17x05 - Born a Gamblin' Man

[bunniefuu]

In gold mining,
the question is always...

when to roll the dice?

While the rewards
can be great...

That is
what we're looking for.

What?

Seems like it's getting pretty
shallow, pretty quick.

...failure
can be devastating.

Worst case scenario,

I might snap my anchor line

and get drifted
to the rock.

Now,
for every miner...

We're gonna try something
we've never tried before.

I hope
I made the right move.

...it's time
for gut check.

Maybe I have like a kind
of a gambler's mentality.

Just all in, dude. Why not?

I'm out here
by myself.

This is the borderline
right here

and I'm pushing it.

Who will make
the right move?

And whose move...

...might be their last?

I'm literally left for dead
and that's what it feels like.

I'm being left for dead
out here.

Everybody's here this morning
on time?

damn.

I just have that weird
feeling in my stomach.

Energy drinks, nicotine?

Hell.

Feel like I'm gonna
my pants.

You know what it'll take
to fix that, right?

Nice big pile of gold.

So far this season,

Shawn Pomrenke's gold output

has been, well, crappy
by his standards.

Head in to the Tomcod,

and this run looks like
it's gonna be a good one.

We had a couple this year,
but then Myrtle broke down,

and it broke down,
and it broke down.

I gotta be honest
with myself.

This season's been
a disappointment so far.

I'm aiming for the biggest
haul of my career,

but the Myrtle's been
falling short

time and time again.

Equipment issues,
weak paystreaks.

It's just not cutting it.

I'm gonna check out
what the night crew did.

We should be on great ground.

If not, I'm gonna have
to do something drastic.

Get those buoys.

Ouch.

I'll tell you in a second
how nightshift did.

They didn't have
any breakdowns.

Everything's still working.

Man.

We're making gold, but...

I wanna make a lot.

This gold would be
good enough for most guys,

but not for me.

Especially considering
where we're at in the season.

Not coming in as fast
as I wanna see it come in.

It's time
to take a big gamble.

Let's jack
these spuds up and see...

Copy that.

We've been
digging deep,

but right now

we're gonna try something
we've never tried before.

We're gonna go in shallow.

I got drill logs that tell me
where potential hotspots are

all over the Tomcod.

There's one we've never tried
and there's a good reason why.

It's one of the hottest holes
on the whole claim,

says about 10 feet of water.

That's at about the minimum
of water depth we could go in.

The deepest part
of the Myrtle drafts



And if you go into water
that's 10 feet,

there ain't much room
for error.

We're definitely
rolling the dice.

The seafloor
isn't perfectly flat,

so a miscalculation,

we could damage the hull
or break a spud.

If it's bad enough,

it could put the Myrtle down

for who knows how long.

This might be
the break we need.

We need a big cleanup
in a short amount of time.

But I can't
play it safe anymore.

I need a monster haul now.

So it's time to use
every ounce of skill I got

to pull this off.

Well, I got
the maneuvering thrusters up

that I've taken the bucket

and I'm using it the claw
along the bottom.

It seems like it's getting
pretty shallow,

pretty quick here.

I wanna take it nice and easy.

You don't want
to run your boat

on the bottom at all.

It's all a little less
than 700 feet away right now.

So instead
of driving the Myrtle

into the shallow water,

I'm gonna use the bucket

and put it on the ocean floor

and pull myself in.

This will give me
better control.

So I'll just creep it
in real slowly.

So far, so good.

Every time I use the bucket
to pull us in shallower,

I got to make sure it's safe
to keep moving forward.

There's no margin for error.

If I misjudge the depth,
it could be too late.

So I'm gonna start
this process

about 700 feet away
from where the drill logs

say there's a hotspot.



Fifty meters,

forty meters.

Seem to be floating good yet.

Twenty meters,

seventeen.

We're here.

That's good there.
Let's drop the spuds.

First time in shallow
with the Myrtle.

