02x01 - Point of No Return

[bunniefuu]

Man: people come to nome
looking for gold.

But what
they're really looking for

Is a second chance.

Meisterheim: I waited
a long time for today to happen.

The hound dog's on the trail.

Man: some succeed...

Vernon:
you got a trawler, man.

Man: ...some fail.

Damn 10-year-old.

I'm telling you what to do!

But redemption...

Vernon: he lied.
He stole. He cheated.

Meisterheim: I'm not a thief.
I didn't steal vern's gold.

[ Siren wailing ]

Man:
...you got to dig deep for that.

Good luck to them.

[ "Gold in these hills" plays ]

♪ Listen up close, now ♪

♪ What I say ♪

♪ I'm a-gonna head out west
one day ♪

♪ I heard about a fortune
to be made ♪

♪ And I'm a-gonna get it,
now, just you wait ♪

♪ 'Cause I heard
that there's gold ♪

♪ In these hills ♪

--Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪ Gold ♪

[ Wind howling ]

Narrator: the end of the road,
nome, alaska.

A frozen port
for nine months every year.

There's only a handful of people
that stay here over the winter.

Nome's quiet,

And everyone stays inside
'cause it's cold.

It's not a easy place to live
in the winter.

But when you start seeing
that gold,

That makes it all worthwhile.

Narrator: now it's june,

And the summer
gold-dredging season

Is kicking into high gear.

It's time to make some gold.

Vernon: there's no palm trees
around here,

But there's gold
on the bottom of the sea.

Narrator: a handful of rugged
fortune seekers return

For a shot at the millions
hidden in these waters.

Meisterheim: I didn't come
up here to make friends.

I came up here to get gold.

Narrator: but this year,

There's more competition
than ever.

Tenhoff: there's 10 times
as much mining activity here.

Nome's a madhouse.

Mining areas
are getting totally flooded.

Counting 16 dredges
out there.

Man:
we'll be out there soon.

It just pisses me off.

Narrator: with only three months
until winter returns,

The rush to grab the gold is on.

Emily:
where is the anchor?

We're getting ready
to pour our spuds

And get the hell out
of the park here.



When the final crunch
comes down,

The people who have the gold
will rule.

Man:
it's gonna be a great summer.

Narrator: in nome harbor...

Steve p.:
What are you doing?

I mean, come on!

...the crew
of the christine rose

Readies to shove off.

Steve p.:
I got to get out of here,

And shawn ain't here.

Narrator: but steve pomrenke,

The owner
of the fleet's largest rig,

Is stuck waiting for his son.

Typical shawn thing.

He's supposed to be here
at 2:00, and it's 2:21.

He don't care.

You know, he doesn't care

How many other people
he holds up

By not showing up
on his appointments,

Where I'm exactly the opposite.

If I was supposed to be here
at 2:00,

I'm gonna be here
at 5 minutes to 2:00.

Narrator: for steve,
lost time is lost money.

[ Telephone ringing ]

Just to pay the bills
and pay the labor

And the insurance
and the permits,

That's gonna take three-quarters
of a million dollars.


To just break even.

So, that means we need to make


To have a successful season.

Female voice:
your call has been forwarded

to an automatic
voice message system.

He don't give a [bleep]
how many people he holds up.

My partner,
my son that I love very much,

But like heath said last year,

"Yeah, sometimes
I don't love him so much."

You know, but shawn's shawn,
you know, and that ain't me.

I don't see him for
taking the whole operation over.

Only 25 minutes late.

If you're supposed to be here
at 2:00, be here at 2:00.

Okay.
Okay.

Well, then,
you take care

Of all the [bleep]
I'm taking care of.

I will take care

Of all the [bleep]
that you're taking care of.

Oh, you will?
Yeah, [bleep] right.

If I had to.
Yeah.

That's all I [bleep] hear.

Well, okay,
what's going on now, then?

Working with dad in the
summertime's a pain in the a*s.

If he thinks
he can do it without me,

Then do it without me.

Stupid!

[Bleep] 10-year-old.

Ridiculous.

Peeled out.

