12x01 - Dawn of the Dredge

[bunniefuu]

♪♪

Shawn: soon as you think

You've got the bering sea
all figured out,

It throws you
a big curve ball.

Narrator: change is in the air
in nome, alaska,

Home to the richest offshore
gold mining on earth,

Where each year,
millions of dollars in gold

Is pulled from the bering sea.

-Ha ha! Ta-da!
-[ Laughs ]

Narrator: but this summer,
an extraordinary sea change

Could make those
numbers skyrocket.

Reporter: this is the warmest
month on record any month,

Any year for this region.

Sea ice hit record lows
for this time of year.

Narrator:
a record-breaking heat wave

Has blasted the mining grounds.

The fast ice melt kicked up
sediment on the ocean floor,

Burying some tried
and true honey holes

But also uncovering
new deposits

Of rich, untapped gold.

Emily:
nothing is the same as it was.

New ground
could have been exposed,

And it could be very rich
ground indeed.

Narrator: this season...

Ken: I'm the new mr. Gold,

And this year, we're gonna
smash every record in nome.

Narrator: the world's turned
upside down...

Shawn: I lost my crown
and all my dredges,

But I'm gonna fight
to get them all back.

Everybody better watch out.

Narrator: ...as the mining fleet
risks at all...

Vernon: that seafloor has got
turned up,

And there's probably fresh gold
in there.

It's gonna change the game
in nome.

Narrator: ...for a shot
at the biggest gold rush

The bering sea has ever seen.

Kris: we're on gold, baby!

Daryl: there's hundreds
of pieces of gold.

Whoo!

This is better than netflix.

This is gold-flix.

Shawn: we're playing
catch up right now.

I like to win.

Steve: I'm out of retirement.

Somebody's got
to save shawn's a*s.

I'm gonna get my own dredge.
I'm gonna show you up.

Just let me show you
that I can do this.

[ Whistles, bang ]

This is what happens when you
don't respect the bering sea.

Shawn: yeah!
We're in the gold now.

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.

♪ Where are you hiding? ♪

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator: in nome harbor...

Ken: whoo-hoo!

New day, new season
started up.

...reigning gold champ

Captain ken kerr
is looking to cash in

On mother nature's
new opportunity.

Hammer down, baby!

Hammer down!

...with the aid
of the biggest dredge in nome --

The massive,


Look at that baby, man.
Is that bad?

Lookit -- arctic sea mining
right there.

That's the super myrtle.

♪♪

Ken: whoo-hoo.

Alright, man,
this is the first time.

We'll see if she's still got
some gold in her.

Last year, we hit it
good here, man.

We k*lled it.

It's a big old girl
right here.

Be nice to us this year.

We made a fortune
on claim 9 last year.

We're picking right back up
where we left off.

I'm just hoping the sand
has shifted,

Uncovered way more gold.

Could be history in the making.

Alright, let's fire up
the wash plant, baby.

Let's go to digging.
Whoo-hoo!

♪♪

Look at the size of that bucket.

Two of those buckets fill
a 10-wheel dump truck up.

This year, we're especially
having fun

Because it's as early
as the barge

Has ever been on the water.

It's exciting because we've
never had a real long season.

Narrator: despite the myrtle's
late start last summer,

The captain still managed
to walk away

With a staggering $1.4 million
in gold.

And this year,
he's aiming even higher.

Ken: 4,000 ounces this season.

That's what we're looking for.

It's doable.

Last year, we broke


This year,
with new opportunities,

We figure
we're gonna get way more.

I'm setting my sights
on 4,000 ounces.

It would definitely be
a record in nome.

If anyone could do it,
we can.

This is part of our new
super dredge.

This shows my dredge.
That's our excavator bucket.

You spin around
and dig anywhere I want in here,

Never lose track
of where I'm digging.

It's awesome.

Right here.
Get the gold.

[ Laughs ]

If I scoop up 100 ounces
here today,

I'm gonna dig this spot
till we get every last ounce.

♪♪

We're right on top of the clay.