We're on the second
hottest drill hole

on the whole claim.

If this works,
I'll be a genius.

If it doesn't, I'm a idiot.

Right now, it's time to dig.

While Shawn
gambles on shallow ground...

...back in
the harbor.

At this point,
you know, it's really hard

to get good help in town.

I'm just gonna go out there
without a tender.

Oh, yeah.

And today is the day.

Hopefully we can keep
the gold rolling in.

Chris McCully
is also rolling the dice

as he dares to try
another solo dive.

Let's go.

So the one great thing
about the Tata
is the hydraulics.

I built the Tata
so that one person
could do everything on it.

I can run it
and I can dive on it.

That's assuming
if there's no major hiccups.

But on my first solo dive,

there was a major problem.

I got this
really nasty rock jam

that I couldn't
clear it myself.

It really k*lled my dive,

so I had to call in
for reinforcements.

I need you guys help here

because I'm out here
by myself.

Bottom line,
this can't happen again.

So the goal today

is gonna have
a full day's worth

on that good ground

and don't get a jam today.

That's the biggest thing,
never get a jam today.

I'm gonna work hard.

I'm gonna work hard moving
those rocks out of the way

and then just do
a smooth ride,

you know what I mean?

So I still don't
have a tender.

I still have to dive solo

and everything
has to go flawless.

I got a goal of 300 ounces,

so if I don't turn
around quick,

I'm never gonna hit that.

So today, there's no excuses.

Let's go.

I got it.

Ooh, it's hot, it's hot today.

Okay. Let's see
what the guys did last night.

Oh, a lot of... Lot of notes.

So the big dogs like Shawn,

have night crews to go
around the clock

to keep the gold rolling.

I have Cam and Bobby,

so those guys dredge
through the night

and they also record their
dives through the dive log.



two hours, only two hours.

Wow.

Cam did only three
and a half hours.

This is not good.

They didn't do very well.

Look at this big jam.

Two-hour jam. Holy .

They might as well work
with the Kellys

if they keep doing
what they're doing.

Last night,
it wasn't very good.

They only got five hours
of diving time,

five hours out
of that two shifts.

You know,
Cam and Bobby have years

of experience in dredging

and this is very unacceptable,

like doing this

two-hour micro dive shift
here and there.

Anyways, let's get back
to the groove, baby. Let's go.

Let's not get...
Let's not get hindered

by all these little things,

because these
are little things,

they can be corrected.

All right, let's go.

So I was really relying
on my guys

to crush it last night.

So I really wanted them
to push six-hour dives,

but if the cat's away,
the mice will play.

Yeah, see, it's looking...
It's starting to look good.

I like this.
You know, a lot of pickers,

a lot of .

Very good, very good.
I like it.

They're on it, but they're
not putting their hours in,

you know, they're not
putting their weight in,

you know what I mean?

The good news
is we're on the gold,

but there's barely
any dive hours.

That's even way
more pressure on me.

It's all resting
on my shoulders.

Put my two and a half hours,

come up, refuel,

and then come back right down.

All right,
let's head back to the nozzle.

Okay...

In Nome Harbor...

Good to go.

Zeke Tenhoff is
looking to try something bold.

Yeah.

We doin' this.

We're gonna lower
that hose into the water.

We're gonna make it
a great day.

So far this season,
things have been
going pretty well,

but my goal was 55 ounces
for a reason.

We've got $100,000
boat payment coming due

at the end of the season.

If I don't make it,
we lose the Synergy.

So today, I'm gonna
attempt something
I've never tried before

to try to keep
the gold coming in.

I'm gonna do four dives
with the two-man crew.

Go out and get, uh...
Get four dives today.

We're gonna dive all day,
for sure.

So Jeff and I are gonna do
two dives each.

Diving that many hours
on a 14-inch dredge,

you really run the risk
of wearing yourself out.

