08x23 - Old Wharf's Tale

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Tonight on
the curse of oak island...

This is typical of
something to do with

- ships or parts of ships.
- David f.: Wow.

Alex: There's a couple of
wharfs on samuel ball's property.

Yes,
alex. Right here is the second one.

We were to
feet from shore.

- Yeah.
- So, that's a huge wharf.

- Yeah.
- Rick: Why do you need such a massive wharf?

- Alex: Take a look at this. We found a coin.
- Gary: Look at that!

- Alex: I think that's gold.
- It's stunning.

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.

♪ ♪

- aaron: Hey, rick. - Rick: Hey.

- I see you started.
- Aaron: Yeah. We're getting through it.

- Rick: Okay.
- Aaron: We're finding stuff right away, so...

- Rick: Oh, really?
- If you want to

- get in there and keep pulling that back...
- Right here?

- Right there?
- Aaron: Yeah, that little island there.

- Rick: Yep. Yep.
- And we'll dump the buckets right on top of here.

- Fair enough. - All right.

Narrator: As a new day
begins on oak island,

brothers rick and marty lagina,
along with their team,

remain focused on
their historic investigation

in and around the
triangle-shaped swamp,

looking for more critical
clues that could help solve

a -year-old treasure mystery.

Aaron: So, moving upslope...

I think our best hope
is to follow the artifacts

and stuff like coal,

which we've found
along the road,

- is a really good artifact to find.
- Sure.

You know, ceramics,
they help us date the road.

But anything that might
be associated with a cart,

with oxen, and coal,
I think are the big ones.

Okay.

Narrator: Over the course

of their discovery
work this year,

which was delayed by two months

because of the
covid- pandemic,

the team has found not
only compelling evidence

that the swamp was once
an open harbor or throughway

between two islands

but also numerous discoveries
suggesting a deliberately

hidden operation to bring
heavy cargo of some kind here.

These finds include a
massive stone ship's wharf,

pieces of th-century
cargo barrels...

...And also a
cobblestone pathway,

one that runs northward
along the eastern border

of the swamp,
which branches off somewhere

into the uplands of the island.

Now,
with winter fast approaching,

rick, marty and the team
are tirelessly continuing

to track the pathway to its end,

possibly to the location
of the original money pit.

That looks like...

Pottery. I think so.

Looking at it,
it looked like it had lines on it.

Aaron: That's, uh, annular ware.

And the annular ware we know

comes in early s.

So, we're still pre-searcher.

Pre-searcher? Absolutely.

Marty: The pottery adds
to the mountains of data

that this road is very
old and can't be younger

than probably the turn
of the s to s.

Can't be any younger than that.

There's a piece right there.

If you want to see it in situ.

Aaron: Oh, yeah.

Just going to give
it a good wash.

- Hang on. Here's another one.
- Aaron: Oh.

- Similar level, too.
- Rick: Yep.

Same thing.

Aaron: This is a stoneware, too.

You can see,
even before cleaning it,

it's been badly b*rned.

Narrator: Badly b*rned pottery?

Gary: Oh, what the heck is that?

Narrator: Just one week ago,
metal detection expert

gary drayton,
along with rick and marty's nephew,

david fornetti,
discovered a badly b*rned iron rod.

An iron rod that
dr. Aaron taylor believes

may have been part
of a large sailing vessel.

Could this b*rned pottery be
connected to that discovery?

And, if so, is it another clue

that the team is getting closer
to discovering whatever caused

the need for a carefully
hidden pathway?

Or, for that matter,
an artificial swamp?

Aaron: They're both stoneware.

And if it's in the same
area as the annular wares,

then this can go back
into ... Mid- s as well.

So, that's a nice find.

- Same pattern. Same...
- Aaron: Yeah. Look at that.

- Fits like a glove.
- Fits like a glove.

Aaron: Yeah. Perfect.

- Well, that's nice to find that.
- Rick: Yes.

