02x02 - Dead Men Gather No Gold

[bunniefuu]

Gold dredging's a dangerous job.

There's no margin for error
at all.

Aah!

You can't screw up.

Hey!

You're such a damn idiot!

Because
if you make stupid decisions...

I'm really kind of sick of
feeling like I'm about to drown.

We shouldn't even be here.

...you're dead.

[ Siren wails ]

[ "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 ♪

Narrator: on the first day
of the gold mining season...

This is like the absolute worst
thing that could have happened.

Narrator:
...captain zeke tenhoff
and diver emily riedel

Race to the hospital,

Where their crewmate,
john bunce,

Is battling for his life.

Tenhoff: john decides that he's
going to swim out to the dredge

In 36-degree water.

Right now, he's almost dead
from hypothermia.

Bunce:
I had missed the boat.

So, I decided
to swim out to the dredge,

Which is about
a half-mile offshore.

It never occurred to me
that I might get too cold.

About halfway out to the dredge,

My hands stopped working
and my feet stopped working.

And it occurred to me that...

At that point, I was pretty much
swimming for my life.

If the guardian
had not showed up...

I doubt I would have survived
the experience.

I'm...

I'm very sad about...

I feel very bad about the stress
that it caused everyone.

Great weather for surfers.

But we don't have any surfers
around here.

All we got is dredges.

This is not great weather
for dredges.

Narrator: a summer storm
blows through nome.

Shawn: those whitecaps
are big out there.

You can see them breaking
on the -- off port over here.

Narrator: 4-foot seas have
cleared the water of dredgers.

And vernon adkison's
wild ranger

Is no exception.

Morning, guys.

Hey, vernon.

Hey, look...

...which we need.

Thank you

For the vote of confidence.
Okay.

After an underwhelming first
trip with diver steve riedel...

For crying out loud!

My mask is filled
with water.

You know, it gives me
a really bad feeling.

I'm going to think about it
and chill out a little bit.

...vernon's on the hunt
for new divers

To staff his fleet of dredges.

Steve -- he's probably not
aggressive enough on the hose,

And it's probably
because he's inexperienced.

I got to plug somebody else
in there,

And I think
I got somebody lined up.

Right now,
my goal is to get the gold.

Put everything I've got into it,

And I'm going to
pull it out of the fire.

I'm going to make it work.

All right.

Narrator:
veteran diver dave thompson

Arrives
to meet captain and crew.

What I heard about dave
is that he is

Just a gnarly, hard-a*s dredger
that just takes it to the limit.

And sometimes beyond the limit.

And that's the kind of person
I want.

Hello there.

Ahoy there.
Hello, captain.

Come on aboard.
Thank you.

My name's david thompson.

And I'd love to offer
my services.

I've been a commercial-rated
hardhat diver for over 20 years.

I have my own commercial
sponge diving operation

In the gulf of mexico.

I king crabbed out of kodiak
for two years.

My first boat was in homer,
called the bessy em.

Bessy em is
the name of my grandmother.

And by the way, captain,

I have pictures to prove
everything that I'm saying.

And I brought them
with me.

Look, here's the deal.
No promises.

But you're invited to come down
tomorrow morning about 8:00.

Okay.
All right.

Okay. I'm going to get off your
boat and leave you guys alone.

You all can talk about me
and decide whether,

"Oh, no.
This idiot -- no, no."

Okay, so it's okay to talk
about you after you leave, huh?

Of course.
Everybody on the boat.

I would find it strange
if you didn't.

Thank you so much.
This has been so much fun.

Dave -- he's like
a hurricane in a jar.

If we could harness
all that energy,

He would be
one aggressive diver.

That was good.

I think that was wonderful
meeting them.

I like what I see.

Those are the kind of people
I truly love meeting.

Narrator: six hours later,
the storm starts to clear,

But a rough bering sea swell

Continues
to pound the coastline.

At dock...

Meisterheim:
it's a little choppy,
but we'll see what happens.

We can't sit in [bleep] harbor
all day.

Pull off.
I'm going in reverse.

Get ready to kick off.

Narrator:
...scott meisterheim

Is the only captain
taking his dredge out to sea.