When you're super exhausted
working at those depths,

things can get dicey,

but I'm willing
to take the gamble on it.

Let's go to work!

We are ready to rip.

Yeah, get back after it.

Two dives for each of us
in a day is kind of ambitious,

but we've been building up

on our endurance
through the season.

I think we're both strong
enough to keep doing this

without any major problems.

At least that's
what I'm hoping.

I found good gold out here.

I think this is probably
a big sandy patch here,

so there's gotta be a lot
more gold under that sand.

All right.

Perfect.

Hey, Jeff,
can you hear me all right?

Yeah. Right here
at the bottom of the hole.

Perfect.

You know, it definitely
looks like really good
material down here.

It's all just 8-inch
layer of sand.

And then we got about
a 2-foot layer of gravel.

Nice little rocky hard pan,
super dense.

Let's see what's in it.

There's a little picker.

There's definitely
G everywhere.

Yeah. I'm glad
it's going well.

I mean, if there's gold

in the box
after a couple hours,

then we just need to keep
doing what we're doing.

Yeah, buddy.
It's gonna be a really
good looking box.

Woo.

While the Tenhoff
crew aims for four dives,

back in the harbor.

We're 10 minutes late
for our crew check. Let's go.

Captain Kris
is late for a date

with his Mistress.

Hopefully everything goes
without a problem

and we get over 50 ounces

for all of our hard work
and suffering.

Well, the night crew made it,

well, at least
I didn't get a phone call

saying anything blew up.

So everything's good.

I hope we get there.

And everything's running.

They say they made
a lot of gold.

We get on here, we take over.

They come back
at the end of the night

and now it's just a cycle.

So the operation is online
and making gold.

The big plan
for the season
is to get the all-in

up to speed so we can launch
the crawler.

That hasn't happened, yet.

So what's happened though,

I have a strong enough crew
of operators

that we can run
the Mistress 24 hours.

Day shift and a night shift.

How you doing?

Everything good?

Good job.

That's a huge accomplishment.

But considering
where my gold is right now

and what would need to be
at the end of the season,

we're not there.

We can't afford
a single ship down.

Okay, report.

All day?

All on gold, constantly?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

We're in a good spot.

Okay, everybody get
on that boat.

Let's go to work.

Hasta la vista.

James and the night crew
crushed it.

They were on gold
the whole time.

So now we just gotta keep
bringing in that material

and make that gold.

- Are we ready?
- Yeah, baby.

Cab and idle up. Let's do it.

Okay.

Well, I think
a lot of hard work,

a lot of planning,

a lot
of second-guessing myself

and spending half
a million dollars

on a new excavator.

After all that,
we have a fine-tuned operation

that I hope will make me
a million dollars this year.

- Wow.
- Wow.

The truth is that Cat

is putting more material
in that box

than any excavator
that we've ever had.

Like watch
when he dumps it in,

the box will be filled
with material.

So we got a new excavator
and it's awesome.

It can reach 6-foot deeper

and it's got
a way bigger bucket.

We can work
even more material,

which is awesome.

So what's not awesome,
it's too much material

for the sluice box to handle.

Hold on...

We're kind of coordinating
with the operator

to make sure that he's not
overfeeding the plant

because we want to make sure
everything gets processed.

We don't want our gold to go
over the material in the box,

so we need to process
the material in the box

before we add more material
to the box.

I'm starting to wonder
if adding the bigger bucket

was a bad move.

If we're putting
too much material

through the sluice box,
it doesn't process correctly.

And all that gold
goes right back
into the Bering Sea.

So right now,
what's the problem is

you get a lot of small rocks.

Yeah.

So my gut is
it's the kind of material

that's causing the problem.

What you generally want
is clay, untouched,

thick, heavy clay.

That's where the gold
gets trapped.

Right now,
we're in a great patch,

but there's also a ton
of gravel in there.

It could be it's too tough
for the box to process,

but I have a good solution.

