08x21 - Off the Railing

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

Gary: I love the smell of
treasure in the morning.

Ooh, look at that! I would
say this looks m*llitary.

Doug: This particular artifact
was found in the swamp

and I've never seen
anything like that.

Marty: Wow. What
the hell is that?

We're hoping you might
have an idea of what it is.

Oh, this is really,
really old. Middle s.

- Steve g.: Oh, wow.
- Scott: What have you got?

It looks like a piece
of finished wood.

Gary: It looks like railing.

It looks like ship's railing.

We found the ship in the swamp!

Billy: Yeah.

Narrator: There is an
island in the north atlantic

where people have been
looking for an incredible treasure

for more than 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.

♪ ♪

- steve g.: So, rick, I just talked to the drillers.
- Rick: Okay.

And I have them
pinned dead center

in the barringer
survey... The vlf survey.

Yup.

The one they were very
convinced was a nonferrous target.

Yeah.

Narrator: It's the
beginning of another

hopeful day on oak island for
brothers rick and marty lagina.

With just a little more than
a month before the harsh

north atlantic winter will
force them and their team

to halt all major search
operations for the year,

they are determined
to make every effort that

could lead to a major discovery

in the -year-old
treasure mystery.

To put an x on the ground
is pretty impressive work.

- Mm-hmm.
- And if this is a nonferrous target,

I mean,
it's singularly attractive, right?

- Mm-hmm.
- It will be very interesting.

There's the end of it.

So not really any wood that
we were hoping to run into.

feet and nothing to report.

Narrator: After reaching
a frustrating setback

with their core
drilling operation

in the money pit
area one week ago...

Do we have any other options?

We have the barringer anomalies.

- Can we go after one of those?
- I would.

Narrator: Rick,
marty and their partner craig tester

have decided to
pursue what could be

a number of other
treasure deposits

located near smith's cove,
that were first identified

more than years ago
on the barringer survey.

Commissioned in
by dan blankenship

and his partner david tobias,

the barringer survey
was a m*llitary-grade

vlf... or low frequency
radio wave scan...

That denoted possible
tunnels some feet deep

in and around smith's cove

and the eastern perimeter
of the money pit area,

as well as four distinct
nonferrous deposits,

meaning they could be
composed of either silver or gold.

Although dan and david
did not have the resources

to pursue these targets when
the data was first obtained,

after doug crowell
recently found these records

in dan's archived files,

rick,
marty and craig believe it is

worth trying to finish what
their late partner started.

Marty: The barringer
survey has indications

of nonferrous material at depth.

If it's nonferrous
material at depth,

it's probably treasure,
if it's really there.

It could be everything.

You know,
one percent chance of finding this thing

for drilling one hole or two,

I say: Drill.

This is a treasure hunt.

- Morning, guys.
- Hey, rick. - Morning.

Terry: Hey,
steve. How you doing?

- Good. - Good.

Steve g.: I brought an
updated plan for everybody.

It's just an overview, it's not

like our drill program in the money pit,
terry.

- Right.
- But it lets you see what's going on here.

So these are the four
nonferrous targets.

We're currently
sitting at this one.

to is our target depth.

Terry: And I've referred to this
one as "nonferrous metal- ."

- right.
- We're right now... this is only at .

But it's in very tight,
clay-rich material.

So let's cross our
fingers for gold and silver.

- Charles: There you go. - Yeah.

- Okay. Let's find it.
- Terry: Yup.

Narrator: As rick
lagina oversees

the drilling operation
at smith's cove,

near the northeastern border
of the triangle-shaped swamp...

Miriam: We still
have a lot of shoveling

- to do before we find this road.
- Alex: Right.

(chuckles): Right.

Narrator: Marty
lagina's son alex

joins archeologists
miriam amirault

and dr. Aaron taylor
to continue the team's

efforts to uncover more of
the mysterious stone pathway

that extends out
of the brackish bog

and into the uplands,
possibly toward the money pit.

Miriam: So it would
be great if we found

another artifact
with a good date.

- Mm-hmm.
- Which could prove to us,

"okay,
the road is actually continuing uphill."

have we looked at,
like, contour?

To kind of figure out the
most likely path of the road?

Or are we just
kind of chasing it?