So we're taking off
on our maiden voyage right now.

See how it runs.
See how it floats.

See if everything works.

This is it.

Meisterheim: the faster I can
get that dredge in the water

And start making some money,
the better off I'll be.

Narrator:
so far this season,

Scott's $150,000 investment
has yet to earn a dime.

Meisterheim: and I don't have
much more time to waste,

Because I'm just spending
money that I don't have.

So the urgency to get that thing
in the water

Is above anything else.

It's even above food right now.

This is serious.

This is huge money
we're playing with here.

Narrator:
from the safety of the harbor,

The other miners watch scott
head out into rough seas.

I think he's going to learn
the hard way.

I knew that scott
was a big rookie on gold mining,

But I didn't think
that he was that ignorant.

Steve p.: That design
is not a good design.

Moen: this height of it
and the weight, you know,

And the skinny platform there --

That thing's going to be
real dangerous.

It's going to be
really roly-poly and top heavy.

You tip over,
it's dredge over.

You may be, like, hesitant
to predict

What a disaster it's going to
be, but I'm not at all.

It's going to be
a total [bleep] disaster.

So, this is my first experience
out on the sea.

Is it really?
Yeah.

This is your first time ever
being out, away from shore?

Huh.

I mean, I've been out
on lake michigan before.

Whoa!

[Bleep]

Here comes the chop.

Oh, here we go.

Meisterheim:
probably 4-foot seas right now.



So now I know that this boat...
Quickly finding out

That this boat is not meant
for four-foot seas.

Worst case scenario right now
would be that we catch a wave

And go to the bottom
of the bering sea.

Do you have say "sink"
and "capsize" and all
that [bleep] right now?

Narrator: one mile
from the safety of the harbor...

We have --
[bleep]

Oh!

Yeah, that's not good.

Narrator: ...while the rest of
the fleet waits out the weather,

Scott pushes to get on the gold.

This is not,
this isn't looking good at all.

We're not --
we are not staying here.

We'll go get gold another day.

I just wanted to get out
and dredge,

And so I put the crew at risk
just get out here and dredge.

And now we have to turn around.

Whoa!

They just turned from 4-footers
to 5-footers real fast.

Is the coast guard
coming for us yet?

Here's where it gets dangerous.

Now they're hitting you
from the side, not the front.

Narrator:
turning into the harbor,

The narrow dredge
is broadsided by waves.

We made it.

[Bleep] I'm going to let my a*s
unpucker now.

Now can I walk out there
and assess the situation?

Yeah.

Wet.

We should not have done this.

This is so [bleep]
both wagons are [bleep] now.

Now I know
what the boat can handle.

What's good for it
and what's bad for it.

That was bad for it.

Narrator: overnight...

...the weather breaks.

No whitecaps out there.
That's a good sign.

Looks like the fog is lifting.

We're calling it a go.

Narrator: calm seas means
just one thing to the fleet --

The chance to get gold.

Nice weather, finally.

All right, let's go.

Yeah, so,
how are you feeling?

Pretty good.

I'm still a little bit numb
in the feet.

Narrator: diver john bunce
is back on the edge

After just a day and a half
recuperating from hypothermia.

That was scary, man.
I was [bleep] scared.

It gives me chills
every time I think about it,

That you were just like
[bleep] in the water dying

Like 150 feet away
from the dredge.

Hopefully we won't have
any more incidents like that.

That's -- my god...
Too close.

[Bleep]

I mean, I'm a little
more nervous about you now.

I have a little less faith
in your decision making.

Yeah. That was a couple
bad decisions in a row there.

I got to give it to you.
You're a pretty tough dude.

You were in the [bleep]


For two and a half hours...

It wasn't much fun.

...and managed to survive.

But we got to make money,
man.

So, you know,

Just, like, take that toughness
and apply it to dredging

Rather than like fighting
for your life

And we'll make
a lot of money.

This whole incident is a source
of intense guilt for me.

I can't undo what I did.

The only thing I can do
is help him...

Keep things running
and dive for gold.

Let's hit it.

Tenhoff:
john almost k*lled himself.

