07x10 - Gary Strikes Again

[bunniefuu]

Tonight, on
The Curse of Oak Island

Fire up the pump!

There we go.

Showtime! All right, here we go.

I'm excited to finally
be digging in the swamp.

We hit the side
of a tunnel, gentlemen.

Complete success on this hole.

We could be very, very close
to the Money Pit.

We're hot on the trail.

Got a signal, Pete!

What's that?
-Oh, my Gosh!

That's bloody silver, mate!

This is what
we've been looking for!

There is an island
in the North Atlantic

where people have been looking
for an incredible treasure

for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found
a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it,

mysterious fragments
of human bone,

and a lead cross
whose origin may stretch back

to the days
of the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

Good morning.

Hey, mate.

For brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

and members of their team,

the recent expansion

of the cofferdam
surrounding Smith's Cove

has led to what could be
another exciting discovery...

This is far and away much larger

than anything associated
with the slipway.

-Yeah.
-...one that could provide

important information

about not only when
the Oak Island treasure

might have been deposited,

but also, by whom.

See any numerals on it, Rick?

No.

Possible similarity is,
this might have been a notch

at one point,
but I don't know that.

Yeah.
What's got my toes tingling

is all the coins and artifacts
that could be in this area.

Hmm. You've not done
any of this?

No. I've gone along the top
of the rocks, but...

that's where the meat
of this structure's gonna be

as far as coins and artifacts
trapped underneath.

It'll be interesting to see what
Laird's got to say about it.

Yeah, I mean, uh, there's no way
we're gonna take this apart

-without his supervision, you know
what I'm saying? - No, definitely not.

The hope is
that Laird will give us

-the A-OK to do it.
-Yeah.

-He is in charge,
at the end of the day. -Yeah.

One week ago,

while excavating a section

of the 6,000-square-foot
cofferdam extension,

also known
as the "bump-out area,"

Rick Lagina
and members of the team

began to expose
a massive wooden structure.

And this could be oak.

Maybe this is connected

to the U-shaped structure.

Upon closer inspection,

it appeared to be made
of oak logs packed with clay.

Incredibly, this construction
method matched the reports

made in 1804 by treasure hunter
Daniel McGinnis

and members
of the Onslow Company

when they excavated
the original Money Pit.

Not only did they encounter
platforms made of oak logs

at every ten-foot interval,

but at a depth of 40 feet,

they found the oak logs
were packed

with a layer of blue clay,
which acted as a water sealant.

Here comes Laird.

So, what are we looking at?

We're hoping

-you can tell us.

A bunch of new things.

Wow.

-That's massive.
- You've got...

a crossbeam here.

I'm not sure what that is.

Yeah.
-This thing is...

I mean, that's U-shaped
structure size, isn't it?

- Yeah. Bigger, even, I suspect.
-Yeah.

Yeah. I mean,
my initial impression

is that I would associate that
with the slipway.

Could the structure
that the team has found

actually be part
of the 18th century slipway,

or ship wharf,
discovered last year?

And if so, might they find even
more important clues nearby?

Perhaps evidence of something
of value being offloaded

from a ship onto Oak Island.

Albeit,
there's similar construct here

you've got a... a carry log
and then cross pieces.

Yeah.

But this is
so much larger than that,

that it defies logic.

But this is like a dogleg.

This. This is where
you would have pulled

the ship alongside this area
at the end of the slipway.

-Yeah.
- Which...

which makes you excited.

-Oh, it bloody well does.
-Yeah. Yeah.

So, our quandary is:

how fast can we dig
and where can we dig?

I'd certainly like to see
this piece,

like, hand-dug
as quickly as possible.

-Okay.
-This is our one chance

to get answers, right? So...

At least initially, let's...

hand-dig this.

Gary gets in here and finds

what he thinks is gonna be
a treasure trove of items,

and, I mean, we're all
hoping that to be the case.

So if you're good, Laird,
I say we get going.

-Yep.
-Okay.

Perfect.

As Rick and members of the team

carefully uncover more of the
mysterious wooden structure...

Where are we gonna put it,
right here?

...Craig Tester and Jack Begley

meet with Scott Barlow
at the Oak Island swamp,

where they are beginning

this year's
large-scale investigation

of the area.