No, at this point,
we're just chasing it because

this is the first time
we've had an actual curve,

- a turn, um... - Mm-hmm.

That we think is-is the road.

Got it. Okay.

- We'll keep looking.
- Yes, exactly.

Narrator: Over the
past several weeks,

the oak island team
has made a number

of compelling
discoveries that indicate

this man-made stone
pathway was possibly used

to move heavy cargo off of
a ship and onto oak island.

These discoveries include
the massive stone road,

believed to have once
been part of a ships' wharf;

large iron ringbolts,

potentially used as
part of a pulley system;

and pieces of
wooden keg barrels,

that may date back as
far as the th century.

Now,
with winter fast approaching,

the team is determined
to find out just where

the pathway leads
and what they may

find at the end of it.

I'm curious what's
going on here,

if there's any more in this.

Yeah. I kind of think it's...

It just seems to keep
moving kind of under the berm.

Well,
it's hard to say because down there,

- we're not finding any stones.
- Right.

Miriam: I just want to make
sure it's actually definitive

- before I say "this is the road."
- mm-hmm.

- Hey, aaron? - Sorry?

Do you mind taking a look?

Yeah, yeah. What do you got?

There's not much down here. I mean,
in terms of rocks.

Over here,
we're finding these stones

from the path are
higher on that end

and much lower on this end.

So, what we're wondering is,

are we looking at it maybe
curving around and heading back

- up the hill that way?
- That's a good question.

It looks like we
probably have a corner.

- Wow. That's good. - Yeah.

Narrator: Has the team really
uncovered a corner in the stone pathway?

If so,
could it bring them another step closer

in determining
just where it leads,

and how it might offer answers

to the -year-old
oak island mystery?

To me,
it-it really seems like we probably need

to have somebody
take this entire berm out.

- Aaron: Yeah, we need to be right on this.
- Mm-hmm.

- I'd say we do it.
- Alex: Right.

I think the singular
most important item

to yet discover is: Where
does the road lead?

Does it lead back
to the money pit?

Is it possible that
it goes somewhere

we're currently unaware of?

So,
to have this turn to the upland,

that's great.

- Hey, guys. - Hey.

- Hey! - Alex: What's up?

Narrator: Arriving
to search for artifacts

or valuable clues,
that could help identify more sections

of the stone pathway,

are metal detection
expert gary drayton

and rick and marty's
nephew david fornetti.

- Any finds? - Nothing today.

Narrator: Also
joining the effort

is heavy equipment
operator billy gerhardt.

- (excavator beeping)
- there's the big trowel!

- Good day. - All right, mate.

- Hey, gary. - So, yeah.

We want to try and see
if we can find the elbow.

So maybe two bucket-widths
back. Just to be sure.

Okay.

(excavator beeping)

marty: As cool as that
road is in the swamp,

it leads to more
questions than answers.

So, is it an indirect indicator
of potential treasure? Yes.

But it's just exactly
that: Indirect.

And so, against all odds,
I'm one of the biggest

proponents of digging up
the rest of it at this point.

And there's a lot undug yet.

Billy!

You're right on top of it,
there.

So we don't want
to go any deeper.

♪ ♪

(detector beeping)

(beeping rapidly)

yeah, I've got a hit here,
david.

(detector whines)

just there.

I'll stop billy when
he starts getting close.

- (detector beeps) - oh,
you got it out.

♪ ♪

it's this. Oh, my gosh!

Wow, this is fantastic!

It's a little cuff button,
that's what that is.

Narrator: In the uplands,

northeast of the
triangle-shaped swamp,

metal detection
expert gary drayton

and david fornetti have
just made a potentially

telling discovery along
the stone pathway.

Gary: And you can see,
it's a single loop.

That's the back where
it would have fastened

onto a sleeve of
a shirt or a jacket.

I would say this looks m*llitary.

More than likely a
little m*llitary cuff button.

That's a sweet find.

And if I was dating it,
I'd put it at to , mate.

Narrator: A possible
m*llitary-style button?

Dating back half
a century before

the discovery of the money pit?

Although rick,
marty and the team have

found evidence of both british
and french m*llitary activity

on oak island that
predates ,

could this m*llitary button
help identify just who

was behind the
pathway's construction?

It's got a lot of detail
on that. A lot of design.