No cobble, no nothing.

That's almost spooky-looking.

Normally we get
a bunch of cobble.

Sometimes the real good gold

Is laying on top
of the clay layer.

We need to go look
at that out there.

See if there's any gold on that.

I'm gonna put it on deck,

Let them take
a quick gander at it.

Get a pan of that.

I want to see how good
this gold is here.

Man: roger.

Narrator:
ken may have the latest

In cutting-edge technology.

Ken: that gold look pretty good
on that thing?

Boy, this pisses me off.

But success or failure
ultimately rests

On the ability of the captain.

Ken: now, there's places
where you get through

Some of this clay layer

And you still get
into some gold.

We dig through 2 feet,
and the gold is different.

All this material
on the seafloor shifting

Has just messed us up bad.

We have to dig deeper because
I believe the gold's down there.

Heck, I know it is.

See if I got anything here.

♪♪

♪♪

Let's see what we got.

Look at that.

There's a load of clay.

It might be loaded with gold.
That could be that good clay.

See if you see any gold
in there.

We'll see what they come up
with that pan.

♪♪

That's one pan?

Oh, wow, that's one pan?

Yeah.

Oh, my god.
Whoo-hoo, baby.

That's good-looking gold.

Look at the chunkies
in there.

To get that kind of result
in that gold pan,

This pay streak opened up wide
this year.

It looks good.

Look out, nome, because here
comes the super myrtle.

That's one pan.

[ Laughing ]

I like the pans.
It looks really good.

Trying to get through
that hard layer.

We're in the stuff.
Wow.

Now I got to start hauling a*s.

Got to start
running some material.

Start putting the gold
in the box.

Narrator: as a titan
of the bering sea

Is off to the races...

...the biggest name in mining
is just a spectator.

Everybody else
is in the water working.

My christine rose
is sitting idle.

Narrator:
the former mr. Gold,

Shawn pomrenke,
is a captain without a ship.

Shawn: we can't use them.
We can't touch them.

Alls we can do is look at them.

Sad sight.
It sucks.

♪♪

Narrator: after being stripped
of his crown,

A bad business deal
has delivered

A possible knockout punch
to the pomrenke empire.

Shawn: we went into business
with a guy

Who was supposed to come up
with the funds

To finish the mega dredge.

Instead of coming up with the
money to fund the mega dredge,

He was bleeding the company dry
of every dollar he could.

I was so focused
on getting the mega dredge done,

I didn't see the writing
on the wall.

When he declared bankruptcy,
everything --

Christine rose,
the mega dredge -- were seized.

I spent a lifetime
building all this.

And now I'm supposed
to just let somebody

Walk away with it all?

I'm not going down
without a fight.

I've put an offer in to buy
all the assets

Out of the bankruptcy.

We've got to come up
with $400,000

To get access to my boat.

Everything being tied up
on my offshore --

The christine rose
the mega dredge, all my boats --

I have to focus
on the inland mine

Because that's the only source
of income we have right now.

We have all this
land-mining equipment.

We've got good ground
in front of us.

So we're gonna keep on
rolling and put dirt

Through the wash plant.

Make sure it pays off.

I'm working 20 hours a day,


Just to make the $400,000.

We can't have anything break.

If we have a major breakdown,
I'm not gonna make it.

But right now, I need
to keep working and kicking a*s.

Narrator: this season
on "bering sea gold"...

♪ It's like a force of nature ♪

Ken: yahoo!

Right back in the hole.

If myrtle
keeps working like this,

We're gonna get our 500 pounds.

Ken: 145.

Yeah,
that's a high-five there.

So what are you
doing here?

We're on state land.

You're claim-jumping right now.
Please move.

The kellys are very bad people.

I'm a gold dog, baby.
That's what I do.

If I'm gonna grow
as a captain,

We need to grow our company.

This barge will make


♪ We -- we come back stronger ♪

Vernon:
I've got my daughter with me,

And now she wants to be
the captain.

Why? Why are you looking
at me like that?

Just do what
I told you to do.