Want us to put it here?

Uh, this... this works perfect.

This seems the most stable.

We can just throw
the pump out that way.

Having finally received
the permits necessary

to dig in the swamp,
the Oak Island team

is now more eager to fully
drain and excavate the area

to find what
may lie hidden there.

It'll work.

Earlier this year,

while investigating
a 200-foot-long object

detected by seismic scanning,

the Oak Island team made
several compelling discoveries,

including a mysterious
paved surface, or pathway.

They also found
a circular rock formation

at the northern point,

which the team had dubbed
"the eye of the swamp."

This is...

quite a provocative site.

There was something super big
going on.

Incredibly, it was
after taking core samples

from the same site one week ago

that geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner

shared some astonishing data.

And that is, we've got the till,
we've got the organic matter,

and it's disturbed.

He determined that not only
did significant human activity

take place at the so-called
"eye of the swamp"

during the 17th century,

but that the swamp itself may
have been artificially created

nearly 800 years ago.

I'm curious. I'm eager.
I'm excited about it.

We've worked
with the authorities,

we have the permits,
and the first stage

would be to drain it down
as best possible,

and when that's reached,
then we start digging.

Astonishingly,
I'm kind of looking forward

to digging there.

Scott,
what size pump do you have?

We got two different types.

We have a diaphragm pump
we're gonna try using

to see if that'll suck
the slurry out of there.

We got a four-inch
for over there.

-Oh, really?
-Yep.

So, I got this pump
just in case.

We have a fallback plan.

In order to successfully drain

the entire Oak Island swamp,

the team will first use
a six-inch trash pump,

specially designed to operate
in environments

containing heavy amounts
of debris.

They will then strategically
place smaller, four-inch pumps

at various target sites

in order to remove
any remaining standing water.

So we can expect
the swamp to be drained

in about a week?

Uh, quite dry in a week.

I mean, most will be done
in two days.

You know, to me, the one thing
that's gonna be the big t

it's always been wet.

Even when this is, you know,
pretty bone-dry out here.

So, uh,
where's the water source?

Is it that back pond?
And having a pump there

-is gonna be huge.
-Yeah.

I'm just excited

to finally be digging
in the swamp.

But this is the first year we've
gotten permission to be able

to dig it out enough
to see the bottom,

to see if there is actually
this paved path

or if there's a ship, or...

maybe there's an unknown
that's around this pathway.

What if...
what if we get to the bottom

and there's...
gold coins sitting there?

We don't know
what we're gonna find.

That'd be huge.
-Another... Yeah.

So... let's turn it on?

-Yep.
-Okay.

Fire up the pump, Randy!

As the pumping operation begins
at the swamp...

Rick, Peter and Gary
continue to investigate

the newly exposed area

surrounding
the end of the slipway

in hopes of finding
any important clues,

artifacts or, possibly,

evidence of treasure.

So, where can I get in, Rick?

If that is the end of the...

-Mm-hmm.
-...slipway/wharf,

that's where you want
to be, right?

-Yeah.
-And we know that that kind of

flowed into here, because...

there's very few rocks here,

and yet there,
there's a whole bunch of 'em.

So I'd like you
to just at least do a...

-a quick once-over of this area.
-Okay.

-All right. -I know that's gonna be a little
sloppy down there, but...

-you're up to it. -I'll try and stand
on the stones.

We've got a ongoing puzzle

in Smith's Cove,
and if there's

anything to be found,
it's at the end of that slipway,

well, hopefully, we'll find it.

I mean, we're all excited,

no one more excited
than Gary Drayton.

The hope is we'll find

artifacts.

I'd love to find something,
anything.

Got a signal, Pete!

It's actually over this big log.

Somewhere just in here, Pete.

It's in there still.

Let me see
if I can dig it out by hand.

What's that?
-I don't know.

Now, that has got me stumped.

What is that?

It's a piece of black metal.

Wash it in the water there.

Oh, man, this is interesting.

Wow.

This could be silver, mate.

While investigating the end

of the slipway at Smith's Cove,

Rick Lagina,
his nephew Peter Fornetti,

and metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

have just made a potentially
important discovery.