So, when that's cleaned up,

we'll definitely be
able to date this.

It's a nice little find,
crackin' little button.

If we can get a regiment,
we can get a date,

we can get a nationality.

You can gleam a
lot of information

off one single button.

This could be a
very valuable find.

Narrator: Having been
alerted to the discovery

of a possible bend
in the stone pathway,

rick lagina,

along with oak island
historian doug crowell,

arrive to help with
the investigation.

It looks a lot different.

- Oh, yeah. - Yeah.

- So, this way?
- So just... yeah.

We just want to... I
think this is the elbow.

So we just want to make sure.

- Rick: This, right here?
- Aaron: Yeah, yeah.

Is gary metal detecting that?

Doug: Over there, in the pile,
as it's dumped. Yes.

Aaron: I wonder if we should
get him in here right now.

Might as well. Better to
do it here than up on a hill.

Aaron: Yeah.

- Rick: Hey, gary! - Pardon?

Rick: Want to come
down here and do this?

Yup, I'll come down.

Anything interesting down here?

Not yet... You're
about to find it.

Gary: All right.

- (detector
beeping) - gary: Oh...

This is going to be fun.

Yeah.

We're definitely
getting signals.

(detector beeping)

there's definitely
something here.

It's definitely iron,
by the sound of it.

Miriam: Yup. Right there.

This is a decent chunk.

Gary: Wow! You got it out?

Yeah, what the heck...

This kind of reminds
me of an old fire grate.

That's what that reminds me of.

I bet this is part
of a fire grate.

Narrator: A possible fire grate?

Look how big that
charcoal feature is.

Narrator: Just one week ago,
the oak island team

uncovered the remains
of what appears to be

an ancient fire pit next
to the stone pathway.

Aaron: You've got this big stone,
and then above it a big stone.

- Mm-hmm.
- And in that area, you've got the fire.

Narrator: A fire pit that,
much like the pine tar kiln

discovered earlier
this year on lot ,

was likely used for a major
construction operation.

Because the archaeological
team suspects that the pine tar kiln

was used to construct
the original money pit,

they are just as curious
to identify what the fire pit

near the swamp
was used to create.

Could the discovery
of a possible fire grate

bring them closer
to finding out?

Makes sense if
you think about it.

- Could be some kind of grate that they used on the fire.
- Yeah.

And they go back a long way.

They go back all the
way to roman days.

This is a great find.
This-this is getting exciting.

All right.

Let's see if we
got anything else.

Narrator: The following morning,

marty lagina and
archeologist laird niven

join doug crowell in
the research center.

Marty: Hey, doug.

Hey,
gentlemen. Thanks for dropping by.

Yeah. What you got for us?

I've got a couple of
artifacts from dan's archives.

Yeah.

There's several
artifacts he-he's kept.

Narrator: After the discovery
of the barringer survey

in the files of dan blankenship,

doug has been combing through
the rest of his archives to look

for any more clues that might
aid the team's current efforts

to solve the -year-old
treasure mystery.

- This was all in dan's basement?
- Yeah.

What caught my
interest immediately:

This actually says "found in
the swamp by dan blankenship

in the s."

- dan seems to have kept everything.
- Good.

Doug: But what
was in there is this.

This apparently was found
in the swamp in the s.

Marty: What do you think it is?

I'm thinking it's forged.

- Marty: That looks like a latch.
- Mm-hmm.

Narrator: A possible
hand-forged latch?

Found nearly years
ago in the swamp?

Since the team has
made curiously similar finds

this year near the stone road,

such as the gold-colored knob,
which artifact conservator

sandy campbell believes might
have come from a jewel chest,

as well as a
potentially ancient lock,

could this object be
connected to those discoveries?

And perhaps offer
more evidence related

to the treasure mystery?

Marty: I don't know what that is,
doug, but it's cool.

You know who comes to mind
immediately: Carmen legge.

- Yeah, I can touch base with him and see what he thinks about it.
- Marty: That'd be great, doug.

Doug: Will do.

Narrator: Later that afternoon,

as the drilling operation
continues at smith's cove...

Doug: There's an awful lot of
getting up and down in archeology.

Rick: Yup,
I'm there with you, doug.

Narrator: Doug crowell
has rejoined rick lagina,

and archeologists
miriam amirault

and dr. Aaron taylor,

to continue investigating
the stone pathway extending

out of the northeastern
border of the swamp.