♪ It's like a force of nature ♪

♪ Don't stop me now ♪

I'm kenny kerr.
I'm the best miner in nome.

Ken: one of the worst things
that could happen

Next to k*lling somebody.

[ Woman screaming ]

Shawn: easy.

We're gonna run all night,
party all day.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, baby.

Vernon: crack that sucker open
and start sucking,

No pun intended.

Kris: yeah, baby!

I miss nome and the intensity
and the excitement.

Big gold nugget.

Shawn: harder to dig in,
the better the gold.

Emily: finally we're
in something that pays!

Ken: gold, gold, gold.

Emily: this is the end
of the myrtle irene.

Narrator: the race has begun

On the earliest start
to summer mining on record.

There it is, over the top.

Narrator: throughout nome,
miners rush to the sea,

Eager to seize the gold

The fast runoff
may have finally uncovered.

And in nome's
small-boat harbor...

Emily:
it's day one of the season.

Narrator:
...eroicacaptain emily riedel

Is looking to get in
on the action.

I'm gonna go get some gold out
of the bering sea.

Let's get out of here.

First day out, we're
already in a gold w*r.

Narrator: and this season, she's
got an ace up her sleeve --

Diver daryl galipeau,

Who's returned
after a one-year absence.

Daryl's been diving
on my boat --

I think this is his fourth year.

He's a great gold diver,
so I'm lucky to have him.

If you put daryl on the bottom
of the ocean floor,

He's gonna sniff out gold.

And that's one guarantee
about him.

Could mean there's a lot
of really great gold,

But he's gonna have to
get back on there today

And see what we're working with.

Narrator:
with the new map down below,

The veteran captain
is aiming high.

Emily:
the goal is north of 300.

We don't want to say
how far north of 300,

But north of 300.

If we can't make 300,
something's wrong.

Hell yeah.

No, you've got to be
making really good money

To consider a second boat.

I'd like to be able
to make enough gold to expand.

I want something
that's innovative,

That can go long distances,
that's fast,

That is preferably livable.

The eroicacan't explore.
She's so heavy, so slow.

She's meant for one thing,

Which is basically just mining
out in front of nome.

So I want a boat that can mine
the undiscovered country.

There's other gold out there,
and I want to know where it is.

Narrator: to start
filling up the piggy bank,

Emily knows just where to go.

Emily: we're back on 14.

So we've made over


Since we started working.

Daryl's gonna prospect
in the area

That we left off from last year.

That's tight.

There was so much radical
displacement of material

On the bering sea floor
this year

That I'm really hoping
some fresh gold

Was exposed in this area.

[ Engine starts ]

Yeah! Whoo!

Sweet, ready to go.

Daryl, you better get down there

And get some ounces going
for the season.

♪♪

Daryl: alright.
Let's get started here.

Emily: okay, daryl's down.

It's his first dive
of the season.

And, uh, this is an area
that we've mined before.

How's it going down there?
What's the ground like?

How deep is it?

Where we're working now might
have, a year ago, been

You know, 10 feet of sand,

But we're theorizing
that maybe a sandbar shifted

And opened up this ground for us
to work.

It's just a matter of looking
in the right place, I guess.

Do you want me to try
to move the boat?

Maybe get to a new spot.

Um, we're just
gonna go north.

Ahh. Never a dull moment.

We have to go try
somewhere else.

There might be fresh ground.

♪♪

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

Daryl: alright.

Hopefully.

♪♪

Narrator:
back in nome harbor...

-Okay.
-We out of here?

Kris: here we are,
another season back in town.

Narrator: alongside brother andy
and father, brad...

Kris: we hope to just
k*ll it this year.

Hold on, hold on.

The dock.

I didn't do a very good job
pushing us off, sorry.

Narrator: this season,
captain kris kelly

Is looking to finally
join the big leagues.

Kris: we've done this
for a little bit now,

So we're not gonna
start the season off

Like a bunch of idiots.

We're gonna make some gold.

This little operation's
a thing of the past.