[Bleep]

So, that's what
I got to put up with.

We ready to go?

We're warming things up.

It's time to get the hell
out of port.

I don't need shawn here.

I built this thing.

forward h*!

We're past the point
of no return.

Great bering sea.

Narrator: at the nome harbor
boat launch...

Dredging weather
is perfect.

We need to get this thing
in the water.

...25-year-old captain
zeke tenhoff

Launches the season
on his new leased dredge...

Emily: ooh!

Narrator: ...a 42-foot
powerhouse called the edge.

But until zeke banks some gold,

The new rig
belongs to someone else.

Well, last winter,
I ended up spending all my money

On my ice dredging operation.

I didn't get any of that
back out of it.

And so may rolled around,

I didn't have
any start-up money.

And so this summer,

I have partners
that built a dredge

And put me in charge of it.

My strategy is to do well enough
with it that I can buy it.

And I need to make
at least 400 ounces of gold.

I've never made
anything near that.

That's like $650,000.

That's [bleep] balling.

Narrator:
joining zeke this summer,

Long-time friend and
experienced diver john bunce.

We're clear.

I quit my normal job
back in the spring

To go dredging with these guys,

And I don't have
a steady paycheck.

Now it's kind of a necessity

That I have, you know,
a good season.

Narrator:
and back for another round,

Deckhand emily riedel.

It's a complicated relationship
that zeke and I have.

You know, in some ways
we're like family,

And we work together,
we're partners.

But there are some things
he wants out of me

That I'll never be able
to give him.

I'm so [bleep] excited.

I can't wait to start
making money with this thing.

Ow!

It floats!

It floats!

It's up!

I've never dove
on a dredge this big.

I've never dove
on a 10-inch dredge, period.

Definitely gonna be
a learning curve.

Narrator: the edge's massive


Is built for power,

But size comes at a deadly cost.

You can't ignore the danger.

That nozzle's hungry,
and it's powerful.

And if you get
any part of your body

In between it and the ground,
you're gonna get sucked in.

And if you get sucked in,

There's not much
that can be done for you.

There's no margin for error
at all.

You [bleep] up, you're dead.

Narrator: as zeke and crew
prep to launch a new summer,

Just three blocks away...

Vernon: I'm back in nome.

I'm here to take care
of business this year.

Narrator:
...alabama man vernon adkinson

Is still getting over
last summer's losses.

He spent a ton of green

And found less than an ounce
of gold.

Vernon:
I rolled snake eyes that time.

I wouldn't wish
that season on --

Well, yeah, I would wish it
on my worst enemy, probably.

It was extremely frustrating,
extremely costly.

I made mistakes last year
in the people I trusted.

Specifically, the person
I'm thinking about right now

Is meisterheim.

Narrator: last summer...

Get the [bleep] out!

...vernon put
captain scott meisterheim

In charge of his operation...

Man: quick fix.

Shut your [bleep] mouth.

Finally you grew a set
of [bleep]!

...and it blew up in his face.

Vernon: he lied,
he stole. He cheated.

Meisterheim: [bleep] off!
Hey!

You want to go, vernon?

You're damn right I do!
Piece of [bleep]

You think you will?!

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Man: whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Right now,
I've cashed in all my chips.

I'm putting everything
on the line here.

My retirement, my savings --
I'm all in.

Narrator: this season,
vernon's going for broke,

Investing
a half a million dollars

In an entire fleet of dredges.

Vernon:
you got six boats in the water,

And boats are expensive.

Definition of a boat
is bring on another thousand.

Narrator: and to keep an eye
on the business,

Vernon is taking the helm.

Vernon:
I intend to be the captain.

I'm gonna make this work.
We're gonna get the gold.

Narrator:
back for a fresh start

Is second-year dredger
steve riedel.

Vernon: steve is back
on the team this year.

And, I mean, I know
what his shortcomings are.

There's a word
that comes to mind

That I can't even pronounce.

It's like a flibbertigibbet.

Kind of all over the place.

Oh, I see.

It's not because
the helm's right there?

Oh, it is because
the helm's right there.

Someone's burning garbage.
That stinks.