About a hundred years ago,
the dig site director

would just sit in a
chair and people would

- just bring him things.
- Doug: Oh.

Sounds like a good
position to have.

- (aaron laughs) - it's not gonna happen,
aaron.

(all laughing)

hey, aaron.

Do you want to
take a look at this?

Aaron: Nice. I like that.

From the shape,
just the squareness of it,

it looks like it
went into a musket.

I think it might be a piece of gunflint,
rick.

Doug: So you mean
like flintlock weapons.

Aaron: Yeah. Muskets.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

When did flintlocks
first come into use?

Aaron: Well, gunflints, again,

you know they had them
in the american revolution.

And when the
europeans first came,

the french and the
british had them.

- Doug: So early s.
- Early s.

Narrator: A flintlock
from a musket?

Possibly dating back to
the early th century?

Could it be more evidence,
like the button located

one day ago by gary drayton,
that might help determine

the identity of just who
built the stone pathway?

Aaron: That's one definitely
we'll look at in the lab.

Something happened
in this one specific area.

- Yup. - What do we make of it?

We have something
that's human-made here.

We've got burning,

- we've got artifacts. - Yeah.

To me,
this road was built before the start

of the treasure hunt,
as proven by the artifacts that are on it.

- True. - And I think

we're close and we just got to

- get it across the finish line.
- Yeah.

Rick: Great day, everybody.

Narrator: As another
day dawns on oak island,

and while the investigation
of the stone pathway

continues near the swamp...

Rick: Gonna find
treasure this morning?

- We'll find out. - (all laugh)

narrator: Rick lagina
and steve guptill

arrive at smith's cove

to check on the progress
of the core drilling operation

in borehole nf- ,

where the team is
investigating a possible cache

of precious metals
buried some feet deep,

which were identified
on the barringer survey,

conducted almost years ago

by dan blankenship and
his partner david tobias.

Steve g.: Man,
that's some nice till.

Charles: That's
pretty solid stuff.

Terry: This is embedded clay.

- How deep is this?
- Brennan: .

- This is ? - Yeah.

Terry: Okay, yup.

All right, I've seen enough of this,
this is in situ.

Okay,
let's get the next one up on the table.

Our next few cores
are our target depth.

We're into the -foot range.

Narrator: Because the soils being
brought up in the core samples

are densely packed
with hard clay,

this means,
at least at this depth,

that the ground would be
ideal for constructing tunnels,

which have also been
identified on the barringer survey.

- Which way does it go?
- That way. That way.

Okay,
that's not exactly a good sign.

It looks like we're out
of this very dense clay,

into a limestone-rich sediment.

So,
we-we're grading out of our clay

into a more crumbly,
limestone crumble.

You're not gonna tunnel in that.

It's gonna be tricky, yeah.

Rick: I don't know
what to make of it.

There was some cobble
and some loose gravels.

That does not a tunnel make.

We want to find that
tunnel on the first hole.

I mean, it-it's human nature.

It doesn't mean
that all is lost.

It's just the first hole.

I think everyone would agree,

this is too crumbly
to tunnel through.

Yeah, I would call it poor tunnel terrain,
absolutely.

Rick: It goes from almost
a perfect medium to...

- I mean, you'd have to crib this, hundred percent.
- Yes.

And I don't even know
if that would be safe.

You'd have to work
your way along.

It would be a
struggle all the way.

- I think we call the hole.
- Yeah.

There's no tunneling
through that.

Calculate the second spot

- and we'll move. - Okay.

Rick: It's not that we're
not in the right area,

- it's just the target's not there.
- Yeah.

I know there's a fascination
with the nonferrous target

'cause it's "treasure."

if it were me,
I'd try to confirm the tunnel.

Steve g.: We're getting close.

- I would move it... Right there.
- Rick: Why not move it to there?

Yeah. Let's do that.

Yeah, I-I'd go there.

Narrator: Although their
first attempt to confirm

that treasure might actually be

buried at smith's cove
has proven unsuccessful,

the team will now
move the sonic drill rig

feet to the east and focus
on a larger target identified

on the barringer survey
as a possible tunnel.

If they can at
least find evidence

of man-made workings
deep underground,

it will offer good reason that
this effort is worth pursuing.

