

the search operations here
on the island were nothing.

It was nothing, no,
'cause dad had run out of money,

and him and david
tobias were fighting.

That's how rick and marty
got david's share of the island,

'cause they were fighting.
They were gonna sue each other.

- Hmm.
- And david decided he would sell his share,

and rick and marty
became dad's partners.

So, in a sense, in a real sense,

this island needed
a shot in the arm,

- and it came in the form of two brothers from michigan.
- Right.

Yeah, with deep pockets.

- And a lot of energy. - Yep.

Matty: In 2006,

rick lagina, his brother marty

and their
michigan-based partners

made a deal that would make them

50% owners in oak island tours,

the company long
held by dan blankenship

and his partner, david tobias.

Everything's in
place? Let's get it done.

Matty: For rick and marty,

it offered the opportunity
to fulfill a dream

they shared ever since
they were just boys

growing up in northern michigan

and when rick had read the
same 1965 reader's digest as dan.

For dan and david,

it offered new
resources and hope

to finally solve the
centuries-old treasure mystery.

Whoa!

Charles: Is it a coin?

Marty: I believe this is a coin.

- Jack: No!
- Charles: You serious?

Rick: What?

- Jack: No.
- Marty: What's that eight on it?

- Jack: The hell is that?
- Rick: It's an eight. What is it?

- Marty: Yeah.
- Man: It is an eight, isn't it?

- Rick: Brought something we want to show you.
- Okay.

Want to sit down?

(chuckles): Well,
looks like I'm gonna have to.

Marty: What do you think?

- That's spanish. - I know.

- Yeah. - (all laugh)

yeah.

And that's the first thing

I've held in my hands

since I've been
here almost 48 years.

- That's why we came right here.
- (jack chuckles)

and that's-that's
the first thing I have

the real evidence, you know.

I told you we were
gonna solve this.

That's just the start of it.

But now we got to find
something more than that.

- Rick: We're on it.
- Dave: I want

something this thick, this wide,

about this long,
about 40 pounds.

- Gold color. - (all laugh)

matty: Of course, rick, marty

and craig tester,
working with dan and david,

also put a focus back on 10-x.

Okay. I think we have
something we can talk about here.

What we ought to do is go
ahead and look at the films we took,

and then I'd love
dan's comments.

All right? How's that sound?

- Okay. - Dave: Sounds good.

- Marty: Play it, rick.
- Rick: We'll watch it right now.

Marty: There you go.

All right, we're going down.

Dan b.: I honestly think
that that could be the top

of what I say is a tunnel there.

Matty: And for the first
time in a generation,

major exploration was
once again taking place

where the mystery began

back in 1795: The money pit.

So, in all your years here,
I mean,

did you ever see
it coming to this?

No.

- (chuckles) - good.

The old saying, rick,
is nothing ventured,

- nothing gained.
- Nothing gained. Exactly.

This is a culmination
for you and your brother

of your belief in oak island.

Always have.

- All at the same time. Here we go!
- All at the same time.

- Alex: One, two, three!
- Marty: Let's make hole!

- Rick: Here we go. - All right.

- Marty: Heading down, dan.
- Vanessa: We're digging.

We're digging.

- Marty: That's it.
- Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Good day.

Matty: On March 17, 2019,

dave's father, dan blankenship,

passed away at the age of 95.

The news was met with
heartbreak and sadness.

He will always be remembered

as a legendary figure

with an incredible
legacy in the long history

of the oak island
treasure mystery.

- Gentlemen. -Hey, guys.
- Alex: Hey, everybody.

- Hi, guys. - Gentlemen.

Matty: And he left

his partners with
much to be motivated by

as they carry on in his honor.

(voice breaking):
In over the six years,

what we really wanted
to do at the end...

At the end of this was
give dan his breakthrough.

And... We should try

- really, really hard this year to do that.
- Yes.

- No problem. We'll get it done, rick.
- Billy: Yeah.

- Yeah. - Marty: Yeah.

Dan blankenship was
a true giant of this...