Steve r.: Vernon and I had
a real tough year last year.

It wasn't pretty.

He fired me twice.

But this year, I think my image
will grow in his mind.

Vernon: I believe in loyalty.

And, you know,
he might not be the best around,

But there's a lot of
entertainment value with steve.

I mean, he keeps me laughing
about half the time.

Hey, elaine,
get some paper cups.

Got to have a little champagne.

Narrator: tending on
vernon's crew this season

Is his 21-year-old daughter,
elaine.

She's really been wanting
to come up here.

Not that I don't trust
my crew members,

But I need somebody
that is trustworthy up on deck,

And elaine is trustworthy.

Elaine: I came up here

Because I want to improve
my relationship with my dad

And our outcome this season.

How about let's get this show
on the road?

Vernon: this year,
I want to redeem myself.

But it might just
all blow up in my face

And I'll end up looking like the
world's biggest [bleep] idiot,

Like in meisterheim's case.

He could have made money,

But he chose
to spit in my face instead.

Narrator:
while vernon starts down
the long road to redemption,

On the other side
of the harbor...

Meisterheim: bull [bleep]

Narrator: ...his nemesis,

Former wild ranger captain
scott meisterheim,

Is working to launch
his own boat,

The 31-foot anchor management.

You almost done?
Man: huh?

You almost done?

Meisterheim:
we're way [bleep] behind.

My intention is

To not let vern beat me
in any way this year.

What went on last year

Absolutely
[bleep] pissed me off.

As far as gold goes,
last year, complete failure.

I got nothing.

After the season was over,
I got home.

I went right to jail.

I wasn't able to pay
child support.

I'm back here again
just [bleep] mad.

I'm mad about
what happened last year.

Operating a piece of [bleep]
like the wild ranger

Is the reason why I built
my own dredge this year.

Narrator: but after
an off season with no income,

Financing the $150,000 rig
was an uphill battle.

Meisterheim:
there's been rumors going around

I was able to purchase
that dredge and put it together

Because I did steal vern's gold.

Well, that's completely untrue.

I made some deals this year
with bad people.

I borrowed some money.
I borrowed a lot of money.

And if I don't get out there
and get a [bleep] ton of gold,

They'll come calling.

They'll be knocking on my door
wanting their money back.

Why are making it
like that for?

Allen: isn't that
what the tape's for?

This [bleep] way,
[bleep] damn it!

Not that way!

You're making four flats,


Just [bleep] hurry
the [bleep] up.

Narrator:
now that he's the man in charge,

Scott's hired his own crew...

Todd!

Todd!

I had to pick
the one person on the planet

That's [bleep] deaf.

Narrator:
...of trusted friends.

Meisterheim:
it's the one thing I looked at
most when I picked my crew

Was their loyalty to me.

Sick of busting my a*s
on this boat

And getting zero appreciation.

He comes around here
acting like an [bleep]

All the [bleep] time.

Meisterheim:
I've known todd my whole life.

I've known him so long, I can't
even tell you when we first met.

He [bleep] wakes up
being an [bleep]

He goes to bed being an [bleep]
I'm sick of it.

[Bleep] build
his own boat.

Meisterheim: last year,
I worked with [bleep] up people,

Idiots, morons,
just complete stupidity.

Now I got a whole new crew.

These people have been
my friends for a long time.

But if you're not my friend
when this is all done

'Cause you can't handle me,
[bleep] yourself.

We're all gonna eat
at the same time.

We're all gonna eat
right now.

Hey, thanks for lunch, man.
I was getting kind of hungry.

Yeah. No problem.

Much obliged.

The wild ranger's
going out.

It's right there.

[Bleep]

He wasn't supposed to beat me
in the water this year.

Vernon: here's to the valiant
crew of the wild ranger

And boxes full of gold.

I hope
that [bleep] thing sinks.

Vern's captaining
that boat.

That in itself
is [bleep] funny as [bleep]

Vern -- I swear if I see
that fat [bleep] ever again,

I'm gonna knock him
the [bleep] out.

Mmm.

Delightful.

Ahh.