Just for the record,
our second hole is going

to be the east point
of the golden anomaly.

Rick: Steve,
if you could put a pin in,

so mike and colton
can get after this.

- Steve g.: Will do.
- Rick: Thank you.

Narrator: Later that afternoon,

some miles north in centreville,
nova scotia,

oak island historian
doug crowell

and project manager scott barlow

arrive at northville farms.

- Carmen: Oh, lookie here. You're back again, are ya?
- Doug: Yup.

Narrator: They have arranged

for blacksmithing
expert carmen legge

to examine the metal artifact

that doug found in the
archives of rick and marty's

late partner dan blankenship.

This particular artifact
was found years ago.

- years ago? Wow. - Yeah.

So,
found in the swamp around .

Carmen: Oh, okay.

Doug: Very near where
we're exploring now.

And we're hoping you might
have an idea of what it is.

Carmen: Wow,
this is very unique.

Made of several layers.

That construction
of layered metal,

which is not iron or steel,
is a very, very old technique.

I think it has something to do
with weapons or m*llitary use.

Like on top of a cannon
or some type of g*ns

- or-or that sort of thing.
- Doug: Really?

Narrator: Part of a cannon?

Found in the oak island swamp?

Could it be connected to the
evidence of a signal cannon,

which the team discovered
just two weeks ago

on lot between the
swamp and the money pit?

Carmen: This had something
to do with expl*sives.

It was strong and
I think these holes

released pressure of the powder.

And I think that
what you see trapped

in there is burnt gunpowder.

Well,
we have found m*llitary-style buttons

- on the island. - Yeah.

Off of... Off uniforms.

So they would have had,
uh, weapons of some sort.

And if this is off a cannon,
it's a fairly big one.

So,
from the craftsmanship of this,

any idea of the period of time?

Oh, this is really, really old.

They started making
weapons using gunpowder

in the middle s.

- Wow. - It's very indicative of

that type of construction,
in that time period.

(laughs)

doug: There's that date again.

Carmen: That's right, yup.

- Doug: There's that date again.
- Carmen: That's right, yup.

I'm curious as to
where's the rest of it?

Narrator: At northville farms,

some miles
north of oak island,

blacksmithing expert
carmen legge has just given

his opinion that the artifact
dan blankenship reportedly found

in the swamp back in the s

came from a large cannon,
dating back

as far as the early s.

Carmen: Did he
not find any more?

Doug: It might still be at
the bottom of the swamp.

It could very well be, yeah.

Narrator: If carmen's
assessment is correct,

could this discovery be
connected to other finds

the team has made matching
that same time period?

Such as the
pieces of keg barrel,

also found this
year in the swamp?

Perhaps the tunneling tools,
known as swages,

unearthed on lot last year?

Or even possibly the lead cross,

discovered three years
ago at smith's cove,

which might be connected
to the knights templar?

The richness of the story,
it just keeps expanding.

I always believed that
there were interesting finds

in the swamp.

In terms of connection
to past historical events,

I don't think anyone
can say to themselves,

"oh, there's nothing to that."

thanks, carmen.

You're very welcome,
yeah. Very interesting piece.

- Thanks for bringing it.
- Yeah.

- See ya, carmen.
- Carmen: See ya!

Narrator: Later
that afternoon...

- Doug: Hey, marty.
- Marty: What'd you find out?

Narrator: After returning to oak island,
doug crowell

and scott barlow
meet with marty lagina

in the research center.

Might be easier if I lay it out here,
I guess.

All right.

Douog: This is what we
took up to carmen legge.

His impression of what it is,
is surprising.

He thinks it's a part of a... You tell him,
scott.

- He thinks it's part of a cannon.
- Really?

- Yup. - How so?

Well,
he believes this was mounted

on the back of the cannon.
You would put your wick in here.

- In there? - And this would be

exhaust ports here
where the blowback

would come out and down
and knock back at you.

- Really?
- Doug: He thought he even

saw the remains of black powder.

He did give us a period,
didn't he, scott?

Scott: Earliest was early s.

Marty: Boy,
I wouldn't have guessed that.

How sure was he?

He spoke with conviction.

s cannon?

Yeah.