It puts a neon sign
on my dredging operation.

And that neon sign says, "this
dredging operation is not safe."

But gold is a great equalizer.

I know that the dredge
can make $650,000.

I know that that dredge can
pull down 400 ounces of gold.

Let's get to it.

Narrator:
as zeke returns to the grounds
with his crew back together...

Down the harbor...

Steve, it's time to go.

We got to get this damn show
on the road.

Getting ready to launch.

...captain adkison
prepares to hit the water

With his own dive team,
steve riedel, daryl galipeau,

And a new addition,
dave thompson.

Hey, dave.
Hello, captain.

Hello, skipper.
It's so good to see you again.

It's so good to see you.

Diver dave -- high intensity.

That's the kind of person
I want.

'Cause that's
the kind of person I am.

I got to tell you, skip.
I need to ask a favor.

I need to see your
weight belt, please.

Where are our weight...

There's -- there's one...
How much do you need?



The weight belt
from yesterday...

And it cannot...

Yeah, go ahead.
Go ahead, dave, we're listening.

Skipper, can I have --
skipper, can I have --

Can I have a minute, sir?
Please?

Well, I got
a little situation here.

I tell you what...
Hang on just a minute.

Yes, sir, skipper.

Hey, do you have any weights?
A weight belt?

We're kind of doing
that last-minute...realizing

The things
we don't have on board here.

We don't have a weight belt.
We just --

We just got [bleep] up
and screwed up again.

What?

No, no.
You just got to chill out, okay?

We're working on it!
All right?

I'm trying to get the gear
together.

We had some here yesterday
and it [bleep] disappeared.

I understand.

So, if you just wait a minute,
we'll get some.

Okay, skipper.
I'm going to go back up there

And let you all work
on this problem, okay?

I'll just go back up there
and stay out of everybody's
way for a while.

It's okay, skipper.
All right.

I'll go up there.

[Bleep]

Okay.

I don't know whether...

Whether dave is just backing off

And taking some space here
and going to wait

Or whether...whether
we have a serious meltdown.

That guy is wound tighter

Than any human being
I've ever met in my entire life.

He's not normal.

[ Panting ]

My god. My god.

I can't believe it.

They don't have a weight belt!

I'm not going on that boat.
That's it!

My god.
That was the last straw.

That was the last [bleep] straw.

Not a person on this planet is
going to talk me into staying.

Not captain vernon!
No one!

That was the last [bleep] straw!

The last one!

That's it! I quit!

Oh, my god.

Oh, my god.

Oh, my god.

These people are idiots!

Narrator:
in the middle of town...

All of a sudden,

Another $3,000 bill pops up
that I had no clue that we had.

It's just a bad time
of the year.

We keep kicking money out
that we don't have.

Narrator: ...christine rose
owner steve pomrenke

Has just found out about
one of his son's unpaid debts.

Steve p.: Shawn made a deal
last year to buy a centrifuge,

And I thought the damn thing
was paid for.

But it ain't paid for.

Narrator: so far this season...

Stupid [bleep] damn 10-year-old.

Narrator:
...the pomrenkes have clashed.

Thanks for the day notice

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

And mounting bills have put
their operation in jeopardy.

That's a little short.

Yeah,
that's like a lot short.

Shawn makes all these
obscured deals, you know.

Then I'm left out
of the picture.

That seems to be happening quite
often, and it's going to end.

Me and him in this company,
not just him.

This is john's place.
His abode.

John.

All righty.

I didn't even know
that we owed you that.

You know that?
It's one of those things.

Thanks for waiting that long.
Only a year.

No problem.
Well, it came at a good time.

I'm glad that deal's
taken care of.

All right.
Thanks, john.

Thank you, steve.
Thank you.

Got people screaming for money
that we don't have right now.

We need to make money.

We need some good days
of digging out here.

Narrator: out on the 80-foot
christine rose...

Moen: oh, yeah!

These carpets
are probably loaded by now.

...the sluice box could have the
answer to all steve's problems.

This is getting
gnarly good, man.

There's enough gold in there for
a few bottles of goldschlager.