Of this oak island quest.

- Laird: Yeah.
- Absolutely. Absolutely.

Gary: And there's
a little bit of dan

- in every one of us here.
- Yeah.

- No, there's a whole bunch in me.
- (all laughing)

your father's passing,
I know it was

a very emotional time for you. So,
now time has passed.

I'm wondering how you're
doing with his passing

and-and how things
have changed here.

Well, it's changed a lot.

I mean,
we can't go ask him questions

about, "well,
what happened here and there."

so, that-that's gone.

Do you find yourself
going to stop by

'cause it was such
a part of your life?

- Oh, definitely. Sure.
- You do.

- I mean, I'd go over there every night almost.
- Right.

Dave, you're stepping
away from the treasure hunt.

- Why now? - Age.

And I imagine
garnette's really happy,

because, you know... I can
say this now that you're retired...

When I would come here and
we would have dinner or whatever,

um, she would always say, like,

"gosh,
I don't want him working so hard.

He's out there for
so many hours."

'cause you wouldn't quit.
You're not gonna stop.

- So I'm sure she's very happy, too.
- Sure.

It was a joint decision
on both our parts

- to call it quits. - Yeah.

You say you're still involved.

Let's say they pulled
out that gold chest.

(chuckles) spendables,
as you always like to say.

- Right, yeah.
- Do you still get a piece?

Oh, yeah,
definitely. I'm still involved with it.

We have an agreement.

That's important. I
know it'd be important

to the brothers, too, given

- what you and your father have done here.
- Oh, yeah.

Do you feel like you
accomplished everything

you could accomplish
here in terms of the search?

I do, yes.

They know if
they-they need anything

that I can help them with,

- the doors are always open.
- Right.

If I could give
you one last shot,

before you fully retire,
at this island,

unlimited budget,
where would you go and what would you do?

- I would finish 10-x. - Yeah.

I'd have vanessa bring
a seven-foot-nine can

and put it in there
and-and finish it,

take it right down to 235
feet and do it in the dry.

So you feel
completely comfortable

in your decision retiring,
and yet, you'd like to see that

- maybe finished.
- Definitely, yes.

- I mean, that would finish it for dad.
- Mm.

And mom. She wanted it done,
too.

So that would
finish it completely.

If he's right, fine, and if he's wrong,
well, it's not there.

Know,
ever since the curse of oak island began

seven years ago,
dave blankenship has been

a key and lovable member
of the fellowship of the dig.

And now, here are just some of
his most memorable moments.

- Yeah, right. - See? (laughs)

(laughing)

- marty: Ah, here comes david.
- Jack: What's up, david?

Rick: Speed racer.

(laughter)

nice ride.

Did you do a little four-wheeling today,
david?

- Yeah, right.
- All right, let's get to work.

Rick: David has a
tremendous work ethic. I mean,

nobody works harder,
nobody is invested more.

- 1600s. Unbelievable.
- I can't believe it, honestly.

That's pretty cool.

Look at david.
He's pretty excited.

(bleep) right,
baby! It means something!

And these aren't
even spendables here.

That's right. It
means something!

That is fantastic.

He's funny, and he's-he's...

He'll tell you. What he,
what he thinks

is what he says, what you hear.

He's very unique.
(laughs) I guess.

You're supposed to have this.

- Yeah.
- Put your head down. I'll flip it

- right on your head for you.
- (laughs)

- I trust you in a lot of ways, but not that way.
- (laughs)

marty: He's very knowledgeable
about very many things.

He's had

a working man's career,

and he knows about... A
lot about how things work

and how things are done.

He's also, shall we say,
a bit impetuous?

Randall: I just find it hard to
believe that people would go

to this much effort to
hide a treasure of gold,

that it-it had to be something

more valuable than gold.

Well,
what's more valuable than gold?

It ain't a bunch of books.

Randall: Well, you know,
I think you could

find people who would say

that shakespeare's
manuscripts are more... worth...

- Nah.
- ...A hundred times per ounce what gold is.