That's what it looks like.

I don't know if there's some
kind of design on it

or whether my eyes
are playing tricks on me.

Uh, it looks like
some kind of silver tag.

A silver tag?

Could the team have just found
an actual piece

of the Oak Island treasure
at Smith's Cove?

Why does it have
the little scallops in it?

Who knows? I mean, it's probably
been down there for, like,

300 or 400 years.

I mean, that's been there
a heck of a long time.

Every time I've ever found

Spanish treasure coins
made of silver,

they've always had
this same patina.

It's oxidized.

It's contact in a saltwater
environment, mate.

This had been next to that log,
oh, my God,

hundreds and hundreds of years.

And we know how old
that cross was.

This could be earth-shattering.

Holy...

Holy schmoly, all right.

- It's a cross.
-That's a cross.

Is it possible
that Rick, Gary and Peter

have found an artifact
that could be connected

to the 700-year-old lead cross

that was unearthed here
at Smith's Cove two years ago?

It's a beautiful specimen.

Now we need somebody
to look at it.

But we can certainly try
to get it tested.

When this is cleaned up,
if there is some kind of design,

oh,

we don't know
how far back this piece goes.

This is
what we've been looking for!

Oh.

I might even go
for a swim after this.

This is fantastic!

Let's give Marty a call.

It's what
we were hoping to find

artifacts in-in this bump-out.

Well, we found this...
what could be silver.

First piece of real treasure
found in Smith's Cove.

I think, more importantly,
there's a lot of information

that could be gleaned from it.

Caveat is it has to be tested.

Hey. We're down at...

We're down at Smith's Cove

at the, uh,
extension of the slipway.

Yeah, we came to the end of it,
or so we think.

And I have somebody here
that would like to talk to you

for a couple minutes.

Okay, hang on.

I'll spoil the surprise.

We found what could be

a really, really old piece
of silver.

Yeah, and it was trapped against

the old log,

the big logs on the slipway.

And it's really, really nice.

I mean,
it's almost like a-a large tag.

Um, it's got some kind

of decoration on it
that we can't make out.

But it's old. I mean,

this could easily be
a friend of the cross.

We keep finding

really interesting things on
Oak Island, really interesting.

Lead crosses
and old coins and stuff,

but if what Gary found is

a small bar
or something of silver,

I'm really excited
because that would be treasure.

It's quite a stunning piece,
and, uh, hopefully, it has...

a story to tell.

Yeah.

Yeah, we'll send it on.

And we are all kind of
amped up about it,

but we got
to find more than one piece.

All right. See you.

The next day,

while the excavation
at Smith's Cove continues...

Good morning, Terry.

-Hi, Doug, how you doing?
-Good.

...geologist Terry Matheson

and historian Doug Crowell
are overseeing the core

drilling operation
in the Money Pit area.

They are hoping to pinpoint the
tunnel leading from Shaft Two,

the first searcher shaft dug
on the island

after the Money Pit shaft
flooded in 1804.

If successful, the tunnel
should lead the team directly

to the original Money Pit

the location
of which has been lost

for more than a century.

-We're all... -So, we're all spotted
and ready to rock

here on F.25-12.5.

So, this is gonna be
an interesting day.

Yup. If this is indeed
Shaft Number Two...

Mm-hmm.

...historically, it was 14 feet
away from the Money Pit,

but the tunnel only went over

12 feet before the water
broke in and chased them out.

The deluge, yeah.

And that's, I think,
12.5 feet away at

the western extent...
the farthest western extent

that we think
we could find that tunnel.

Built in 1805

by Daniel McGinnis and other
members of the Onslow Company,

the Shaft Two tunnel

was constructed
at a depth of 110 feet,

just 14 feet southwest
of the original Money Pit.

McGinnis was hoping to bypass
the man-made flood tunnel

protecting the original
treasure shaft and a vault,

which he and his partners
intended

to retrieve from below.

Unfortunately, just
two feet shy of their target,

the Shaft Two tunnel
suddenly flooded with seawater.

Rick and Henskee
and the team found Shaft Two.

That is the closest point

that we've ever had
to the historic Money Pit.

I'd like
to refine that data is all,

but are we close to
original works? Yeah, I think.