Narrator: Although the clues
that the team keep finding

are revealing more evidence

of where the stone
pathway is heading,

just how far will they
have to keep going

to find whatever might
lie buried at the end of it?

It's just one more
inch that way.

- It's always one more inch.
- Is that what you tell yourself?

- Yeah. - All right.

Let's see if you're
right. One more inch.

Narrator: While rick,
aaron and miriam

continue investigating
the stone pathway...

- Charles: Hey, carmen.
- Carmen: Well, lookee here.

Narrator: ...Oak island
historian charles barkhouse,

david fornetti and treasure
hunter dan henskee

have arrived at northville
farms in centreville, nova scotia

to have blacksmithing
expert carmen legge

inspect the b*rned iron rod
found one week ago in the swamp.

Well, what do you got today,
uh, charles?

Well,
I'm hoping you can tell us.

Oh, well, you've got a big bar.

Yeah. We've got
a big bar is right.

David f.: It's a really
interesting piece.

We have a bunch
of different ideas

of what it could be,
but obviously, you're the expert,

so we wanted to
get your take on it.

Well, let me just, uh, say

what I see,
and then you can probably

- help out what it was for.
- David f.: Yeah.

- Yeah.
- Carmen: It's about an inch in diameter.

Uh, very consistent size
all the way down through.

This obviously had a
broken piece on to it.

So, it was an eye. So,
this would be an eyebolt.

So, carmen, do you have a
date or a time frame for this piece?

It could be as far
back as the late s.

Wow.

Narrator: A b*rned
eyebolt found in the swamp?

Dating back as far
as the th century?

- Rick: Wow.
- Gary: Oh, wow, indeed.

Narrator: Could it be connected
to the large iron ringbolts

the team has also found
this year in the swamp,

which date back to
the same time period?

And which the team also
believes might have been used

to haul cargo from a
ship onto oak island?

So,
you mentioned that it was an eyebolt.

I know on the island,
we look a lot for ringbolts.

Can you help me understand
the difference between the two?

The eyebolt would have the end

of this tang would come
around and butt onto this, right?

So, there was a solid, uh,
piece attached to this.

A ringbolt... the ring is-is loose,
but it's inserted

through the bolt.

This is just, like, one piece,
whereas a ringbolt is two piece.

- Mm-hmm.
- Carmen: Usually two piece.

A ringbolt is usually heavier,
too.

This is very typical
of something to do

with anchoring ships
or parts of ships.

- You know, ships are obviously of interest on oak island, so...
- Absolutely.

Well, certainly appreciate you

shedding some light
on what went on here.

I know our team
back on the island

is going to be thrilled to hear about,
uh,

everything that we've learned,
so we should probably pack

this up and hit the road.

Carmen: Very good. Yep.

- Great stuff.
- David f.: Thank you.

Charles: Thanks, carmen.

Carmen: Have a safe trip.

Narrator: Later
that afternoon...

As members of the team
continue their work in the swamp...

Alex: I brought a trowel in
case you need some help.

Oh,
excellent. We can always use help.

Narrator: ...Marty lagina's son
alex arrives at the foundation

of late th-century oak
island landowner samuel ball.

Laird: We've got the
cellar all cleaned out.

Just some final, you know,
getting rid of dirt,

- excavating in there.
- Mm-hmm. It looks good.

Narrator: It is here
where archeologists

laird niven and liz michels

continue their
meticulous investigation

for clues that might
help explain how mr. Ball,

a simple cabbage farmer
and former american sl*ve,

mysteriously became
a very wealthy man

by the early th century.

♪ ♪

alex: Piece of pottery here.

Laird: Oh, you should find lots.

I see why you needed
somebody to sift.

Laird: Yeah.

It's, uh, it slows things...

- I could be here all day.
- It slows things down.

That's true.

Marty: I'm impressed with the
patience these archaeologists

have to unearth all
of that with a trowel.

I'm very interested in what's
gone on on the ball foundation.