- Nope. - Well, you-you...

I'll sell it to 'em,
then. For a hundred times per ounce,

I'll sell it to 'em.

Randall: If you actually have
shakespeare's manuscripts,

I would find the gold and
give you the weight of them.

- Okay, a deal has been struck.
- Yeah, ten times. Yup.

Alex: Over the years,
I think dave has brought,

almost a voice of practicality
and reason to the team.

You want the history and the mystery,
you and charles.

We want this stuff. The spendables,
buddy.

My favorite quality about
david blankenship is the fact

that he's just so laughable
and funny and nice and kind.

So, like, did you ever think

that, uh,
there was something on the island?

I'm hopeful that there's
something on the island.

- I want to find something that we can spend.
- Right?

Where do you think it's at,
though?

That's a good question.

We found stuff in 10-x.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

I like 10-x.

How are we gonna get
through it? You think we'll just dig

or drill, or, well, how exactly?

Oh. Do you ever shut up
with these damn questions?

Questions, questions, questions!

(laughing)

gary: Working with dave,
the one thing

that dave brings to the
table is a lot of bleeps.

Dave curses a lot.

I think that dave is the
actual curser of oak island.

I think this is probably
a bloody modern nail.

Quit finding that (bleep), gary,
and find something good.

Oh, my (bleep).

Clear the (bleep) deck
when he starts coming up.

Back in the (bleep) buckets,
huh?

- Morning, guys. - Holy (bleep).

It's about time you
guys showed up.

You can't see (bleep).

Now I can't,
I can't feel a (bleep) thing out there...

There ain't (bleep) all here.

- Jack, we can what-if till the (bleep) cows come home.
- Exactly.

Dave: You're
supposed to pull up mud,

not (bleep) water!

Go on,
get the (bleep) out of that machine

and get over here
and dig in the mud.

Oh, for (bleep) sake, jack.

(laughter)

one of my favorite
memories about david

I-is the conversation
he had with his dad,

and how he-he
wanted to finish 10-x

for his mother, for his mom.

You're not gonna
try and close up?

Yeah,
yeah. Take a break for a minute.

Well, at least we're trying
to get this thing finished.

Mom would be happy
getting it over with.

- She wanted it done.
- Yes, she did.

She, uh,
she put in a lot of time on the island.

Yep. Well, hopefully,
we can finish it now.

- I don't have a reputation for giving up too easily.
- Nope.

There's concrete,
concrete in it.

That's why the damn
thing wouldn't cut.

Well, I didn't say it was
gonna be easy down there.

- I know, and you were right.
- (laughs)

going down.

I'll tell you one thing.

I-I was always impressed

that you and your
father dan did this,

but I'm even more impressed now.

(laughs)

rick: I wish him good
health in his retirement.

But there'll always be a
seat at the table for-for david.

Hundred percent, all the time.

I'd welcome him back today.

Matty: We talked about your dad,
later in life,

enjoying the fans going
down to the interpretive centre.

What about your
relationship with the fans?

How's that been for you
over the years with the show?

Dave: Well,
it's been weird, really.

I mean, here I am,
just a normal person.

People sending
me different things.

Usually little crown bottles.

People send you stuff.
But how-how about

you with fans and the community
as you go out into the world,

when you travel with garnette.

- What's it like interacting...
- Well, you get recognized.

Sometimes it pisses her off,
but...

I-it's different to,
that people notice you.

Has it become harder and
harder for you to go around,

- getting home?
- No, 'cause I don't, I don't mind it.

I'll stop and talk to
the people about it.

Have you noticed an increase
in your recognition as you...

- Oh, definitely. - Yeah?

I mean, I was nobody before,
now all of a sudden,

here I am on television.

Well,
even within the run of the show,

I mean from, like,
season one to now, has it grown?

Oh,
of course it has. Definitely.

I mean, you can't go anywhere
without somebody saying,

"well, I-I know you."

you don't know me,
but... (laughs)

- they think they do.
- Yeah, yeah.