You know, we've got something
really big in store.

And to be honest with you,
it scares the [bleep] out of me.

And I don't really know
if I'm gonna pull it off,

But you know what?

Go big or go home
or it's go big or go broke.

It's one of those two.

Narrator: this spring...

Look at that.

This boat right here

Is the ticket
to us being rich.

...kris spotted what he saw
as a golden opportunity.

Guy out of arizona,
he's got a huge boat.

And he says he wants
to give it to me

For 20%
of what the boat will make.

All we have to do
is fix the boat up a little bit

And we start making
a million dollars a year.

This is probably the best deal

I'm ever gonna have
in my entire life.

This guy is giving me
everything I need

To put together
an excavator barge --


And a wash plant already there.

All I have to do is come up
with 100 ounces of gold

To put this all together.

That's done.

Narrator: to help pull in
the gold he needs,

The captain's
pulling out the big g*n...

Kris:
man, this boat's so big.

Narrator: ...the original


It feels like
a landing craft on here.

...more powerful than his beach
dredges of last season

And the heartiest vessel
in his fleet.

Kris: the plan is simple.
We're gonna go to fort davis,

Kind of where it all started
back over there.

And we're gonna get
easy gold today.


Is a legendary hot spot

From the original gold rush,

But few ounces
have been seen since.

Now kris is gambling
that the altered seafloor

Might ignite a new gold rush.

We're looking for
the new cobble

Where the sand
has cleared away,

Stuff that's being
uncovered by cobble,

You know, the deposit.

Fort davis had huge amounts
of gold back in the day.

The fast runoff caused sandbars
to move over 5 or 6 feet.

So this year, I'm looking
for new cobble,

Fresh cobble
loaded with gold.

So it's giving us
one last breath of life.

There he is.

What we've got to do is
we've got to come around

And then park next to him,
and then we'll drift back.

Narrator: for the captain,

The question is,
"where to start the hunt?"

Kris: right here.
Anchors away.

How about right next
to a rival miner,

Who might already be on a trail?

Brad: I like to work right next
to my competition.

They do the work.
We get the gold.

What's wrong with that?
Nothing.

Kris: hey, let's go.

You better lose
a lot of weight, not weight.

Narrator: the ocean floor is not
the only thing that's changed

Since last summer.

Kris: hold your arms out.

Hey, pull this --

I thought you were
talking to me.

Hold it right there.

Andy has gained a lot
of weight since last year.

You know, he's not even
my brother anymore.

He's the guy
that ate andy kelly.

Go!

♪♪

♪♪

Kris:
hey, are you on cobble?

You see any gold
in the cobble?

Lots of sand, a little bit
of cobble and no gold.

That's the biggest thing --
no gold at all.

When you're ready,
we're ready to move.

I would say 20 feet.

[ Andy laughs]

He's not shy about walking
in to your house

And taking your tv.

No, he's not.

He's known as andy,
the repo man.

He's repoing this guy's gold
right now.

What do you got
over there?

I'm seeing a bunch
of chunkies.

Whoo-hoo!

Andy's on great gold.

Good job, andy.

Ka-ching!

"Thank god" is right.

I needed this
for my boat.

I think it's gonna be
a good season.

Narrator: coming up...

Emily: whoo!

Narrator: gold fever is
sweltering in nome...

...just like in the early 1900s,

When thousands
of starry-eyed dreamers

Flocked to the bering sea

At the height
of the first big gold rush.

To cash in, chicago investors
began work on a railroad

To link the major mining camps.

But in remote alaska,
that's easier dreamed than done.

And the project was abandoned.

Now dubbed the last train
to nowhere,

It's a reminder there's not
always a pot of gold

At the end of every rainbow.

[ Train whistle blows ]



Ken: oh, yeah.

Narrator:
...on the myrtle irene...

Ken: look at that.

That's probably
an ounce of gold in that bucket.

That's the money bucket
right there.

Bam.

Narrator: ...reigning gold count
champion ken kerr

Is starting
a gold rush of his own.