They've been digging over
there for quite some time,

and I want to see it.

- There you are. - Thank you.

♪ ♪

alex: Hey, look at this.

Laird: Wow, that's cool.

Alex: Hey, look at this.

I got a coin.

I think.

Narrator: On lot ,

alex lagina has just
found what could be

a significant
discovery in the spoils

excavated from
the ball foundation.

- It's got...
- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Alex: A little green.
- Laird: Yeah.

Yeah,
this looks old. It's got kind of...

Irregular edges,
like a flat portion.

It does look like the
design is a little off-center.

I-I'll trust it to you.

Laird: Well, it's heavy enough.

Alex: When I
first picked it out,

I thought I could see a pattern,

and it seemed off-center to me.

Laird: Oh, I see what you mean.

Part of the reason
we're doing all this work

on the ball foundation is
to investigate the possibility

that samuel ball had a closer
involvement with the money pit

than was previously known.

So, if we can date this
coin to the same time period

as these other finds we're making,
that's it.

That's our connection.

I see what you mean
about the edges.

Yeah. I think, uh, we'll bag it.

Get it to the research center

- and see what we can see.
- Alex: Mm-hmm.

I'll just... I'll find a
few more for you.

Okay. Thank you.

Narrator: Later that afternoon,

after a chilly fall
rainstorm has halted work

near the swamp and
at the ball foundation...

- Laird: Hey, guys.
- Rick: Hey. -Alex: Hey.

- Take a look at this. - Wow.

Narrator: ...Alex
lagina and laird niven

have gathered in
the research center

with rick,
david and gary drayton

to share their new discovery.

So,
this just came off of the ball property.

Oh.

Alex: Found it sifting
through some of the stuff

that... the most recent test
pit that laird's been doing.

- Right by the edge of the house.
- Yeah, northwest corner.

Alex: So, if you look,

- you see the anchor on the right.
- Gary: Yeah.

So,
is the middle an anchor or is it a cross?

If you pull it down
to show the edge...

- Gary: It'll be a larger anchor.
- Laird: Yeah.

- Well, there you can see it.
- Alex: Right there. -Rick: There. Okay.

Laird: Yep.

There's three anchors.
There's one on the right,

there's a large one in the middle,
and then there's one

- on the left. -Rick: Oh, yeah.
- Laird: Oh, yeah.

- Gary: And you can see...
- Alex: You can see the other one on the left.

Yeah, it looks like little waves,
and I can see

a rope design around
the outside of it.

I know what that is.

Rick: What is it?

It's a-a navy jacket button.

If it's got anchors on it
and a rope design around it.

Without a doubt,
that is a british navy jacket button.

Alex: What time period is this,
though?

Laird: to .
Solidly within the ball period.

Narrator: A button from a
member of the british navy?

Discovered in the foundation
of samuel ball's former home?

Although he was a
member of the british m*llitary

during the american revolution,

he was not known to have
been part of the british navy.

So,
then just who did this button belong to?

We've been searching
and searching for some

m*llitary connection to
samuel ball because we know

he served the british
during our revolutionary w*r,

uh,
which is how he gained his freedom

and came to nova scotia, so...

- I think you just made that connection.
- Yeah.

Alex: It's one of the
nicest buttons we've found

- in terms of legibility.
- Rick: The front is spectacular.

- Gary: Yeah.
- Rick: I mean, those anchors are amazing.

I look forward to-to seeing
how much information

- we can get off of this.
- Yeah.

- It's a beautiful piece.
- Laird: Oh, yeah.

Rick: Whether there's
more information or not.

- It's stunning. - Gary: Yeah.

I think that is...

Gold or gilding right there.

- Laird: I think so. That would make sense.
- Gary: Yeah.

That would point to officer though,
wouldn't it?

Yeah,
normally the officers had the...

- The gilded buttons. - Yeah.

Narrator: An officer's button?

If so, why did a high-ranking

british naval officer
visit the home

of samuel ball on oak island?