More so than any other time.

So, at 12.5 feet away,

we'll hit that missing link
that we need

-to get the exact alignment
of this tunnel. -Yup.

Literally, we are knocking
on the Money Pit door right now.

Yeah.
- All right.

Tell 'em to fire it up.
Let's go get her.

While Terry and Doug continue

to monitor
the drilling operation

at the Money Pit area,

Rick Lagina
and members of the team,

along with fellow Oak Island
landowner Tom Nolan,

arrive at the swamp, where Tom
has arranged a meeting

with John Skierka of
Great Excavations Incorporated,

a company that specializes
in heavy digging equipment.

John, nice to meet you.
Thank you for coming.

-Appreciate it.
-Nice to meet you.

John has some of the type
of excavators that I had

mentioned to you guys
that could possibly

go into this bog,
and he's here to have a look

just to see
if he thinks it's doable,

if we can get this thing out
here, but, uh, this is the guy.

I think we all really had a lot
of interest in your expertise.

If you want to walk down here,
we can show you exactly

what the project is about.

Over the past few weeks,

the Laginas
and their partners have met

with numerous contractors
to consider different methods

for excavating
in difficult environments,

like the Oak Island swamp.

It's a very difficult
enterprise,

trying to dig in the swamp,

so Tom Nolan has actually
offered an idea,

and he's suggesting
that there's a tracked

swamp excavator, if you will,
that he believes

you could probably walk in there
and dig.

And that's... that's exciting.

Look, a swamp excavator?

We know nothing about it.
I certainly

-don't know anything about it.
No. We've seen

pictures of them in bogs, but
we want this one to go in and

-come back out again.
Yeah. Well, so,

most places we go, you wouldn't
dare to try and walk in it,

so, in terms
of getting out there

and doing what we need to do, I
don't see it as being a problem.

So does this thing
sort of float?

No. It'll sink down
a little bit.

But then you have
your ground pressure,

and then you get
your displacement, right?

So, all we need
to do is run the excavator

like you would normally run
an excavator.

Unlike
a conventional excavator,

the Trax X300AD-L is equipped
with six-foot-wide tracks

known as pontoons

allowing it to maneuver over
and in amphibious environments.

It also features
a long-reach arm, or boom,

capable of digging
as deep as 70 feet underground.

Well, why don't we,

uh, travel down to the end
of the swamp

and walk in, and we'll show you
exactly the areas of interest?

-Yeah.
-Okay. Sounds good.

I'm all

for getting this long-reach
excavator. I mean,

you know, it's amazing
when you run

those big standard excavators,
you know, they look so massive,

but, really, you're limited
to about 18 feet,

maybe 22 feet,
maybe something like that.

So, I think it's gonna be great.

This is the area
we would like to dig.

-How would you do it, John?
-Like, if we were

just excavating this pond,

the top three feet off of it,
it'd be a day.

Really?

I would come in
by that blue stake

over there,
and walk along the side

of the excavation area,
and I would

start pulling everything
this way,

on an angle, and if you're
worried about the material,

you can throw all the material
behind you over there.

You know, this isn't
a get-in and get-out project.

-Right. -'Cause we don't know
what we'll encounter here.

So, this needs
to stay open for a while

so we really come to
an understanding of what it is.

Yeah, and it's gonna be

pretty gentle, a pretty
gentle dig in here. You know,

that's a big machine,
so just take our time with it.

Yeah.

I know that we have
your expertise, we have

your expertise,
and we have your expertise.

Between the three of you
and the gear,

I think
we've got an excellent chance

of investigating
all three targets

to the point
where we can put 'em to bed.

We should be able to look on

what's underneath her
with all that.

And what have you always said?

-If it's there,
it's in the swamp.

John, thank you very much.

-Appreciate it.
Yeah. I appreciate it.

As a new day begins
on Oak Island,

and as the operations
at both the Money Pit area

and Smith's Cove continue,

Marty Lagina
joins Gary Drayton,

Charles Barkhouse,
and Steve Guptill

in the w*r room.

They have gathered
to hear a scientific report

concerning the possible
silver tag found two days ago

near the end of the slipway
at Smith's Cove.

Well, here's the deal, guys.