We're in a honey hole here.

Narrator:
...on a rich pay streak

That shows no end in sight.

I love it when you get into
a spot that's loaded with gold.

And we're in a pay pile.

There's probably 30,000 acres
out here to mine.

We're never gonna leave
this spot

Till we dig every pound
of gold out of it.

The little dredges
can't get all the gold,

But I can.

It'd take a little dredge

For hours to mine
that much material.

It takes us one minute.

That's it, buddy.

Narrator: a 6-inch suction
dredge can move


In an 8-hour shift,

While the myrtle's


That can move 300 cubic yards
per hour,



That's enough in one day

To fill the statue
of liberty twice.

I got to start
kicking it up a notch.

Whoop.

Man, this is hard material.

Some of the stuff out here
is so hard,

It's like digging asphalt.

Beating us to death
going through that stuff.

We're hoping to keep
our equipment running.

I'm looking forward
to seeing what we got.

Narrator: 5 miles north...

♪♪

...at the inland mine...

Shawn: working night and day,

Barely getting any sleep,

But we can't make the $400,000
without this wash plant running.

So I need to keep it running.

Get some exercise.
Yeah.

Get it, girl.

Narrator: shawn pomrenke is
trying to dig his way

Out of a massive hole...

Shawn: we may be down,
but we're not out.

Narrator: ...scrambling to raise
$400,000 worth of gold

To get his dredges
out of bankruptcy.

Making the money.

What the hell you gonna do,
sit around and whine about it

And cry about it
or get back to work?

I want to rally the troops and
we're gonna get back to work

And we're gonna start
piling up the gold.

Making gold,
making gold every day.

We got to come up with $400,000,

So I have to keep
this plant running.

I got to keep as much material
going through it as possible

If I'm gonna make the $400,000.

Narrator: although inland
and offshore mining

Rely on excavators
and wash plants

To dig and process material,

Inland mining is far less
profitable.

Shawn: on the inland mine,

You have to move off
the top of the dirt.

Then you have to haul
all the dirt with gold

In it to the wash plant.

Then you have to haul
the overburden back in.

Then you have to reclaim
everything.

It's running like a dream,
eating the material up.

The ocean reclaims itself.

So you only touch the dirt
one time.

Where the inland, you're
touching it three to four times.

Every time you have to touch
the dirt, your profits go down.

Right now,
we're running around the clock.

I'm hoping we got a third
more productive.

Inland mining
is a constant battle

To keep everything running.

You have big steel and a lot
of moving parts

And you have to spend
a lot more money

Per ounce of gold
to get that ounce.

I got both my crews on it --
my offshore and my inland crew

All working on the inland mine.

Everybody's working
their asses off,

Trying to make this money
and make this happen.

It's not just my skin
in the game,

It's all my guys on my crew

That have worked
their asses off for me

To help me build all of this.

Because without the equipment
to mine, they're without jobs.

Narrator: with his rival
getting the jump on him

And the altered seafloor
opening up opportunities

Like never before,

For the former mr. Gold,
there's not a moment to spare.

Shawn: if we don't come up
with the $400,000,

I lose everything.

I'm putting a lot
on my whole crew.

But if any crew can do it,
it's my crew that can.

I'm gonna buy my stuff back...

...one scoop at a time.

Narrator: coming up...

Andy: I'm seeing chunky gold.

Kris: we found the hot spot!
I knew it.

I don't want gold this season.
I need gold this season.

Daryl, you're coming up
on four hours.

How are you feeling?

Seeing some nice gold?

Narrator:
after captain emily riedel

Repositioned the eroica...

...star diver daryl galipeau

Honed in on a recently
revealed pay streak.

Are you
in those crevices?

Daryl: yes.

Emily: daryl discovered
some interesting topography.

We're kind of calling them
crevices,

But, like, ridge patterns
on the ocean floor,

Like, cracks with gold in them.

And I don't know if they've
been recently exposed

By the shifting sea ice,

But this is --
this is a new area for us.

Just contains
some really nice, sexy gold.