And could it have something
to do with the mysterious wealth

ball came to possess?

Marty: It's a royal navy button and,
apparently,

it would be somebody
on a ship of some import.

An important person.

What's that doing in
samuel ball's foundation?

I mean, we're talking about
an officer being in his house.

That's kind of a big deal,
I think.

Okay. Thank you. Thanks
for calling. Good find.

- Alex: We will keep you posted. Thank you.
- All right, mate.

All right. See you later, guys.

Narrator: The
following morning...

- Gary: Hey, guys.
- Aaron: Hey, gary.

Narrator: ...Gary
drayton and david fornetti

join rick lagina and
archeologists dr. Aaron taylor

and miriam amirault near the
northeastern border of the swamp

to continue searching
for valuable clues

along the mysterious
stone pathway,

and for more evidence
of just where it leads.

- Gary: Wow, looks like you've been busy.
- Aaron: Yeah.

David and I would like to start
back up metal detecting here

because we never
ever did finish this track,

and we was moving this way.

So, we're back to zigzag

- along this area. - Perfect.

- Up this hill. - Yeah.

Gary: Okay,
mate. We'll see what we can find

because me and david have been

on fire recently, haven't we?

Every time we go out,
we find something good.

Let's keep that rolling, mate.

(detector beeping)

(beeping)

I'm definitely getting
an iron signal here.

A little chirpy signal.

- Uh, do you want us to dig it?
- Yeah, go ahead, david.

- Is that okay if dave and I investigate?
- Aaron: Yeah.

(detector whines)

seems to be in that area there.

Aaron: Are you getting some cobbles there,
david?

It certainly looks that way.

Aaron: I might just finish
that up with a trowel.

- Yup. - Okay.

Let me see if I can narrow
the search down for you.

(beeping)

it moved just a little ways
off. It's in that section there.

Aaron: If it's under the rock,
then that's very helpful because

- it would predate the putting down...
- Gary: Yeah.

...Of these cobbles if they
were actually put down.

- All right. Yeah.
- Gary: You want me to do it?

(beeping)

gary: There. Spot on there,
mate.

So, you stick your trowel in there,
mate,

you've got it in situ.

It's iron by the sound of it.

(aaron sputters)

ugh. Seismic blasting caps.

We keep finding those all over.

Narrator: Although
finding a blasting cap

from the seismic survey that
was run across the swamp

two years ago is
a disappointment,

it was that operation
that revealed

a -foot-long anomaly,
eerily resembling

the shape of a large sailing vessel,
which remains buried

in the middle of the mucky,
brackish bog.

It is the team's hope to conduct
a largescale dig next year

with the help of a massive
sheet-piling cofferdam

to find out just what
that anomaly really is.

Mystery solved.

- Yeah. - I'll keep going.

(beeping)

I'm getting a signal here.

(detector whining)

just there, miriam.

Still in the same area.

(beeping)

ooh, right on it. Just there.

(beeping)

- (beeping) - oh,
wow. Look at that!

Gary: Oh, wow. Look at that. Well,
that's nice.

Narrator: Just northeast
of the oak island swamp,

gary drayton has unearthed

what could be an
important discovery.

Gary: It's a little
square-headed nail.

Square shank, by the look of it.

That's like a
little ox shoe nail.

Aaron: Oh.

I thought you'd
find us an ox shoe,

- but, you know, that's just as good.
- Gary: Yep. That's a fastener.

- It was used to put the ox shoe on.
- Aaron: Yeah.

Which is another, you know,
check in the box for:

This is a road or a path.

That's great.

Now,
you got to put two and two together.

We've got a stone road.

We've got fasteners.

We're on oak island.

It's pretty clear

that some kind of
treasure-hauling operation

was done in this area.

Aaron: You wouldn't
think you'd get so excited

about something that small.

So,
I'm going to bag that and then let you guys

- get back to detecting.
- Okay, mate.

Good digging,
miriam. That's a good find.