- And you don't mind it?
- No, I don't mind it at all.

Can you feel when
people are recognizing you?

When you're out in
public and you see,

"oh, they're looking at me.

They're gonna come
over and say something"?

Well, you-you see it.

The people, they look at you,
they look away.

- Right.
- Then they'll tell their wife or something.

They'll be pointing:
"that's so-and-so."

- (laughs): Yeah.
- And it's fun watching them.

- Right.
- It's worse if you're with rick.

- Because he gets noticed everywhere he goes.
- He's hard to miss.

- Yep.
- And fans will send you stuff?

- Definitely.
- What kind of stuff will they send you?

Well, if you want to see,
I'll take you inside

- and we'll show you.
- Oh, I'd love to.

Yeah,
let's do it. Let's take a look.

Go through the slider?

All right.

Lead the way.

- Right here, we haven't got far to go.
- (chuckles)

it's good to be back
in the old house.

- Looks good. - Yep.

So,
when do you think you started

receiving stuff from fans?

Well,
I believe it was season two.

Do you remember
the first thing you got?

Yeah,
right up there on top of the fridge.

- Crown bottles.
- Of course. 'cause your saying,

those first two seasons,
"it's crown time, it's crown time."

- crown time. Yep.
- Fans start sending

- bottles of crown. - Yep. Yeah.

Even, uh...

What's this?

Oh, wow.

So that's-that's
a bottle of crown.

- Dave: Yeah. - What is that...

- Sterling silver.
- Matty: Sterling silver?

- So a fan sent you this?
- Dave: Yeah, yep.

That's amazing. Was there,
uh, a note attached

- or anything like that?
- Oh, yeah.

Yeah,
she made something for everybody.

Amazing.

"crown royal."

- oh.
- Look in the bottom of the glass.

Matty: Oh, wow,
that's a crown on a pillow.

- That's unbelievable. It's like a hologram.
- Yep.

Look at that,
it matches... what's that?

- Is that a little...
- It lights up.

(laughs)

so, I see it trying to light up.

- Dave: Yeah.
- This normally lights up,

- but it's... when...
- When it's full with ice in it,

it lights up in your crown.

I see,
so it's been so well used...

Oh, yeah,
I've worn the batteries out.

(laughs) that's awesome.

Well,
whoever sent you this at least knows,

- "hey..."
- it's being used well.

"I sent it to the right guy."

- (laughs): Yep.
- That's fantastic, man.

Well, what-what else you got,
dave?

- Oh, the clogs. I actually remember these.
- (laughs)

- you wore these one night at dinner.
- Yep. Yep.

- I didn't know they were sent by a fan.
- Yep.

Matty: So,
hold on. Where did these come from?

Dave: The netherlands.

Matty: That shows you the
reach of the show right there.

Like it or not, dave,
you're an international superstar.

Oh, come on, matty.

Well, you know,
when we-we found out

you were retiring,

um,
you know how we feel about you.

We all just love you so much.

And so from everybody
at the curse of oak island,

we just want to do a
little something for you,

so here, we got you this.

As a little token
of our appreciation,

we want to present you with
this commemorative plaque

with the date on it.

"to dave blankenship,
here's to a long and happy retirement.

"you'll always be
treasured with love

from your other
oak island family."

I appreciate it, matty.

Well, we appreciate you,
and, um,

all of us here at the
curse of oak island,

the cast,
crew and especially the fans,

we want to wish you a
happy and healthy retirement.

Well, thank you very much,

and you know you're more
than welcome here anytime.

Well, thank you. That means
more to me than you know.

So, let the official retirement
commence right now, dave.

I'm with you 100%.

- (laughs) -Dave: It is
definitely crown time.

Matty: All right, buddy.

Dave blankenship may have
left the active hunt behind,

but he will always be treasured
on the curse of oak island.

And ultimately,
the blankenship search lives on

through the efforts of
rick and marty lagina

and the fellowship of the dig.

Dave and dan blankenship
will forever be part of that team.

Until we meet again,
acorns, thanks for watching.