I think
we're making money.

Emily:
sounds like he's in a good mood.

He must be sucking up
some nice gold.

This is daryl's fourth season
diving on my boat,

So I can really read the mood.

It's like when daryl's grumpy
about the gold he's seeing,

He's like, "what?"

[ Laughing ] you know?

Like, "yeah.
Everything's fine."

There, he sounded quite
a bit more cheerful.

If he gets, like,
really enthusiastic,

It's always, like, amazing.

If he's on, like, ounce plus,

He'll be all like,
"oh! Holy [bleep]"

Sounds like the gold gods

Are working in our favor
for once.

Take your time, daryl.
I'm here all night.

Alright.

Yeah. Whoo!

Narrator: 2 miles east...

♪♪

Andy: I'm seeing chunky gold.

Narrator: ...looking to move up
the nome gold ladder...

We found the hot spot!
I knew it!

...the kellys could well be
on their way.

I don't want gold this season.
I need gold this season.

I need to go bigger,

Like, grinding
tons of material.

The bigger boat's
the only way I'm getting there.

Andy's tired. It's his first
day, and he's out of shape.

So I'm going down there
and playing cleanup.

Please, lord, help me
make the cash.

♪♪

I'm walking...

We got to put a couple ounces
in the box today.

Great day for the first day.

♪♪

♪♪

Found chunky gold.
This looks pretty good.

Good job, kris.
Whoo.

But for my first day, a third
of an ounce an hour

Is a huge success, huge.

He still holds his title
as the rock-jam king.

Six years and running.

♪♪

Oh, yeah, it's jammed, dude.

You might as well come up.
This is gonna take me a while.

Kris: ugh!

♪♪

Narrator:
with a quick check of the box...

...kris makes
a horrible discovery.

Kris:
looking in the sluice box,

There's no gold in it,
just rocks.

If your sluice-box angle
is off, you're screwed.

We're basically doing a catch
and release program.

We got nothing today.

Andy: dude,
you want to know why

It's packed solid like that?

The whole front
of the boat dropped.

And then all the rock
filled up in the sluice box.

You're too fat to be
on the front of the boat.

You are, man.

You put this
too far forward.

[Bleep]

I'm tired of being called --
you're too heavy...

Whatever,
I'm a fat [bleep] okay?

Shut up!

Whatever. I'm fat.
Let's go home now.

It's all first day [bleep]

The box is screwed up

Because the pitch of the boat
is messed up.

We have to bring the boat in
and balance everything out.

We'll just take
the engine out,

And we'll move it back
a couple of feet.

I don't care.

To waste your day sucks.

But I'll just make
the boat less front-heavy

And we'll get back on the water
and back on the gold.

I just wanted to make
a little bit more gold.

I really did.

Oh, well, you know,
at least we're on gold.

Narrator: coming up...

See what we got.

It's a lot of gold.
That's all I can say, boys.

I'm saying I hope
at least 100.

-Whoo.
-Yeah.

We're getting them.

Narrator: and now, shopping
at the dredge graveyard.

At one point, it was $16,500,

And now it's $5,000
or best offer.

"Please buy this boat,"
is what they're saying.

Unbeatable flotation.

Just take a 50-gallon drum,
shove it in there,

Hope for the best.

Around this dredge graveyard
in nome,

There is just nothing
that's worth buying.

[ Laughs ]

Here you go, kiska.

Kiska's doing the thing

That this operation
is most worthy of.

He's just peeing on it.

Some of them could probably
be adapted and modified,

But I don't want to take
something that already sucks

And then try
to make it suck less.

Fantastic idea right here.

Let's put a school bus
on a barge.

Why did these people come from

And what the hell
are they thinking?

Not a lot of awesome options
in the dredge graveyard today.

Narrator: outside nome...

Emily:
scrubbing up some gold today.

Narrator:
...24 hours into the summer...

-Are we ready?
-Cleanup time.

Narrator:
...captain emily riedel

And her crew process the gold

From daryl's first dive
of the season.