Champagne and gold!

Get back to work.

[Bleep] off.
You're done eating.

Hell yeah, it is
the first day of dredging.

Narrator: in nome harbor,

Captain zeke tenhoff is ready
to get his season started.

Tenhoff: john isn't here.

I'm not really happy about that.

Narrator: but deckhand
john bunce is a no-show.

Emily: we're missing
one of our crew mates,

But I'm just excited

About taking the dredge out
for the first time.

Narrator: with an unfamiliar,
more powerful dredge,

Zeke needs a full crew

But goes to sea down a man.

Tenhoff:
I have to go out dredging,

Regardless of whether
john's there or not.

This boat is gonna bring us




I'm not managing my expectations
at all this season.

I expect
a lot of [bleep] gold.

Narrator: zeke anchors
the 42-foot powerhouse edge

On his first spot of the summer.

Tenhoff: yep, I'm ready.

I mean, I got to start paying
for some of this stuff.

I've blown a lot of money
getting this boat going,

And it's not even mine.

I know there's millions of
dollars to make out of there,

And I've got to make them.

Be careful!

Narrator:
finally on the ocean floor,

He takes control of the edge's
monstrous 10-inch nozzle

And starts to mine.

Do you think there's
gonna be gold underneath?

Narrator: the powerful hose
sucks up water, the ocean floor,

And what they came for.

Tenhoff: look at
all this gold right here.

it's just ridiculous.

Narrator: up top, material
flushes through the sluice box,

Washing rubble back into the sea
and trapping gold.

[ Cellphone rings ]

That's john calling me.

Bunce: hello?
Hey, bunce.

Well, we're out.

It would be a bit of a swim,
and you don't have a wet suit.

Bye.

This morning, zeke was
really pissed off at john,

And I understand that.

Zeke has a lot invested
in john being on this boat.

How'd it go?

Tenhoff: incredible.

I could move an area
in about 10 minutes

It would take me an hour to move
in the clark.

No, dude,
john was very much himself.

Narrator:
on the christine rose...

Steve p.:
This is a great spot.

We're gonna start digging
for 2012.

Narrator:
...day one of the season,

And owner steve pomrenke
is already in the hole.

Steve p.: We're at maximum
stress level right now

Because I got $25,000
on a land payment

Kind of unexpectedly.

Narrator:
and the boss is still steaming

From a fight
with his son, shawn.

Steve p.: He ain't
no 18-year-old kid no more.

He's supposed to be
a mature adult

In a serious business here.

He needs to mature up
a little bit.

All right, see if I can remember
how to get a scoop of dirt here.

Narrator:
the 80-foot christine rose

Is the fleet's largest
and only non-diver dredge.

Wah!

Narrator: to hunt for gold,

Steve scoops up the ocean floor
and dumps it into a wash plant.

The bigger rocks are shaken out,

And the finer material gets
flushed into the sluice box.

I'm having a hard time
getting material up here.

Seems like
it's really hard digging here.

Not enough!

Narrator: unlike diver dredges,
steve can't see the gold.

He just wants to move
as much dirt as he can.

All I'm feeling
is super big rock.

But lookit, I ain't got nothing
in the bucket.

Nothing in my bucket!

Measly third of a bucket.

Holy crap!

We're gonna do
some panning here.

Narrator:
steve takes a break from digging

To see if he scraped up
any gold.

Steve p.: Ehh!

Two fly [bleep]

Two pieces of "fly poop,"
we call them.

So they look like fly poop,
they're so small.

We need to start making
some gold here.

Narrator:
just outside the harbor...

Let's go ahead
and fire it up.

[ Engine turns over ]

...the 27-foot wild ranger

Prepares for the first dive
of the season.

Vernon: we got business
to take care of here.

We're after the gold.

I'm all in.

Retirement, bank account,

Credit cards, irs.

When I do something,
I do the entire, whole godzilla.

Narrator:
with the pressure on,

First up to dive,
deckhand steve riedel.

I haven't been underwater
in six weeks.

And it's all new equipment.

So, I'm taking this moment
to relax

And wondering
what the boys are doing.