Now, the plan is to move

about 20 feet south.

I'm gonna move us
to easier ground

so the box can handle it.

Yeah, go there
and spin us around.

The problem is we're on
good gold right now,

so I could be taking us off
a sweet spot

and putting us on
a wild goose chase.

We'd essentially be back
to hunting for new ground.

Hey, hold.

Hey, let's see what we got.

Sand.

Hey, spin us. Go here.

Okay, take another scoop.

Let's keep going.

Couple boulders on sand.

Another scoop.

I hope I made the right move

because that hole
was still paying me.

That's good.

Okay. Throw it in the box.

Wow, Kris,

look at that.

That's what we're looking for.

What?

Yeah, baby.

Yeah!

The best part
about moving spots

is we're not
in a lot of pea gravel,

which means my scoop box
is gonna clean out properly.

We can go back
to running full cycle time,



Let's put the hammer down.

yeah!

Oh, yeah, baby.

Okay.

Definitely good ground.

It's where the money is.

Three hours
into the first

of four planned dives,

Jeff Orzechowski is moving
and shaking up the seafloor.

Out on the stern,
in on the port, 5 feet.

There you go.
I'm back in the cabin.

Okay.

Yeah,
the swell's getting big,

honestly, like it's not
like that choppy,

but I mean, you know,
it's a big swell.

We just got these big
chunky rollers coming in.

Oh.

The truth is,
is that it's always difficult

to move that nozzle around
even in calm waters,

but we're starting to get
these isolated swells

and it's banging Jeff
around down there pretty good.

We're both supposed
to get two dives in

but with these swells
beating us up down there,

it's gonna take even more
to get it done.

Today, I think
a four-dive goal

might be even tougher
than I had imagined.

.

What I noticed is guys
with really big muscles,

it just...
Things go really easier to me.

You'd think
it would be way easier.

I don't know
what's up with that.

I think you just have
to flex harder

to do the same thing.

He's tired.

- Tired.
- .

That was a rowdy dive.

Bro.

Yeah, look at these things.

You're like, whoa.

Easy to do if it's calm.

Yeah, I guess.

It's just a little rough.

All right. Well, the current
knocked Jeff off the bottom

a little earlier
than we had hoped,

but we still had
a strong first dive.

Now I'll do my shift,
the second of hopefully four.

It's good ground, buddy.

Yeah. That's good
as that's ever looked.

These random swells

are not gonna make
things easy,

but we're on nice ground.

If this gold keeps up
for four dives,

we're gonna have a solid clean
out at the end of it.

Can you hear me?

Yeah, I got you.

Uh, can I get an idle cap?

All right.
You got it, buddy.

Thank you.

How's the hose
management going?

Uh...

I got to get a lot stronger...

Yeah.

Yeah.
You really have to bring
a lot of energy to it.

Yeah. We got to hit it
hard though, um,

because I wanted have
a fat cleanup.

Yeah.
Just, I guess, hit it hard,

and then we'll switch out.

- Okay. Sounds good.
- All right, buddy.

The two-man
Tenhoff team
is hitting it hard.

And across the water...

Two hours
into his second attempt

at a solo dive...

Chris McCully's
luck is still holding out.

I'm gonna come up.

Woo!

I'm having
the time of my life, baby.

I gotta go fill up
the air compressor

and generator,

and then I'm gonna take
a little break,

and then we'll go back
down there,

there's so much ground
to be worked on.

Woo!

So the secret
to diving solo

is you need to be really
in tune with the dredge.

That's almost empty.

It was perfect timing.

You have to know every sound,
every movement,

even when the boat rolls,
even when the wind blows.

You have to be familiar
with these things.

Oh, yeah.

I have two
and a half hours in,

and I'm gonna put two
and a half hours more,

and right now,
I can already see it

shimmering over here,
which is really good.

The best is yet to come
right here.

Oh, .

I can see the swells
are starting to come in,

all these little white caps
on top.