Deckhands cody moen
and doug graham

Have put the christine rose
on a rich pay streak.

h* h*! Look at that.
Isn't that pretty?

Yeah. We're [bleep]
making money now.

With the dredge on a honey hole,
it's time to move dirt.

Moen:
we're way behind right now.

We need to make some gold.

We need to, you know,
get a good 15, 20 hours on it

And start pulling out
two 300-ounce cleanups.

Should be really good stuff.
The box looked pretty good.

Oh [bleep]

Shut it down.

Son of a b*tch.

We'll see
how bad this is.

Yeah,
it's the bearing for sure.

And it's really [bleep] up.

Sucks!

Yeah,
it's [bleep] up, man.

So we're done for a while --
until we get this fixed.

Down and out, doug.
We're down and out.

Sucks!

Yeah,
it's [bleep] up, man.

They [bleep] shredded
that son of a g*n.

All the bolts are sheared off.
That's a major job there.

Narrator:
the 80-foot christine rose

Has been shut down
by a broken bearing.

Hey, shawn, the sleeve
is seized onto the shaft.

So I think the only way
I'm going to be able to do it

Is to cut it
off the shaft.

All right, man.
Bye.

Well, shawn said to go ahead
and [bleep] cut it.

It's just scary,
because that shaft is not

Something you can just go
pick up at the hardware store.

Narrator:
the bearing stabilizes

The shaft that runs through
the base of the wash plant.

Counterweights on either end of
the shaft shake the wash plant,

Bouncing out the bigger rocks
in the digging.

To replace the broken bearing,

Cody will have to cut off
its melted sleeve

Without ruining the shaft.

Moen: I don't want to damage
any of this surface here

Underneath the bearing.

So I got to cut it
really careful like.

But if I score it, then
it's going to be a big deal.

It might shut us down
for a couple days.

You could [bleep] that up and
cost us 100 grand that quick.

With just a touch
of that handle -- that quick.

I'm going to be really careful.
Take my time.

It's a real son of a b*tch.

Yeah, you know, we shouldn't be
out here [bleep] around

With this bearing right now,
wasting a whole shift.

Wasting hours of digging now.

We lost probably 10, 20 ounces.

Son of a b*tch.

Get her all cut through.

I just needed to cut this
without damaging this at all.

This is all nice and clean.
I did it.

Doug, I [bleep] got it!

Check this out.

Oh, h* h*!

Narrator: with the damaged
sleeve out of the way,

The new bearing slips right on.

Moen:
kind of a scary moment --

The first initial fire-up and
running material for a minute.

Narrator: now it's time
to test cody's repair.

Well, let's give
that rascal a try-out.

All right, doug, I'm going to
fire it up and go for it.

Give it a shot here.
Yeah, I'm watching.

[ Engine sputtering ]

[ Grinding ]

[ Engine turns over ]

There we go.

Shaking and baking. Making
some [bleep] gold, babies.

Narrator: on the edge...

It's go time.

My legs are still sore.

So, I guess it makes sense.

Narrator: ...diver john bunce
is still feeling the effects

Of his disastrous attempt
to swim out to the dredge.

Hospitalized with hypothermia
just 36 hours ago,

John wants another chance
at the bering sea.

Bunce: yeah, I'm still worried
about my feet and my hands,

But I have to go down.

I'm feeling very guilty.

I'm sure zeke's upset with me
because of this incident.

I can't go back
and undo what I did.

The only thing I can do
is try to make it up to him,

Try to make it a good season.

If anything feels off at all,
just come up.

Well, the other day,

You should have been too cold
almost immediately,

And yet you kept going.

You look at things differently
when you realize

That, you know, death could
just be right around the corner.

I mean, I was right there.
I was looking at it.

The experience that I had

Developed this fear,
you know, of diving.

I just have to keep going on.

I can't just stop.

See any rocks down there?

Hey, john seemed
a little bit nervous.

John should be nervous.

The last time
he was in the water,

He was 10 minutes
from dead.

That was three days ago.
Yeah.

looks like a pretty decent area
to grind down.

Air compressor's
out of gas!

Oh [bleep]

John, come up now.

Narrator: on the edge...