We just got to see
how that develops.

For crying out loud.

That's enough, steve.
You can put it on now.

I'm sorry.

Good lord.

Vernon:
work the hose a little bit.

Put some material
through the sluice box.

Oh, this mask is --

My mask is filled with water.

Yeah, visibility went to hell.

You know, there's just
too many things going on.

The, uh...

My mask.
It -- it's okay.

It's a little complicated,

But my mask
is filling with water.

And so it, you know, gives me
a really bad feeling.

So I'm gonna, you know,
I'm gonna think about it,

Chill out a little bit.

Vernon:
it's extremely frustrating.

Just another example
of a lack of ability.

It's a disappointment
but not a surprise.

Narrator: vernon's
first dredge of the season

Is a bust.

But he's still one step ahead
of captain scott meisterheim.

"Anger management"
was already taken?

Yeah.

Who would want "anger
management" on their boat,

Other than you?
I don't know.

Might actually get this
in water.

Go ahead a little bit.

Meisterheim: last year,
running the wild ranger

Was a complete nightmare.

When someone
even speaks vern's name,

I just want to [bleep] vomit.

I have a competition right now
with the wild ranger.

I have to find more gold
than vern.

It's that simple.

And I'm going to.
I trust in my equipment.

I built my dredge.
This is all my design.

It's my creation.
It's my everything.

I'll have nobody to blame
but myself if it doesn't work.

Fogel: I'm absolutely ecstatic
right now

To get this thing in the water

And get some nuggets,
size of right there.

All right, you're in.

Meisterheim: I waited a long
time for today to happen.

anchor management's
in the water,

Everything's beautiful.

Today's like one of the --

Like the happiest day I've had
in the last year.

I have to prove vern's an idiot.

If I ever had one thing
I could ever say to vern again,

It'd be, "[bleep] you."

Narrator: in the nome
small craft harbor...

So far, so good.

Everything's floating
the way it is.

All we got to do is
test all of our equipment,

And we're gonna go hit hard

And see how much gold
that we can get.

Narrator:
...with his craft afloat,

Captain scott meisterheim
pulls up to dock

To fine-tune
his dredging systems.

Put that [bleep]
down there,

[Bleep] electrical tape it,
and then it works.

I think a lot more
could have been done

Before this boat was shipped.

But it wasn't,
so now we're stuck here

Doing stuff that could have been
done before it was even shipped.

Meisterheim: I'm not saying that
my guys that are working for me

Are [bleep] rocket scientists
or nothing.

You know, some of their
qualities are [bleep] up.

But for the most part,

They know what it means
to do a hard day's work.

If it ain't one [bleep] thing,
it's another.

Son of a...

You drop something
in the water?

Yeah, the foot --
the foot bell.

It went straight down.

Another [bleep] three hours
we got to wait

Because todd don't know
what he's doing.

If we don't get that thing in
the water and get it working,

Then I'm really [bleep]

A lot of people
handing me money.

And if I don't fulfill
those obligations this year,

By a certain date,

We're talking about
a lot of time behind bars.

Not just a day, not just a week,

A long time.

The foot bell
was not attached properly,

And so it just
completely came loose

And sunk to the bottom.

So, now dan's going
to retrieve it.

I'm supposed
to lower him down slowly

So we don't stir up sediment.

Don't untwist it.
Just throw it in.

It'll untwist
in the water.

But you don't want
a lot of slack.

He wanted me
to lower him down.

How the [bleep]
do you know?!

He just told me!
I'm doing it right now!

I'm telling you
what the [bleep] to do!

He told me what he wanted!
I don't give a [bleep]

It's person up here, it's me.
I know what I'm talking about!

He comes up and yells,
that's my problem, not yours.

And it's not your [bleep]
problem to yell at me!

Don't do it again!

Swing it up to me.

I was gonna lower you down
like you wanted,

But, uh,
that didn't happen.

Meisterheim:
go ahead, todd.

Try to stir some [bleep]
you'll be the first one to go.

Don't think I won't, either.

Just 'cause you're my friend,
don't mean [bleep]

Narrator: 7 miles away...