Narrator: Later
that afternoon...

Rick: This is the man of
the hour. Stuart wentzell.

- Hi, stuart. Nice to meet you.
- Hey, stuart. -Hi.

Narrator: ...Rick lagina
and members of the team

gather in the research
center with stuart wentzell,

a local treasure
hunter who worked for

rick,
marty and craig's late friend and partner

dan blankenship
back in the s.

Charles: Stuart,
I know you've worked on oak island

- since probably you were a young boy.
- Yes.

Charles: Working with dan.
You worked a lot with dan.

Lots of memories, lots of times.

- Right.
- Stuart: So, dan would have me

and my brother come
over on the weekends.

- (all laugh) - right?

I met stuart wentzell, uh,
the very first year I was here.

He had told me about these
wharfs off the samuel ball lot.

And now,
all of a sudden, we find

a british naval button
at the ball foundation.

Maybe it's something
associated with a wharf.

The point is,
we mustn't fail to follow up

on this local knowledge, uh,
which we were not privy to.

So, uh,
this is all about the possibility

or the potential
of a dive or dives,

uh, related to some discoveries

- that you had made mention of in the past.
- Yes.

So, what's the most interesting

search agenda-related activity
that you were involved with?

Right.

- Is that right? - Stuart: Yes.

Ball had two wharfs.

It's absolutely there.

Yeah.

So, what are the areas

- that you're interested in, in terms of the dive?
- Okay.

All right.

Yeah.

Narrator: The use of large rocks,
or cribbing stones,

in the construction
of shipping wharfs

dates back more
than five centuries.

Stacked between layers of wood timbers,
they offered support

in the design of docks
for large sailing vessels.

Rick: When you dove that,

- yeah.
- Did you see remnants of the old wharf?

Wooden parts of it?

Yeah.

- Yeah.
- Mm-hmm. All right, so I'm gonna circle it

on this so that
we can keep track.

- So, it's somewhere in that area there.
- Stuart: Yes, alex.

- Alex: Okay.
- Yeah, and here's the other place.

Right here was the second one.

Okay, so,
if you want to stick a circle

around that one as well, alex.

Narrator: If there
really are two wharfs

bordering the property
once owned by samuel ball,

might he have
built both of them?

Or is it possible that one
was constructed much earlier?

If so, then by whom?

And could it offer clues
that might help explain

how samuel ball became
one of the richest men

in nova scotia?

There is concrete evidence
of substantial works

prior to and a lot of them.

A lot went on on that island.

So,
if somebody did build a wooden wharf there,

there was some
significant reason why.

I would love to go and have a look at that,
stuart.

Well, I'd love to put you in
the boat. We'll go out there

and I'll jump over the side.

- Excellent.
- Rick: Well, thanks, guys.

That was a great discussion.

- You plan out the dive. Get it set up.
- Yeah.

You two gentlemen will be there

to observe and
watch and take notes.

Okay. Well,
you guys got your work ahead of you.

- Yup. - And I look forward to

- the dive results. - Yes.

- Rick: Let's get after it.
- Alex: Sounds good.

Tony: Fantastic.

- Tony: Good morning, guys.
- David f.: How you doing?

Narrator: One day
after the team's meeting

with former oak island
treasure hunter stuart wentzell,

they have invited him to join
professional diver tony sampson,

alex lagina and his
cousin david fornetti,

at the oak island
resort and marina...

Tony: Okay. Let's head out.

Narrator: ...To begin
a dive operation

that will focus on the
waters just off the shore

of lots and at the
western end of oak island.

So,
the first location... You know where

- that freshwater pond is?
- Yep.

Hopefully, we're going to see
remains of the crib down there.

So,
the wooden structure which would have held

the stones in the crib.

- Eight feet you said, stuart?
- Yep.

- Eight feet wide.
- So, about eight feet wide.