I don't wanna be
in that situation

where I'm alone and I can't
pick up the gears.

Worst-case scenario,
I'll lose my hose,

you know, and my jet.

Uh, all right.

So I'm gonna take
that initiative,

I'm gonna let Bobby
and Cam know.

So this is what I mean
about being aware

of all the elements.

So the swells are starting
to build,

that's a really
dangerous situation

for me to be solo.

So I'm gonna
call them right now

and then tell them what's up.

So I might be able
to dive by myself right now,

but lifting up the gear back
into the boat,

like the hose,
the jet log, the flare,

so I can bring it back
to the shore,

that'll take a whole team.

Just a quick update,

I'm halfway through my dive,

um, it seems like
the weather's gonna pick up.

I don't have
a tender out here, so...

Okay.

I'll be right there.

Check the weather, too.

Just coordinate with camp.

All right.
Thank you, sir.

Bye.

Cool. All right.

Reinforcements are on the way.

I hope they don't wait
too long

and wait for the swell
to come in

and then come out here.

I hope they're not that dumb.

Let's not waste
any more time up here,

we're gonna go back down there

and finish up
the rest of my dive.

But first things first,

I'm gonna fill up
the generator

and my air compressor,

then I'm gonna
go back down there.

So these swells are bad,

but I think I could squeeze in

a little more bond time
before the guys gets here.

So I'm gonna mine more
while I still can.

I'm gonna keep going.

I know where to, uh, go next.

Oh, yeah, that's the next spot
right there.

Big stuff right there.

And I look at our area,
we got a lot more to go.

There's no signs of it
slowing down.

Wow.

We're in about 15 feet
of water.

The hottest drilled hole
on the whole claim.

Throughout the fleet,

captains are rolling the dice.

I'm really desperate
to make the money.

And out
on the Bering Sea...

We're on really good gold,

so we've got enough
of, uh, a line

that's gonna last us
for the rest of the day

and make sure Tyson's
on good gold.

Kris Kelly
is enjoying the benefits
of his new excavator,

as it devours a new paystreak.

All right. The wind's starting
to pick up,

the conditions
are getting rougher.

But right now,
we haven't got very big waves.



my boat can technically
handle that.

The Mistress
is an old barge.

She's got some serious years
and rust on her.

So you've gotta check
the hull constantly

to make sure
you're not sinking.

If you're not on top
of everything constantly,

a problem will sneak up on you
and bite you in the a*s.

I learned that
earlier this season.

Oh , .

We're sinking!

Well, good thing
I came down here

because we got about


going through the whole boat.

The hull is like a skeleton,

and it's supported
by its ribs and backbone.

It's holding
the weight of everything,

all the people,
all the equipment, everything.

And it's keeping
the water out.

And one of those
support beams rusted out,

and now it's loose.

And it's just slamming
into the floor of the hull

over and over and over.

It's a tough call.

This support beam looks
sketchy as hell right now.

If I keep rolling the dice,
this could sink the boat.

It's that serious.

No,
but I'm lucky as .

I'm Irish.

You know what? I know this
is gonna work out for me.

Right now,
I just hope it holds out

and we can keep grinding gold.

Well, you know what,
it's not a problem

until we start leaking water.

I need to start
paying off debt.

Welcome to
Vernon's Social Hour.

It can't get
more social than this.

And now, saddle up

for another Social Hour
with Vernon.

Let me see what the latest
news is on the chat sites.

"Something you want to say

but never had a chance to
on camera?"

Not really. I pretty much
say it all.

Whether or not they air it,

that's a different story,
but I don't hold back.

Answer the phone!

I'm about to give 'em
a piece of landmine,

and then torch it off!

Hey, you wanna fight ?

There's no buffer on my mouth

and really,
I don't have a lot of,

what do you
call those, filters?

One of the greatest ways
of relieving stress

is to fire all those
that really need to be fired.

you !