Emily: last year was a lot

Of disappointing weigh outs,
for sure.

And I don't want
to see that again.

Alright, scoop time.

Oh, so pretty.

Yeah.
-Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

That's a nice coarsy one.

Scoopy, scoopy.

Yes.

I'm hoping that we have a spot

That produces ounce plus
an hour.

That's worthy of mining.

A little benefit
from the ice pack.

I think it changed
the topography, you know,

Shifting sandbars
and exposing new grounds.

Ooh, look at that.
Let's see how we did.

♪♪









Whoo.
Now we're cooking with gas.

Alright.
Pretty good average.


Just from 10 hours.

It's a -- it's a really good
start.

Not bad for 10 hours
of dredging, huh?

Not bad for 10 hours
of dredging.

k*lling it.

We're on our way
to the second dredge.

Good job, guys.

Damn straight!

Narrator: across town
at the arctic sea gold room...

Ken: first cleanup
of the season, brothers.

...after doubling down
on last summer's pay pile...

Let's see what we got.

...ken kerr, along with business
partner dave young

And operations manager
george young,

Are hoping their first cleanout
puts them on pace

Towards the biggest season
haul in bering sea history.

Ken: hopefully this pay streak
gives us at least 100 ounces.

This year, we want to pull
so far away from the pack,

We'll need our own scoreboard.

No one's gonna touch us
this season,

Not even my old buddy shawn.

Okay.
Let's see what it is.

It's a lot of gold.
That's all I can say, boys.

Man, I hope at least 100.

Dave: 60...



You count that fast?



Whoo!



Kenny, keep that up.

This is an awesome start.

Man, that's awesome, man.

We're getting her down
finally.

Ken: we're firing
on all cylinders this year.

And all we have to do
is dig up the gold

With nome's biggest bucket.

Got to say, being
mr. Gold feels real good.

Five years,
I'm working on that thing.

Finally coming to fruition.

Yeah. Getting them.

-Yeah!
-We got it.

♪♪

Kris:
at least we're on gold.

We already have a spot
for tomorrow.

No prospecting tomorrow.

And we're really on our way
to hit our goal.

You know, we're gonna
hit it fast.

So help me god, we're getting
a new excavator barge

This season.

♪ When you hear
that battle cry ♪

♪ Sends chills
straight down your spine ♪

Emily: the eroica,
she's good where she's at.

But I know I want
something more.

I want something that can go
to the undiscovered areas

Of the mining regions of nome.

A lightweight boat that can go
fast might be the key.

Somewhere, the thaw moved
some sandbanks aside,

And there are pockets of gold
that are yet undiscovered

That might be like 50 ounces
to a pocket of gold.

The possibilities are endless.

♪ Digging, too,
gonna send you home ♪

♪ To the place where
other men go ♪

Shawn: we keep burning
and turning, we'll make it.

Something major breaks,

We'll be screwed,
and I'll lose everything.

I don't like being an underdog.

I don't like starting behind.

I like coming out, kicking
a*s right out the beginning.

But now we're sitting onshore,
sitting, watching everybody else

Out there getting a head start,
but they need a head start.

The myrtlemay be bigger,
but it definitely is not better.

The christine rosewill outdig
that myrtleturtle

Every day of the week.

♪ Heart of stone ♪

♪ Gonna grind you up
to dust and gold ♪

Shawn: we'll get back on top.
They don't have a chance.

Narrator: as the summer season
kicks into high gear,

Ken kerr in the myrtle irene
reclaimed the top spot

While shawn and kris
are back to square one.

Next time
on "bering sea gold"...

Vernon: I'm exploring claims
west of nome

That no one's ever mined.

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

Man #2: damn.

Roll it, baby.

[ Grunts ]

But I'm sure that
we're near the gold spot.

Shawn: no more screwing around.

It's time to get this boat
in the water.

It's coming for you, ken.

This could ruin my season
and lose the barge.

Pull him in!
Pull him in!

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.
Real gold.

Man #3:
there's some good color there.

♪♪

♪♪