Narrator: Of
interest to the team

are the remains of
two stone ships' wharfs,

that stuart first
investigated in the s

while working for
dan blankenship,

that bordered the
property once owned

by the mysteriously wealthy
th-century island resident

samuel ball.

David f.: And, tony,
when you're down there,

do you have a metal
detector with you?

- Or how are you going to detect this?
- Tony: Yeah.

So, we'll have visual,
and we'll also run a metal detector,

an underwater
metal detector over it.

It may sort of indicate
metallic fasteners that

might have been used
in a wharf structure.

So,
similar to large shipping spikes.

- It would have held the wharf together.
- That'd be cool.

That would be very cool.

Tony's going to
bring a metal detector,

and he's going
to scan the bottom

for wharf pins or anything
that might have been dropped

when this thing
was in existence.

Those are the things
that I'm most excited about

because those can help us
date anything we might find.

Well, guys, I think we're just
about on target one up here.

Okay. I might get kitted up,

and we'll go and see what we can find,
eh?

- Yeah. Great. Great, tony.
- Alex: Great.

We've tried to answer the
question of who samuel ball was

from the land side.

This is from the ocean side.

So, until today,
when we're looking

at the ocean side,
we haven't even begun to explore

that side of his life. So,
it could be

hiding some pretty
interesting artifacts.

So, we'll go down there,

and we'll investigate that.

In my perfect little world,
it would be great

to find some
artifacts dating back

from the , s,

but even to find the remains

of these structures
would be interesting.

- Alex: All right, tony. Good luck.
- Thanks, buddy.

Alex: He's in.

Testing,
tony. Do you hear me? Over.

That's great,
tony. Keep us posted. Over.

Alex: Copy you,
tony. What do you see?

Over.

Alex: Can you confirm?

Does it look like a wharf? Over.

Copy.

Alex: Copy.

Any metal detector hits? Over.

- What'd he say? - Copy you.

- No metal detector hits.
- No metal detector hits.

Alex: We've been
listening to tony

go back and forth
over these comms,

and every time he does,

I ask him if he's got
a metal detector hit.

The answer's always no.

It's a little frustrating

to have to sit this
one out on the boat.

But I'm hoping tony sees
clear evidence of this wharf,

and I'm really
hoping that he gets

a metal detector hit
while he's out there.

Alex: He should be
seeing it right now.

It's just frustrating
he can't hear us.

Copy you,
tony. What do you see? Over.

Narrator: Is it possible
that stuart wentzell

was mistaken about the
remains of a wharf in this area?

Or could it be,
that because of nearly

five decades of erosion
and seasonal storms,

that the evidence of a
potential valuable clue

about samuel ball's history

has simply been weathered away?

I hear you, tony. Over.

Alex: Great job, tony.

Keep us posted. Over.

Narrator: In the
waters just off lot

on the western
side of oak island,

tony sampson has just discovered

the possible remains
of a stone ship's wharf.

What do you think?

He might have found cribbing?

I mean,
how does that make you feel?

I think so.

We hear you,
tony. Go ahead. Over.

Did you get any metal
detector hits? Over.

Are you moving on to
target two or staying there?

Over.

Narrator: Although tony has
been able to confirm stuart's claim

of a potentially ancient
wharf having been built here,

there doesn't appear
to be any metal objects

or valuable clues.

Tony will now search for
the team's second target:

Another reported stone wharf.

However, this one is much closer

to where samuel
ball built his home,

and thus hopefully
will offer valuable clues

that might help explain
his mysterious wealth.

Mm-hmm.

David f.: It looks like he's
almost feet out there.

From the shore.

He's seen them rock piles.

- You know there's a big rock pile out there?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Alex: If he's
feet out there,

- and he's seeing signs of a wharf...
- stuart: Yeah.

If that's what he's seeing...

That's a big wharf.

I mean,
that could have accommodated

- a pretty big ship.
- Stuart: Yeah.

Narrator: The second wharf?

Possibly extending as much
as feet out into mahone bay?

If so,
what would samuel ball have needed

such a large
docking station for?