It's a pretty good sign that
there are only four of us here

to get this information.
That means everybody's

out working.
That's good.

But, uh, I reached out
to Christa Brosseau,

Dr. Brosseau,
and she has some results

on some of the stuff you found.

And let's hear
what she's got to say.

- Yeah.

Hello.

Hello, Christa.

It's Marty Lagina.

Good.

That looks like iron.

Yes.

-We're quite sure of that.
-Yeah.

As an associate professor
of chemistry

at Saint Mary's University
in Halifax, Nova Scotia,

Dr. Christa Brosseau
is an expert in the study

of metal objects
and particularly

their chemical compositions.

So, you have some,
uh, data for us,

which we're
keenly interested in.

Um, Gary,
why don't you talk about it?

You thought something.
You thought it was silver.

Yeah, we found this
right next to a log

at the bottom of the slipway.

And when this first came out,

I... thought at first

it might have been pewter.

-But when I looked

at the patina,
I'm thinking it's silver,

because I figured
that black color

is from oxidization,

contact with salt water.

It had the feel of silver.

It's got the look of silver.

So I'm hoping
you're gonna tell us

this is either silver

or pewter.

Okay.

Wow. I'm shocked.

I thought that was silver.

-I wouldn't have thought
this was lead. -Yeah.

-That's surprising.
- Yeah. -So when you say

"impure lead,"
just that it's not 100% lead.

Would they use lead
to build the slipway?

Well, lead was like
the duct tape of the day.

-All the way back to Roman days.
-That's true. Yeah.

- They used it
for a lot of stuff. - Yeah.

News that Gary Drayton's
recent find

is made of lead and not silver

is an unexpected

but not necessarily unimportant
development.

If it could be related
to the other

lead objects discovered
on the island,

like the 700-year-old cross

found at Smith's Cove
two years ago,

the team may have obtained
further evidence

of European visitation
to the island

hundreds of years earlier
than was previously believed.

I had to broggle
at the side of this log

to-to winkle that out,

and I was certain that was old.

He broggled it out!

Would you please speak English
in this conference room?

Okay.

Laser ablation

is a scientific testing method

in which a high-powered laser

cuts microscopic samples from
the surface of an artifact.

These samples are then analyzed

to determine
the lead's isotope value

and possibly
its geographic origin.

The piece of what Gary thought
was silver

found near the slipway
turns out to be lead.

Initially, I'm disappointed,
but then I thought, "Well,

"because it's lead,
it could tell us more

than silver ever could because
of the isotope analysis."

It's a great test.
We have high confidence in it.

And maybe it will tell us
the when and where.

Excellent. So we'll have
another gander

-at that.
- I think so, Gary.

Because, you know, actually,

lead has told us more stories
on this island than any other...

-Yeah.
-...any other metal.

Yeah, we do.

-That's good.
-That's good.

Dr. Brosseau, we thank you.

Uh, I'm sure you're gonna be
seeing more of us and our stuff.

-Thank you.
- Okay. Cheers.

Look,

that thing's exciting.

Uh, and-and everything she found

is consistent
with it being very old.

So let's just
let's just remember that

-and go back to our business.
How's that? -Yeah.

-Sounds like a plan.
-Okay, guys.

-Let's go.
-Yeah.

As Marty and the team conclude

their meeting
in the w*r room...

- Hey, Dan. How you doing?
-All right.

...veteran Oak Island
treasure hunter

Dan Henskee arrives
at the Money Pit area,

where Dave Blankenship,

Doug Crowell,
and geologist Terry Matheson

are hoping to pinpoint

the tunnel leading off
of Shaft Two.

Dan, you came
at a really good time.

We're just about
into the tunnel zone.

It'd be nice to just put
something down the hole

-and say, "Oh, there's a..."
-There it is.

Yeah, interesting times.

We're just dialing in

the alignment of that tunnel

off of Shaft Two.

Maybe this is gonna be
the big dig.

-Maybe.
-DAN H.: Yeah.

-That's we got to hope.

You draining that or putting it up?
-Oh, we'll-we'll drain that guy.

This one's good. Okay.

So, we got 98 and a half

-to 108 and a half.
- Yeah. 108 and a half.