Get your ragged a*s
out of there

snowflake.

I'm probably a liability.

I'm probably
an extreme liability.

He's a snowflake,
you can't take an attitude

because it hurts
his little .

the federal
government!

This is it.

You can either take
it or leave it

and I really, really truly
do not give a .

Instead of pulling your butt,
what else is going on, over?

damn.

I can piss faster than this.

Crank that sucker up
and start sucking.

You know,
I'm right, my sexual pride.

I am what I am what I am.

And there ain't no changing it
and I'm not

damn not gonna start
changing it now.

This has been
Social Hour with Vernon.

Well, do what you wanna do.
I don't care.

Whatever color,
green, purple, from Mars.

I really literally
do not give a .

Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.

First time in
shallow with the Myrtle.

Up in here, close to shore.

We're right on top
of the drill hole.

The drill hole says it's hot.

Shawn's gambling
on shallow water,

but with nothing yet
to show for it,

he might be in deep trouble.

That's looking better.

I'm not quite
through the clay,

but I'm scraping
the top of the clay off

and as a little bit further
I reach out,

the better it's looking.

The Myrtle
can reach 30 feet deep.

But when you come in shallow,
the cycle time bringing
the arm up and down

is so quick.

I can cover three times
as much ground,

but it's risky.

We don't wanna get stuck up
close to the shore like this.

But if we can get
on the hot ground

that I think is here,
it'll be worth the risk.

Starting to see some clay,

but I really need to get
into that hard ground.

Because if there's
some gold here,

that's where it'll be.

More gravel.

Really liking what I see.

Yeah, that stuff
is looking really good.

This might be
the little break we needed.

That looks more like it,

but the only way
to really know

is to take a test pan.

Oh, yeah.

It's in there.

We are good to go.

It took some patience,
but we're on the good stuff.

This is what we came here for.

Now,
we just gotta let the Myrtle

sink her teeth into it.

We need every ounce.

And the material
is looking awesome.

Look at that stuff.

That looks amazing.

This stuff
has not been touched.

When a dig's hard like that,

you know it's virgin ground.

Virgin ground means
nobody has ever touched it.

It's never been mined.

We're in closer than
the Christine Rose right now.

Up high, a little too hard
to dig in for the CR.

But the Myrtle
is a big old pig,

got a lot of horsepower

and a lot of weight
behind her,

so you can actually dig
this harder material up

and get the gold out of it.

That's a lot of fresh ground.

Perfect for the Myrtle.

This stuff is sticky, gooey.

Really liking what I see,
but I wanna keep moving.

Put the gold
in the box right now.

Oh, yeah.

It's hot.

One mile east.

Chris McCully's
luck may now be running out.

Wow, it's getting rough.

Time to go.

guys are not even
here yet.

Idiots, man.

They're not here yet.

So, I let my crew know

that it's critical
to get out here,

and still,
there's no signs of them.

So, I'm stuck out here
by myself.

They're putting me
and the Tata in danger.

Look at all
these waves.

I'm getting swamped, man.

Look at my outboards,
they're getting swamped.

I gotta call them back
to get their asses down here.

Yo, what up? Hey.

Are you guys gonna come
save me or what,

are you guys just gonna
watch me die out here?

Yeah, dude,
it's picking up



Are you guys gonna come out?

All right. Dude,
hurry up, dude.

sakes.
They're still...

He's still on the couch
for sake, man.

I have no help.

They're gonna struggle
going through out here

because, look.

It's whitecap.

It's like 3, 4-foot
swells right now, dude.

Worst-case scenario,
because my plan B

is I'm gonna drop everything
in the water.

But I really
don't wanna do that.

Last thing I wanna do
is leave my gear

down in the water.

It's gonna go up
to 32 miles an hour.

I can't be out
here 32 miles an hour.

I mean, this is the borderline
right here.

I'm pushing it.