Could it be a clue to explain

why the team found a
british naval officer's button

in the ball foundation
two days ago?

If there was a
wharf that big here,

what would be the
purpose of that?

Alex: We hear you, tony.

Did you see a big
pile of rocks? Over.

So, no hits,
but you think you did find the wharf. Over.

Copy you. We'll
see you soon. Over.

The most exciting of the
targets that we dove was

the large wharf
on ball's property.

Because that is something
that we had no record of.

We didn't know it was
there. It's so large as to be

impossible to be just
a fisherman's wharf.

And we're finding other things
in the area like the navy button

that are implying a
closer relationship

with seafaring than we thought.

Okay, you were right, stuart.

As you come down, you can see

where the old crib areas were.

I hit the area with
the metal detector.

Both the, um,
both the wharf-like structures.

And, uh,
no metallic signatures down there.

Did you think the second one,
target two, was a larger wharf?

I did actually, alex,
yeah. It came out further as well.

So,
one wharf being smaller than the other

may have been an area where you brought,
uh,

a dinghy, or a fishing boat,
or a small dory into.

The one being large,
that speaks to something

of a commercial nature or,
for a wharf of that size,

you'd expect it to be
more than one person.

So,
either m*llitary or maybe excavating

or almost like a quarry work.

Something there's
gonna be heavy product

either coming on
or off the island.

So,
those rocks there were square.

And like you said, stuart,
they had been worked as well,

- some of them. - Yes.

So, you're confident
then that two wharfs are...

I-I'm confident that
these were two wharfs.

Do you think that one might
have belonged to captain anderson

- at one stage? - Yes.

Because his property was,
um, next door

- to sam ball's, and they became friends.
- Right.

Narrator: Originally from baltimore,
maryland,

james anderson was
a notorious pirate,

privateer and
high-ranking freemason

who pledged his loyalty
to the united states

during the american revolution.

However, after taking command
of a ship known as the betsy

and the valuable cargo it
was rumored to be carrying,

he defected to the
british and fled to canada,

where he purchased
lot on oak island,

living there until
he sold the property

to fellow british
soldier samuel ball.

Could the remains of this wharf

represent an
important clue as to why

samuel ball bought this
property from captain anderson?

And could it also be
connected to the great wealth

he came to possess while
living on oak island himself?

Alex: What about the
stones in between?

Did you notice that
they were not native

to the landscape down there?

Did they look like
maybe they were bedrock

cast off from the island?

Some of them did look like

uh, they had been cut,
or they were completely smooth.

So, unlike the normal rocks
that you get around here

that you can see on the shoreline,
um,

some of them in those
cribbed areas you'll actually see

are flat,
almost like the bedrock stones

- you've got on the island.
- Alex: Got it.

- So they've been worked -tony: Yeah.
- Yeah.

Alex: So,
I think we should go back to the w*r room

and let the guys know
that we found proof

of what you've been saying,
stuart.

- Fantastic. - Yes, yes.

- Stuart: Very good, tony.
- Alex: Yeah, great job.

Tony: So, what we did,
we went to those areas

off sam ball's property
by the freshwater pond.

Narrator: After completing
their dive investigation

off the western
shore of oak island,

tony sampson,
along with alex lagina,

david fornetti,
and stuart wentzell deliver their report

to rick,
marty and members of the team

in the w*r room.

Alex: Well, we took some video.

So,
I've got that here that we can watch.

Great!

Alex: This is wharf one.

Tony: So, it's a flat,
rocky area,

which would have been
cribbed in the old days.

So, it would have been a square,
uh, crib

that would have held the rocks.

And, so as you, uh,
descend from there down into the water,

you can actually
see ballast piles

from what would have
been the rocks inside the crib,

which has now been destroyed,
obviously, with the storms

and the hurricanes
over the years.

And a lot of these
ballast stones as such

has now grown over with kelp.

- Sure.
- Tony: The second wharf...

That was the longer one.