Air compressor's
out of gas!

Oh [bleep]

John, come up now.

...diver john bunce
has lost oxygen.

Oh, thank god.

That was crazy.

I was like
[bleep] freaking out.

Tenhoff:
how you feeling?

I'll take another shot
at it.

The last few days have
been pretty torturous,
having to sit around on land.

It feels really nice to get back
in the water and dive.

To actually be making
some money.

It's...

It makes me feel a lot better
about myself.

Emily:
I'm really proud of him.

Three days ago, he was
almost dying of hypothermia,

But right now
he seems to be doing okay.

Emily: honestly,
i don't know how you
move so much material.

it's ridiculous.

you're like a beast
down there.

When john gets to work,
john [bleep] works.

John is like a power tool.

If I can get john underwater
and keep him underwater,

Then I know we'll make money.

Tenhoff: yeah, I think the
sluice box is pretty loaded.

Bring on the bling dizzle,
my nizzle.

Ow!

Narrator:
back at the dock...

Steve r.:
Shall we catch up to dave

And tell him
we got a weight belt now?

Want to try?
Give him one more chance?

I think
he's headed to florida.

...the wild ranger
is ready to dredge

But missing diver dave thompson.

Thompson: my god.

Okay, I've calmed down.

I've recovered.

And now here he comes.

Hey, dave.
We got a weight belt.

[ Chuckling ] whoa.

This will work.
We're good.

We can take off, skipper,
whenever you're ready.

[ Chuckling ]
okay. Okay.

Thank you, sir.
You're welcome.

Vernon: all right.
Come in and get some gold.

Let's throw up the lads
and get the hell out of here.

Let's get this thing fired up
and go to work.

Let me get down there
and find out what's going on.

We can go ahead
and start it up.

Here they are.
Hold it.

What?

What?

Wow. I've been spanked.

Boy, it'll be great when
he's under the water, won't it?

It'll be, like, golden.

Because he'll be
getting the gold

And he'll be out of our hair.

Yeah, we got 60 pounds of air
up here, dave.

What's up?



Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, so this is it.
It's over.

Peace out!

Bye, dave!

I guess that's most likely
the end of dave.

Allen: what's that noise
when you hear a flatline?

[ Imitates flatline ]

Narrator:
on the anchor management...

We took the boat out yesterday,
and a bunch of...

A bunch of waves came in
and swamped out our carburetor.

So now I've got to
figure out a way to get
all the saltwater out.

Narrator: ...the two engines
that power the dredge

Are waterlogged and won't start,
sidelining the entire operation.

Allen: see if I can't clean them
up and get them to fire.

If we can get them to fire, then
they'll clean themselves up.

But that's yet to be seen.

Meisterheim:
money's really tight.

So what's really important here
is time.

And I don't have much more time
to waste.

The faster I get the dredge
in the water,

The better off
we're all going to be.

Narrator: if deckhand todd allen
can't revive the engines,

The crew could be grounded for
weeks waiting for replacements.

[ Engine sputters ]

[ Sighs ]
it won't run.

You all right, man?
No!

Something holds me up

From finding that gold for more
than five [bleep] minutes,

I'm going off.

I'm not up here
for a [bleep] suntan!

I'm just waiting on this battery
to charge...

Quit [bleep] around!
Let me try it.

[ Engine sputters ]

I'm just about
to stroke out.

Narrator: after just six hours,
the dredging window slams shut.

The winds pick up to 21 knots,

Forcing small vessels
off the water.

Vernon:
might have to go back in.

It reaches a certain point,
you don't know

If it's going keep building
or if it's going to lay down.

It's kind of a crapshoot.

Tenhoff:
we go out back on the boat,

But, still, like, we only had
about five good dive hours.

That's not enough dive hours.

Narrator: as zeke and his crew
pull into dock...

Tenhoff:
were we on 32?

...they're greeted with
accusations of claim-jumping.

And you definitely
were on 32.

You're on the honey hole.

Um, well, we could take a look
at our gps.

And I don't want to,
you know,

Be the bearer
of bad news, but...