I might snap my anchor line,

I get drifted
to the rocks.

I just hope that rear anchor
holds on tight,

you know, because it's so much
stress on that back anchor.

And I'm literally
left for dead.

It's what it feels like.

I'm being left for dead
out here.

And I'm literally
left for dead.

It's what it feels like.

I'm being left for dead
out here.

These guys.

All I can do
is just watch, listen.

where's Bobby?

Where's Bobby?

Come on, let's go.

I'm glad
that Cam is here,

but getting all the gear up
requires all three men.

Back it up, back it up.

Especially in these swells.

It's gonna be tough,

but we really don't have
a choice.

All right. We gotta hurry up.

Yup.

It's ripping.

A race against the clock.

We ain't got no time
to go slow.

So, the main thing
we need to do

is to get the jet log up
and the hose detached.

Let's push it this way.

Pull it out of the water.

Okay. Good.

And then, tie it back
to the dredge.

All right.

So, if either one of them

was left out in these swells,

it'll be torn off for sure.

Pull it, pull, pull.

Keep pulling now.

Yeah, nice, nice, nice.

Keep pulling it.

Oh, . No, no, no.

You got it? Got it?

Keep pulling! Keep pulling!

Okay.

Yes! That's good enough.
That's good.

- It's the last one.
- All right.

Here comes the nozzle.

Nice. Woo!

Mission accomplished.

Whoa! Whoa!

Woo!

That was close.

Oh, those big whitecaps
coming in.

Look at that.

That's about to
hit us right there.

Big whitecaps.

Whoa!

No way.

My starboard side is stalling.

I don't know
why it's stalling, but...

Woo! That was close.

So, I gotta admit,
diving solo without a crew

is really risky.

That was a really
serious close call.

But you know what,
at the end of the day,

that boat is still
in one piece

and I still got k*ller gold.

So, I think it was all
worth the gamble.

I got off extra early
this morning

and I was able to put my dive,

my full dive's work
in today before the...

Before the wind kicked in.

And then, once this wind
calms the down,

then we're gonna go back
out again and go get it.

I'm telling you,
there's a lot of...

I mean, there's copious amount
of gold to be sucked up.

We're just gonna reset
and start fresh tomorrow.

I'm glad we got my gears up.

Job well done.

Across the water...

The waves are getting
a little bigger,
the wind is picking up,

and it's getting
a little rough.

Thank God
I'm already in position

and my boat is angled
right into the wave.

Kris Kelly's rusty
support beam clings to life,

as he hopes
his big bet pays off.

And it is getting
a little rougher.

I don't know what to do.

When you owe a lot of money
like we do,

it's gonna impact
on how far you push things.

That's why in this situation,
I'm gonna keep running

and I hope to God
the beam survives.

Yeah.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Looks like the all-in

is not going
in the water today,

which is , you know?

I need to get that boat
in the water,

do our final fixes,

get everything dialed in
and start making money.

The seasons are short.

We don't have a lot of time
to around.

We gotta get this going.

The truth is, right now
with the all-in

out of commission,
I don't have a lot of options.

And the wind is picking up
pretty hard.

We're starting
to see whitecaps

and uh,
keeps getting bigger, um...

So, even with
the swells getting bigger,
I just gotta roll the dice.

Bring in night crew
and hope to God it makes it
until the morning.

.

Right now,
I just need my gold clean out

to be amazing, like amazing.

Yo, yo.

Uh, how's that ground
down there still looking?

It's been
super productive so far.

I can see gold.

Dive two
of a planned four-dive day

is nearly in the books
for the two-man Tenhoff team.

It's super b*mb.

Yeah. It's really good
diving down there.

Make sure we don't leave any
for the other guy.

Oh.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

How's the weather
looking up there right now?

Is it starting to pick up?

Definitely getting a little windy.

So, yeah, we definitely
got the whitecaps coming in.

Uh, the rollers
are kind of so-so.