So, it's the western side
of the freshwater pond.

Tony: Yeah, correct.

This is when we're getting
into the deeper water.

This is where there's big rocks.

Quite often,
you'd find these flatter ones

on the bottom of the crib.

- How deep?
- Uh, that would have been feet at high tide.

If you go back,
say, oh, years,

you would be feet
maximum at high tide.

Six feet at low tide.

When we were looking,
we saw bubbles coming up,

and we were estimating it to
be to feet from shore.

- Mm-hmm.
- Alex: At least, but you were

- a long way off shore. - Yeah.

So, that's a huge, huge wharf.

- Yeah. - That's good.

How could he have built that?

I don't know. You know,
that's-that's the big question, there.

What do you think of that,
stuart?

- You've built wharfs before, by hand.
- Stuart: Yeah. Yes.

Wow.

Yeah.

I won't say stunned,

but I did not anticipate
finding two wharfs

off the samuel ball lot.

It seems redundant,
overkill. Why do you need two wharfs?

A -foot-wide wharf

to a gentleman
farmer to sell his crops?

It doesn't make sense.

Marty: It speaks to every aspect
of what we know about samuel ball.

He's smart, he's capable,

and he may have had...

Some things we're unaware of.

Alex: So, I wouldn't think

you'd build a giant wharf
for a one-time transfer.

- No.
- Rick: I don't know. What about

the stone road
and the stone path?

Alex: I know. I agree.

But I think that that fits,

- because it fits the story of
a big excavation -mm-hmm.

Because of the amount of

- back and forth you'd have to do.
- Rick: Yep.

Alex: If that was their purpose,

it would have been to support
the hiding of the treasure.

Not just the unloading.
Not just the transporting.

Now,
it wasn't buried in a ten-foot pit.

To me, it supports the idea
that they did a lot of work.

One thing I find interesting
is that wharf location,

and at the bottom of the
ball property there was

a lot of buttons
and things found.

To me,
that's from more than one person.

You come off the ship,
you get on land, people

- would congregate there.
- Dan: Yeah. The thing about oak island

is that it would be a good
base for seafaring people.

Uh, british certainly had
good reason to use it.

Alex: Yeah. And that is where
we found that navy button.

And we did not have

any knowledge of him
being involved with the navy

other than the -foot-wide,
hundred-foot-long wharf.

Rick: There's no question

that the find of this wharf... Which,
again,

a local resident has
provided this information...

What it does is it's
helpful with figuring out

what a search agenda in
the future might look like,

because now we have a wharf,

which we now, based on the
find of the stone road and pathway,

are telling us that there's

some aspect to
the oak island story

that was previously
completely unknown.

First,
we thought we wouldn't be here at all.

And now we find ourselves with more data,
more information

than we probably could have
acquired in a non-covid year.

- Which is astounding, right?
- Yeah.

But what it says is

there's a lot of homework
for each and every one of us,

and there's only one way
to do it. We say it all the time.

It's not going to be done
here sitting in chairs.

Okay, guys. Good job.

You proved that it's
worth further investigation.

- Let's get after it. - Okay.

Narrator: For rick, marty,
craig and their team,

the clues continue to mount

that something of
profound importance

took place centuries
ago on oak island.

And given what they
have had to overcome

in a year that has
challenged the entire world,

their accomplishments have
been nothing short of extraordinary.

But now, with winter coming

and time running
out for this year,

can they overcome
the odds one more time

and make the ultimate discovery?

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

Gary: Ooh! Look at that.

Fantastic, mate! This is old.

Laird: Often,
the detail is really cryptic.

Rick: The only people who
would do that would be templars.

- There's got to be more out there.
- Whoa. What's that?

- Whoa. Sweet. - Miriam: Whoa.

Ian: Oh, wow.

We took the samples to analyze

for silver, and we got a spike.

There's every reason to believe

down in those holes
there's treasure.

- Marty: Oh, baby!
- Jack: Oh, no way!