You know,
dan might've discarded something

as irrelevant or-or
stuffed it away in-in a file

because it didn't make
sense to his conception

of what was going on.

But-but now that we
have a lot more data,

uh, it's really valuable.

It's a happy thing that
there's a bunch of data

in dan's basement and I guess

dan's still helping
us in that aspect.

Let's get it into the hands of
an armament expert because,

you know,
if that's verified? It's a big clue.

Great, find the rest of the
cannon and call me back.

- (laughter) - doug: Will do.

Narrator: The
following morning...

Gary: I love the smell of
treasure in the morning.

Narrator: Metal detection
expert gary drayton

and david fornetti

join rick and alex lagina,

along with archeologists
miriam amirault

and dr. Aaron taylor,

to continue unearthing
more of the stone pathway

and also to search for
any clues that might reveal

just who constructed it,
and for what purpose.

Gary: I'll start down
at the bottom here.

(detector beeping)

yeah,
that's a little squeaky piece of iron.

Ooh, look at that!

That's nice.

That is beautiful, isn't it?

Look at that.

Aaron: Yeah, that is nice.

So,
this is a transfer print ware.

It dates quite early.

And what kind of date
are we looking at on that?

It's definitely, uh,
pre-searcher material.

Probably early s.

- Gary: Oh, wow, that's old.
- Aaron: Yeah.

But what nationality?

Is that native to this area,
or does it come from europe?

Aaron: This comes from
europe. It would have been french.

Narrator: Ancient
french pottery?

Found on the stone pathway?

Because no previous searches

since the discovery of
the money pit in

have ever documented
this feature,

could this discovery
be potential evidence

of who was behind
its construction,

and the oak island mystery?

Aaron: So,
just a tiny little thing like this

can give us so much information.

So, it's really,
actually a really exciting find.

But every piece of
information helps.

- So we need to find more.
- Aaron: We need to find more.

Narrator: As rick and
members of the team

investigate the stone pathway,

over on the eastern end
of the island at smith's cove,

geologist terry matheson

and oak island historian
charles barkhouse

continue to supervise
the drilling operation

looking for
evidence of a tunnel,

and a stockpile
of precious metals

that were identified
as possibly existing

more than feet underground

by a radio wave scan
conducted in

known as the barringer survey.

What was the last depth there,
colton?

- . - Charles: ?

Okay.

Terry: Hey, charles,
where are we?

Charles: .

Here we go.

Okay, what have we here?

Let's have a look.

So this, to me,
is just the continuation of a fracture.

Gypsum material falling
back into the fracture

from both sides.

Unfortunately,
I don't see anything other than

mother nature
here. It's not a tunnel.

The lack of artifacts and
the presence of all this

sheared-up geology says
we probably can stop this hole.

Narrator: Because terry has
identified geological evidence

of a fracture in
the bedrock below,

could that explain the
anomaly on the barringer survey

that appeared as though
it could be a tunnel?

If so,
what would explain the readings

for possible precious
metals like silver or gold?

Rick: The fact
that we didn't find it,

you could've missed it

by an inch,
you could've missed it by five feet.

But again,
time and weather conspire against us

and we have a lot
of search agenda,

I.E., drilling remaining to do.

So we gave it two attempts.

We weren't successful.

It doesn't mean it's not there.

Terry: I believe this hole,

- nfm- , is done.
- Is done. Okay.

- Terry: I'll give rick a call.
- Charles: Yeah.

- Marty: Hey, guys.
- Craig: How's it going?

- Hey, guys. - Hey, guys.

Narrator: In the
oak island w*r room,

marty lagina, craig tester

and jack begley are
meeting with rick lagina

and doug crowell
via video conference

to discuss the results
of the drilling operation

at smith's cove,

and how best to move
forward with harsh fall weather

already here and
winter fast approaching.

So, what happened?

It's not what we
were hoping for.

Doug: We've got no gold
or precious metals to put

on the table at all. You know?

But we took two sh*ts that...
We knew it was a long sh*t.

And really,

to do full justice to it,
we'd need holes

to cover it completely.

So the silver lining in this

might be that we might
still be able to repeat this

when we get out
of this pandemic.

Rick: So I think the targets

that were seen by
barringer certainly could have

- been seen.
- Doug: I don't think we can put an x through it yet.

Rick: I don't think the
door is closed on this yet.