Tenhoff: I'm not gonna worry
about you down there.

Just have a serious respect
for the end of that thing.

...with diver john bunce
still stuck on shore,

The captain hands the reins over
to deckhand emily riedel

For the first time this season.

Never put your hands
in the danger zone,

Because you'll have to get
a prosthesis.

[ Laughs ]

And there's 1,000 pounds between
your fingers and that nozzle.

Emily: I'm really anxious
to get down there and dive.

I really want to see what to see
what that 10-inch hose is like.

There's really no comparing
a 6-inch and a 10-inch.

A 6-inch and a 10-inch
like david and goliath.

I don't know whether I am
physically powerful enough

To work a hose like that
for hours on end.

I was already kind of nervous

About working
the 10-inch nozzle.

Zeke kind of increased it.

I need to be conscious
when working that thing.

Tenhoff: with a 10-inch,
it changes the game.

And you think about safety more,

Because you really can't
[bleep] up with it.

I think she's gonna do fine.

Narrator: 3 times heavier and
almost 20 times more powerful

Than the 6-inch she's used to...

...emily struggles to maneuver
the 10-inch hose.

[Bleep]

[Bleep]

Aah!

[Bleep]

Ah!

[ Breathing heavily ]

[Bleep]

That was the stupidest
near-fatal accident.

Oh!

I was so [bleep] sure
that was it.

[Bleep]

Oh [bleep]

Tenhoff:
what happened?

You know the [bleep] buoy

That was hanging off
the end of the nozzle?

Yeah.

It got really badly tangled
in my weight belt.

I was in a total panic,

And I took my weight belt off
and my mask off.

What was
the near-fatal part?

Oh, well, honey,

The near-fatal part was
that my mask was flooded,

And I was attached
to the butt of the hose.

Oh, 'cause you were tangled
in that line.

I was tangled
in the buoy.

If I hadn't been able
to get my weight belt undone,

I would be drowning at the
bottom of the ocean right now.

That's
the near-fatal part.

Emily has a tendency
to get panicky.

At this point,

It's a little bit
of a liability.

You're gonna have scary moments
down there, invariably.

You can't get
too freaked out by them.

If you get too freaked out
by them,

Then diving is not for you.

Emily:
I'm kind of shaky still.

But it's not gonna stop me.

It's not gonna stop me
from diving.

I'm gonna go right back down.

Let's hope that's my only
near fatality this season.

Tenhoff: all right,
we're good to go.

Sometimes you have a little
emergency, a scary situation,

And it can't shake you too much
if you're gonna keep diving.

What are you doing
right there?

You coming up?

[ Sighs ]

[ Crying ]

I just feel guilty
that I didn't stay down there.

Look, I'm sorry
that I [bleep] wasted the gas

To go back down there.

We got to get
productive divers underwater,

Productive, strong divers,
and get some gold.

And she can't be a diver
if she's panicking.

Narrator: with emily sidelined
and diver john bunce a no-show,

Zeke is forced
to get back in the water

And after the gold.

I thought I would just recover
from it really quickly

And just, you know,
[bleep] man up and go back down.

Every time I looked at
a line going into the water

It kind of reminded me
of being stuck down there.

And, uh...

I'll just take a little --

Take some time off,

And I'll be [bleep] over it,
[bleep] be over it tomorrow.

Narrator: back on shore
on the christine rose...

I don't see that much in here.

I didn't think we'd be cleaning
the header box at this time,

But the situation
makes us do it.

Narrator:
...with a $25,000 debt to pay,

The pomrenkes clean out
their first day's diggings.

Alls I see is b*ll*ts
and welding rods, so far.

Back at the family compound...

Shawn: that pisses me off.

Narrator:
...shawn pomrenke still fumes

Over the argument
with his father.

Shawn: I'm dealing with
all the bull [bleep]

That he doesn't want
to deal with.

So, yeah, it does.
It burns me.

It's like, "well, [bleep]

"Thanks for the day notice

To figure out where
to come up with $25,000."

Oh, great.
[Bleep] dad's here.

What's going on?