Super. All right, this one's
saying, "Open me first."

-It certainly is.

This is it,
potentially, right here, boys.

Whoa! Hold the phone!

It's a
it's a very small beginning,

-but I think we have some wood here, gentlemen.
-Oh, look, look, look, look.

-Right there.
-Oh! Yeah. -Whoa! Hello! Hello!

Where you been all my life?

Hello, Dolly.
- Oh, look.

There's more inside.

-There's sawn lumber.
- Yeah. Sawn lumber for sure.

Yeah.

In all likelihood, we're right
at the edge of the tunnel.

Finding hand-sawn lumber

at a depth of 108 feet

is a major development.

It offers possible confirmation
that the team

may not only have intercepted
a section

of the Shaft Two tunnel
but also that they are

one major step closer to
finding the original Money Pit.

This is all diggable here.

Sawn lumber right there.
There's the finer sediments.

Yeah.

Okay. Whoa. Come here.

Check this out, Doug.

Look at that.

You can see sand there
and a little bit of clay.

That would give water
a perfect conduit

from the flood tunnel.

Sand packed
inside a layer of clay?

Five weeks ago,

while core drilling between
Smith's Cove and the Money Pit

near an area known
as the Cave-In Pit,

the Oak Island team found
a similar

four-foot section of beach sand

packed between layers
of hard clay.

This sand could be
the manifestation

of a bygone tunnel.

This discovery
also matched an 1897 account

by members of the Oak Island
Treasure Company,

who exposed what they believed

to be one of the island's
legendary flood tunnels

in the original Money Pit
at a depth of 111 feet.

Could it be that the team
has intercepted

part of this same flood tunnel?

And if so, could it mean

they are on the verge
of finally locating

the original Money Pit?

I think
it's starting to be clear

that we could easily have had
a very rapid, uh,

flooding out of this tunnel.

We're in the Money Pit
right here,

and we're digging towards it.

We're very, very close, uh,

to the Money Pit at this point.

Yeah.

- How you doing?
-Well?

We got her.

Do you? What did we find?

Complete success on this hole.

Upon hearing news

that the team working
in the Money Pit area

may have intercepted one
of the man-made flood tunnels,

Rick, Marty and Alex Lagina
have arrived on the scene.

We hit the side of a tunnel,
gentlemen.

Oh, wow. That's great.

-That's perfect.
-It's perfect.

-So, FG-13 hit the tunnel.
-Okay.

-And we have a zinger
to show you. -Really?

Check that out, right there.

Look at that.
There's sand,

and it's encased in clay,
above and below.

We know they lost Shaft Two,
so we really feel

that that's good evidence

of sandy material
that jetted water

and sand up into the tunnel.

It all came flooding in,

so you got a potential for what
Rick's always looking for,

stuff coming in
from the Money Pit.

Agreed.

So, uh,

could potentially be close,

uh, to the Money Pit
at this point.

Terry's a good geologist,

and he thinks that he's hit
a section of sand

that isn't bedded.

But I think it could be done
intentionally in a flood tunnel,

because sand will transmit
a lot of water,

and it would also keep
the thing from collapsing.

Which means we have to be very
close to what they considered

to be the original Money Pit.

Absolutely.
I totally agree with Marty.

We're-we're close.

Here's the exciting thing.

If this is really the Money Pit,

then maybe one of these things
comes up with something.

If you wanted to do one more...

-Right. -...you push it right here
and find...

If you're
you believe the collapse

-or they didn't get any farther
than that. -I think

that's close to the collapse.
Yeah, we might

-we might do one out there to confirm that.
-You can put one there.

Yeah. So, we'll get this

and we'll see what happens.

Right on.

Later that afternoon,

as work continues
at the Money Pit area...

Well, today's the day.
- Yeah.

She's rolling down the road
as we speak.

...brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina

have joined
fellow landowner Tom Nolan

at the South Shore road
near the swamp.

You've seen these kind
of machines before, right, Tom?

-Yeah. Yeah.
-Yeah.

This is this is a bigger...

bigger-sized one.

-Yeah.
-Thirty 36-ton.

-Oh, boy.
-It's a big machine.