Well, no, I mean,
we've just been --

People have to be looking out
for the property lines

And have permission
to run them.

In the past,
there have not been

A whole bunch of privately owned
leases everywhere,

With different owners
and different interests.

And I'm not used to dealing
with them.

Narrator: zeke's accusers,
judy and doug martinson,

Purchased lease 32.

Zeke has permission to mine
on the adjacent track, lease 34.

The people that accused me
of jumping on their lease

Are already notorious
in the community

For being really greedy
and for being suspicious.

First order of business
for me

Is to make sure
that I'm on the right ground.

They [bleep] came down here
like a bunch of th*gs

And were like,
"give me your mats!

We're going to report you."

They should be working
with guys like me who
are actually out there,

Not treating us like criminals.

Narrator: zeke's not handing
anything over to his accusers

Until he's checked
the official lease maps.

I'm not too excited
about it,

But we're going to clean out
a little part of the sluice box

Just to kind of get an idea
for what's in the rest of it.

With disputed gold
in the edge's mats...

It's disappointing, and we're
trying to raise our spirits.

We don't really know what to do
to raise our spirits.

...zeke is forced to do an early
clean out on the sluice box.

Tenhoff: I don't want to steal
gold from her.

I don't want to steal gold
from anyone,

But like, I mean, I'm not
going to go steal gold from her.

Narrator:
in downtown nome...

They just shut us down.
The dnr.

Just shut
the christine rose down.

Narrator: ...co-owner of the
christine rose, shawn pomrenke,

Gets some bad news

From the alaska department
of natural resources.

[ Engine turns over ]

Shawn: I just met with the dnr
here in nome,

And they basically told us
that we cannot operate anymore.

So I better call dad
and let him know.

[ Cellphone ringing ]

Yeah?

Well, they shut us --
they shut us down.

What?

Because it's within one mile
of the river.

They made a new rule,
obviously.

Well, what the hell?

Narrator:
the pomrenkes' claim

Is too close
to the mouth of the nome river,

A migration spot for salmon
in the bering sea.

Shawn: they're saying
that the little bit of turbidity

That comes
off the christine rose

Is going to affect the fish
and everything.

And...

...it's just got me pissed off.

Meisterheim:
yeah, that's pretty terrible.

Narrator:
on the anchor management...

Allen: this thing's
going to blow up.

...their last attempt
at dredging

Cost them both their engines.

The state of the dredge is bad.

Allen:
once again, got another problem.

Volkswagen is all [bleep] broke.

I refuse to let that beat me.

I got to do what I got to do.
I got to make some money.

Narrator:
for the crew of the wild ranger,

Hurricane dave thompson proved
to be too much to harness.

Steve r.:
I'm in that ballpark of energy.

You know,
I'm still at first base.

That guy's at home...
Big time.

Narrator:
at zeke's apartment...

Tenhoff: dry the gold out
before you sell it.

There's going to be
water weight.

They want it to be dry.

We've cleaned, what, 2.6 ounces
out of that box so far.

With the amount of time
we've been out there,

I'd say we're about on
a quarter-ounce-an-hour ground.

Emily: that's good.
Hell, yeah, you know?

Got some gold made.


the edge was on good grounds,

But whose claim they were mining
is still up in the air.

This is
my worst nightmare.

Hands-down. This is
my worst [bleep] nightmare.

The christine rose dug up 54
ounces on gold-laden ground...

Graham: straight!
We're good.

...that's now off limits
for the next 30 days.

Steve p.:
It should be a one-year-forward
notice, damn near,

A rule like that that kicks us
off of all our leases.

We got six, seven guys
relying upon paychecks here,

Including me.

How the hell are you gonna get
a paycheck when you can't dig?

Narrator:
two days into the season,

The leaseless christine rose
has scored the most gold,

While both the anchor management
and the wild ranger

Have nothing to show
for their efforts.

I don't like being accused
of stealing.

Emily: so, is there a chance
at all that they were right?

[Bleep] I can't get away
from these [bleep]

I'm the boss.

Time to prove the old man wrong.

[Bleep]

I'm not leaving.

Shawn!
Ha ha ha!

I can't get up.

It's time to drink.