I think we need to
do some homework,

but the door remains
open to the possibility

of either duplicating

the survey,

or set up over it and drill it.

We will continue to pursue this,

but it may have to be
put on a back burner.

Okay, but in the meantime,
what do we do with the rig?

Well,
I think we come back up to the money pit.

We want to look
at our current grid,

see where there's
some unexplored space.

Let's do it. I mean,
that's my vote.

Craig: Yes. We
can look at either

duplicating this study

with a very low
frequency in the mag-data.

You know,
I think we just make this a research agenda

for down the road,
and we get back to

drilling at the money pit.

Rick: Get us a few days
to look at the documents

and then go back
to the money pit.

Okay. Well, let's-let's give up

on the barringer
survey for right now.

But, doug, next time we're
discussing drilling results,

will you please not use
the term "silver lining"?

(all laugh)

my heart jumped.

I'll try not to.

(laughs): Yeah.

Okay. Good deal.

- Rick: All right, see ya.
- Craig: Bye, guys.

Narrator: Later
that afternoon...

Billy,
can you do right-right about there?

- Yup. - Yup. - Okay.

Narrator: Rick, marty and craig

send steve guptill

and members of the team to
the southern border of the swamp.

After making a number
of significant discoveries

in this area that may date as
far back as the th century,

including pieces of
wooden cargo barrels,

iron ringbolts,

and part of a cannon,
originally unearthed

more than five decades
ago by dan blankenship,

they will begin an even
deeper excavation of the area

to see what else
might be buried here.

Billy?

- Yeah? - You can go deeper.

Okay.

I'll grab my gps.

Narrator: As heavy equipment
operator billy gerhardt

removes the tons of muck and mud,
hoping to unearth

new clues or
anything of value...

There's bottom.

Narrator: Surveyor
steve guptill will be

recording the depths
once they reach the bottom,

or hardpan,
in order to build a computer model

of what this area
looked like centuries ago

when the swamp may
have been an open harbor.

Steve g.: We're
gonna dig a long...

Like almost a trench...
Through the swamp.

A cross section,
really. It will help us to see

if there was a spot deep
enough in the swamp

to get a small boat
or small ship in,

and they'd be able to
dock it at the paved area.

- We're getting deeper here, eh?
- Scott: Yup.

Could you dig it a little
closer to your track?

Yup.

Marty: Getting
down to the hardpan,

where this deep part

of the swamp might've
been some sort of little harbor,

that is extremely important.

To me,
the main targets in the swamp would be

any artifacts that might've
fallen to the bottom

when it was a lot deeper,
and maybe open to the sea.

That's deep.

Scott: Nine feet there, I'd say.

- Yeah. - At least, yeah.

That's bottom there?

No.

Doesn't that feel like till?

- No? - No.

Doug: How do you explain that?

There's something on the bottom there,
and I'm not joking.

Is that a piece of
cut wood there?

Or is that the corner of a rock?

Is that cut wood or not?

Or just did I split
it with the bucket?

It might be. I'll go get it.

Oh, look, they got something.

Doug: Oh, look at that.

What have you got?

It looks like a piece
of finished wood.

Narrator: While excavating

at the southern border
of the oak island swamp,

billy gerhardt,
along with other members of the team,

have just unearthed what
may be an important discovery.

Doug: It's very smooth,
seems really polished.

I mean,
I can't see that happening naturally.

I'm going to toss it in to ya.

It seems like a pretty
solid piece of wood.

That's beautiful, actually.

Doug: It looks like a handrail.

Or the top of some baluster.

Billy: Yeah,
the top of your ship, right?

Around, uh,
around your rail, right?

Scott: Yup.

Narrator: Part of a possible

ship's railing?

Discovered in the
oak island swamp?

Could it be connected
to the nearby stone road,

believed to have once
been part of a ships' wharf?

And also offer further evidence

that the swamp was
once an open harbor?

Doug: Hey,
look at the rounded corners on that

and everything,
that's like it's been sanded down.

That does look like a rail.

And billy's saying that we're
on something down there

that we're not getting
down to the bottom.

Billy: We can't get to the sand.

There's wood or something
at the bottom there.

Doug: Some-something is blocking us there,
yeah.

Something down there quite deep.