What ain't going on?

No.

Well...

Yeah, you coming back
to work,

Or what are you doing now?

I'm...

It's probably gonna take
a couple of hours

To get this cleaned up,
so get out there and do it.

Narrator: for now,

Father and son
set aside their differences

And get back to business.

Shawn:
springtime always sucks.

You got all the expenses

For getting everything
up and running.

Narrator:
in their clean-up shack,

The pomrenkes run their haul
through a wash plant,

Separating the gold
from the mud.

Yeah, every little bit counts.

Steve p.: We're gonna go get her
in the frying pan

And dry it up
and see what we got.

First yellow stuff of 2012.

Narrator: it's time
for refiner ken hughes

To turn the pomrenkes' gold
into cash.

Steve p.: We got a $25,000
land payment to make.

$25,000, Huh?

Yeah.

Hughes:
so, how much you got today?

Steve p.:
Just a measly 7.05.


And you need $25,000?

Well,
that's not gonna work.

That's a little short.

Yeah,
that's like a lot short.

Here's your check
for $9,162.

Well, it's better than a poke
in an eye with a sharp stick.

Shawn: I don't know.

I might take a sharp stick
right about now.

Vernon:
it could have gone faster,

And it could have gone smoother,

But today is gone,
and we're not gonna get it back.

Narrator: for the fleet,

It's been a rocky start
to the season.

Vernon: I want to show
that we can do it,

I can do it.
I can put gold in the box.

I got to prove to myself
and to my kind

That I can make a success
out of this operation.

Hey, scott, do you think we're
gonna get into the water today?

No.

Just asking.

Well, don't ask
dumb questions.

Meisterheim:
if I fail this year,

You know, family and friends,
they'll still support me.

You know, looking through glass
at jail, but, um...

There's a lot of odds
that are stacked against me.

Most people
would have just given up,

But I don't quit anything.

I can be more successful

And finally have something
in my life that I'm proud of,

Which is myself.

Steve p.:
Okay, I'm out of here.

We only got $9,000
on this sale here.

Should have been $90,000.

When the stress piles up,

You know, when you got

Thousands and thousands
of dollars' worth of bills

Stacked up on your desk
and you're not making gold,

You suck it up
and you go back to work.

Yeah, we had a little blow-up,

And we still haven't had
a conversation yet.

You know, the biggest challenge
seems to be in communicating,

Which we haven't forever.

You know, it's usually me
hollering at him

For stupid [bleep] that he does.

You know,
that's my communication.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Narrator:
news of an emergency rescue

Spreads across the fleet.

I was wondering
what the ambulance was for.

[Bleep] did he know
that the bering sea is cold?

[ Telephone ringing ]

Oh, my [bleep] god!

Narrator: zeke gets the news.

The injured diver
is his crewman john bunce.

Emily: what's going on?

Tenhoff: john tried to swim
out to the boat,

And guardian came
and got john.

Oh, my [bleep] god!

My god.

That was a horrible idea.

We got to go in.
Yeah.

We got to go
to the hospital.

[Bleep]

[Bleep]

Hey, dad.

Hey, did you hear
about john?

Man: I'm in the hospital
in the emergency room with john.

Geez, is it really bad?

Yeah. His body core temperature
was 90 degrees.

Bye.

Yo, zeke,
I just talked to dad.

What did he say?

His body core temperature's


[Bleep]

Tenhoff: my best friend
is dying of hypothermia.

It chills me to the bone.

And I know that I'd never live
with myself if he were to die.

Narrator: the christine rose
takes the lead,

But no dredger can focus on gold

When one miner
is fighting for his life.

Tenhoff: people look at this
operation and think we're crazy.

Taking [bleep] right off.

You have to be a little bit
crazy to do this.

[Bleep] his stupid a*s.
[Bleep] steve riedel.

I'm gonna lose all this
because of one [bleep] guy.

Bad.

[Bleep] idiot.

You [bleep] up
the whole program!

Emily: I'm really kind of sick

Of feeling like
I'm about to drown.

Tenhoff:
he really [bleep] up this time.

He left a lot of us out to dry.