Now that the swamp
is almost completely drained

after three days of pumping,

representatives from
Great Excavations Incorporated

deliver a specialized
36-ton excavator.

Once assembled,
it will allow the team

to conduct the most extensive
investigation of the swamp

ever attempted,

in an effort to reveal
whatever may lie buried

under several feet
of mud and muck.

Here we go.

Look at that.
Isn't that something?

Great Excavations.

-Hey, John. Welcome back.
-How you doing?

Hey. How you doing?

-Hi, I'm Marty.
-Hi, Marty.

-John.
-Hi, John.

-Yeah, that's a for-real deal there.
-That's quite a track.

Oh, I thought it was
actually like a pontoon.

It doesn't it doesn't
really float, does it?

-Or does it?
-It-it does.

- It looks like a t*nk.Yeah, it does.

Seeing the swamp excavator,

I have a lot of confidence
that'll do the job.

The tracks on this thing
are enormous.

Plus, it has flotation in it.

So, if Rick's right,

if there are answers
in the swamp,

then it could be real important.

It's certainly
the piece of gear we need.

Are you gonna have
room enough here

-to put it together?
It's gonna be tight,

but I think we can do it, yeah.

Okay, so, next step

put that bad boy together.

We're real excited about it.

-Sounds good. We'd be happy to.
-Yeah.

-Thank you.
-Thank you, John.

We got stuff to do,

but we will be back.

As a new day begins,

and as the team from
Great Excavations Incorporated

continues preparations
for a large-scale dig

in the Oak Island swamp,

Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with their partner
Craig Tester,

gather the team in the w*r room

for an important
scientific report

that has just come in.

Joining them is
Dr. Chris McFarlane,

a professor of geochemistry

at the University
of New Brunswick,

who has come to present
his analysis

of the ancient lead artifact
discovered

three days ago at Smith's Cove.

Uh, this is Chris McFarlane,

and he has taken a look
at the piece of metal.

Well, we were pretty excited
about it, 'cause it was adjacent

to the slipway in Smith's Cove.

Yeah, and that was
way down deep.

And you have some information
for us, I understand.

Oh, yeah.
Now, it's definitely lead,

uh, I'm happy to say.

That particular artifact

ablated beautifully.

I brought some results here.

The, uh...

the one thing of interest
is the tin.

Okay? And this thing has
a lot of tin in it.

That's, like,
nine weight percent tin.

-That's a lot.
-Which might explain a little bit

-why it looks kind of weird.
- Yeah, it's got

-that strange patina on it.
-Yeah.

It's quite high. It's higher
than anything I've ever seen.

So what did it tell you?

Well, first off,
the slipway artifact

is clearly not
of North American origin.

There's a publication

that's a compilation
of over 6,000, uh,

measurements of lead isotopes

from ores
from all across Europe.

Really valuable data set.

So we want to know
where it could be from.

And Europe,

I think, is a good bet.

I would say that the lead

is Italian, French or Spanish.

-Wow. -That sort of neck
of the Mediterranean.

Rather than
in the Eastern Mediterranean,

more of a Western
Mediterranean flavor.

-Wow.
-That is pretty cool.

This is fascinating.
We all know

who used to travel a lot
along those trade routes

in the Mediterranean:
Templars, baby!

Ancient lead?

From the Western region
of the Mediterranean?

Could it be connected
in some way

to the mysterious lead cross
found at Smith's Cove

two years ago?

A cross that suggested that the
stories of the Knights Templar

visiting Oak Island
could be true.

Wow, this is a long way
from home.

- Yep.
- Given the...

the historical context here of
the what-ifs and possibilities

of Oak Island

France, Spain certainly,

and now there's
an Italian connection,

or a possible
Italian connection.

Those last two keep popping up
here French or Spanish

but this is the first time
the Italians have showed up.

-You're happy about that.
-Yeah!

Maybe there's
an Italian connection here.

Other than us.

This is extremely interesting.

I don't know what a piece
of tin and lead from...

Italy, France or Spain
is doing...

Yeah. Eight feet below sea level

and underneath the slipway.

-That's crazy.
-It is.

Well, it's interesting from
the different potential areas.

I'd like to reach out

to... to Europe and see if, uh,

the amount of tin in there,

uh, can tell us
more information.