Narrator: A large object,

blocking the excavator's
ability to dig below,

where part of a possible
ship's railing was just recovered?

Alex g.: Good to go whenever
you guys are good to go.

I'm more than ready.
I think the swamp

has answers and I want 'em.

Narrator: Two years ago,
after conducting

a seismic scanning survey
across the entire swamp...

(explosions)

Rick, marty,
craig and the team were astonished

that a -foot-long anomaly,
that eerily resembled the shape

of a massive sailing vessel,
was detected in this same area.

Jeremy: It's very unusual.

Marty: Let's not just
dork around anymore.

Would it be s-h-I-p? Would that
be what everybody's thinking?

Narrator: Although
subsequent drilling was unable

to reveal any definitive
proof of what the object was,

is it possible that the team
may now be close to finding out?

This is pretty exciting,
scott. Why don't you give rick a call.

Yeah.

- Here's another piece of it. Look at that!
- Oh, look at that.

Doug: We found another piece of it,
guys.

This is a nicely
worked piece of wood.

This is crafted,
and it looks like a railing.

There's something down there
keeping us from digging deeper.

The bucket is sliding along
something and it's not rocks.

If we can get eyes down there,

I think we're going
to find a lot more.

- Charles: Hey, guys.
- Hey, guys.

- Hey. - Hey.

Scott: So,
this came up from quite a depth.

I mean, it looks to be quite a-a
uniquely finished piece of wood.

Charles: You put your hand around it,
rick,

it has that feel, you know.

What do you think?
You're the guy to ask.

This looks like a
finished piece of wood,

this is out of place
down there for sure.

It-it looks like railing. It
looks like ship's railing.

And it looks kind of
square hole there as well,

which is a good sign.

So there would have been
a square fastener there,

making it old,
if it's an old iron fastener.

Marty: Virtually every
time we dig in the swamp,

we find something.

Um...

We haven't found the
answer we seek yet,

but-but it clearly played a role

in what happened on oak island.

And not just in a small sense.

Steve g.: I have that at ten
feet below sea level. That's deep.

Doug: We haven't been
able to get by whatever's

down there obstructing
us to get to the bottom.

We haven't reached bottom yet.

You're scraping on it right now?

Yeah.

- Can you see anything in there?
- No.

You can't get close
enough to the hole.

Why not?

It's all slumping in.

It's really unstable.

Where is it,
in relation to the... To the hole?

The whole length of the hole.

Rick: We have to
find out what that is.

I've always believed
that there were

some answers in the swamp.

It's the keeper of secrets.

You know, even as a young child,

I remember looking
at the little map

on the reader's digest article

and thinking: Why is that,
why is that swamp there?

You always wonder: What's at
the bottom? What's down there?

I still feel the same
way about the swamp.

What's down there?

What's it hiding?

Look,
you guys a-are making a great case

that there's some
answers down there.

So,
whatever it takes. Seriously.

It's a great find
and it presents

all kinds of possibilities.

I wish it were :
instead of the...

Latter part of the evening,

but it's time to call it a day

and come back
with a plan tomorrow.

- Very cool. Very cool.
- Gary: Yup.

Good eyes.

Top-pocket find.

(all laugh)

gary: Good one, billy.

Narrator: Despite the
frustrating setbacks

that the laginas and their team

must sometimes endure
as they work to unravel

a -year-old mystery,

their persistence

and willingness to learn from
those who came before them

may have finally
brought them to the brink

of a major
breakthrough discovery.

Will the swamp lead them
to the ultimate answers,

and reward,
that generations have been

searching for since ?

Or, will they discover

that it is only one part
of this incredible story?

Narrator: Next time on
the curse of oak island...

- Steve g.: Look at this! Something in there.
- Charles: What is that?

- This could be it, man.
- What's in that thing?

- Holy cow! - Steve g.: Oh, wow.

These artifacts
are pre-searchers.

- Marty: Whoa.
- What was going on here?

That is the question.

Oh, what the heck is that?

Aaron: Wow,
that is very badly b*rned.

- Part of a ship. - Alex: Wow.

Steve g.: He's getting close.

Doug: Oh, look at that.

- Whoa, whoa! - Hey, hey!

There's a big timber
running this way.

Rick:
Oh, baby.

Gary:
Oh, that's fantastic!