Well, the analysis
from Professor McFarlane

zeroes in on the Mediterranean:
France, Italy, Spain.

It's just incredible, right?

So... you know, that's
certainly not inconsistent

with the Templars.
I mean,

there is data...

that we've acquired
that supports it.

And we've had other, uh...

connections to-to that region.

And possible explanations
as to the why

of the endeavor here
on Oak Island.

So...

it's supported,
but at the end of the day,

it's just one more
little piece of the puzzle.

We have got to start putting
these puzzle pieces together.

The best thing is
that we continue to do

some more specific testing,
apply more science,

and different
testing methodology to give us

more information.

Okay, well, again,
thank you, Dr. McFarlane.

Excellent stuff.
I'm sure we're going

to be talking with you again.

While search operations
continue

at both Smith's Cove
and the Money Pit area...

So, it's showtime.

It's showtime.

Big bog.

...Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with their partner
Craig Tester

and fellow landowner Tom Nolan,

head to the newly drained
swamp.

This is the Tom Nolan quote:

"If there's anything
to Oak Island,

the answers are in the swamp."

Well, I think
there's something there.

I love it.

I do not like being
in the swamp.

It stinks. It's nasty.

But...

if there's something interesting
down there,

then I want to see it.

We have to dig.
We have to investigate.

And if it takes getting dirty
and wet and cold

and miserable and smelly,
I don't care.

I want an answer.

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, there's a trio.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

Okay, what's in there?

You tell me.

- No, no, no, no.
-Mysteries.

All right.
Well, why... what are we...

-what are we standing around for?
-Saddle up.

- Yeah, let's go.
Turn the key, Billy.

Because a thorough draining
of the swamp

has always been difficult
to achieve,

the area remains one of the
least explored on Oak Island.

But recent discoveries,

including
Dr. Ian Spooner's confirmation

that the swamp
was most likely man-made

some 800 years ago,

has made digging in the area

one of this year's
major agendas.

First among the team's list
of potential target sites

is the flat, stone walkway
discovered earlier this year

by diver Tony Sampson.

So, me and my copilot here,

we need a little guidance here,
because we're wondering...

where to start,
and I'm assuming...

way at the end of these
blue stakes, is that right?

I was only interested
in going...

digging to the paved area.

Do you want us to go
to the end first,

so we don't mess things up?

-Yes. Go all the way to the end.
-Okay. All right, okay.

Today's operation

is particularly meaningful
for Tom Nolan.

It was his father, the late
treasure hunter Fred Nolan,

who spent
more than five decades

of his life being convinced

that the key to solving
the Oak Island mystery

would be found in the swamp.

Well, Rick, it's hard to believe

we actually see this machine
in the swamp.

You know, if Dad had been here
to see that out there, he...

he hardly could've believed it.

Hopefully, we can...

finally get
to the "bottom of this."

You know, this thing's just...

Hopefully,
this'll be a game changer

for this bog
and what we can, you know...

get it to tell us.

You look out there,
and I-I see, you know,

look at all the assets
we're-we're pouring into this,

and yet, you contrast that
with the years

your father labored here,
just you and he.

I mean, it's quite
a significant difference.

Yeah. I think
if we can get out there

and take some
of the top layer off,

I think there's things out here
to be had, so...

Well, let's clean that out

and see what we got, how's that?

-Let's do it!
- All right.

All right, here we go.

After 225 years

of backbreaking work,

frustrating setbacks,

and bitter tragedy,

the Oak Island mystery
may finally be on the verge

of being solved.

But as the Laginas and their
partners know all too well,

the island does not share
its secrets willingly.

There is likely
more hardship ahead,

coupled
with the ever-present thr*at

of a curse that says

one more must die

before the treasure
can be found.

Next time
on The Curse of Oak Island...

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

What is that? Stop.

There you go.

That is exactly what Fred found.

Whoo, baby!

Any idea on an age?

- Whoa! Whoa!
We've got some wood here.

Look at this.
This is cut with an a*.

-This is wood from the original Money Pit.
We found it!

There's a huge storm coming.

Category 1.
It's headed right for us.

Anything that can become
a sail has to be tied down.

It could be catastrophic.