Yeah, you really
have to be able
to show up for this.

If you're gonna make money
with this,

you have to get strong.

Oh, I'm pretty tired.

All right, bud.
You ready for me
to pull your umbilical?

Yeah.
I'm just gonna head up.

Yeah, sounds good.

Yeah, bud,
in a white cup, sounds good.

Copy. I'll see you
at the front.

Hey.

Dive number two
is a wrap,

but our endurance
is getting tested

so we're gonna have
to dig deep

to keep it going for four.

At this stage, it's all
about staying hydrated,

keeping well-fed
and maintaining

a positive mindset.

Now it's time
for dive number three.

Jeff's gonna go down
for his second of the day,

and then I'll close it out.

We're just gonna keep pushing.

Going, Jeff?

Wait up till I'm clear.

Going down.

Yeah, I'd say this is
a pretty good ground, Zeke.

There's so much gold in that.

Yes, right.

Yeah. There's a lot that's
going well right now.

So, we're just gonna
continue on this little hole
that Zeke started.

What we're doing today
may seem crazy,

but we have big bills to pay.

So, there's no slowing down.

We can't afford it.

Yeah. Gotta make $6,000
boat payment,

and then I gotta make
a $10,000 fuel bill,

and then I just had to pay
$6,000 to the port

and I had to make another
$8,000 boat insurance payment.

You know, that took my bank
account like bam,

down, ow, gone.

It kind of hurts my brain

that I haven't saved anything.

But what I found
is that, like,

I don't think I would take
very much comfort

from my savings account.

If I have money
in a bank account,

it makes me worry
that I'm not doing enough

in the present to, like,
propel my ideas forward.

I think that's where I'm
seeing maybe I have like

a kind of a gambler mentality.

- Yeah.
- Where I'm like
just all in, dude.

Why not? I mean, like,
what else are you gonna do

with your short life?
You could be dead tomorrow.

Yeah.
We still have lot...

A bunch of work to do
in this area.

Oh, yeah, dude.

When I get to the hard pan,

I definitely see color.

So, I mean...

make the best out of...
Out of every dive we can.

I'll meet you
at the top.

You know,
we're crushing it today.

- Yeah, bud.
- I'll finish out.

I'll just dive
until it's too rough.

Jeff just knocked
out his second dive.

Now, it's up to me
to pull off number four.

The pressure's on.

I should feel beat,

but I have all these
endorphins going.

I'm just gonna hammer it out
for as long as I can.

All right. Bud in the house.
Can you hear me?

Yeah. Got you.

Copy.

Does that cut look like
it's staying the same?

Yeah,
and it's super b*mb.

Awesome.

All right.
Pretty much, you know,

I'm just carving into it

in pretty much
in all directions.

He said the material is so
good that he can work the hose

any direction and he's happy.

So, it's good to have
a happy Zeke.

Looking really good.

Twelve hours into
chewing up shallow ground,

Mr. Gold's Hail Mary
may be a game changer.

Right now she's firing
on all cylinders.

Pretty spectacular.

We need to swing
for the fences today.

And it looks like
we might've hit a homerun.

This ground's hard digging.

It was just waiting
for a beast

as big as the Myrtle
to come get it.

Now, it's time to hand it
over to the night crew

so they can keep
hammering on it.

You want me to
wrap around this pole?

Yeah.

That's hot.

Hot, hot, hot.

I've had enough.

I'm getting tired.

I've been up since 6:00.

All right. Let's
get the out of here.

We took a shot, it paid off.

It's a good feeling.

Hopefully, the number
on the scale

will make me feel even better.

That's it. That's a wrap.

Do it again tomorrow.

With the sky
staying bright past 1:30
in the morning,

every captain is back
on shore except for one.

Zeke Tenhoff's
pushing into the night

on his second dive of the day,

trying to log a staggering
fourth dive for the team.

Uh, do you think it'd
help if I turn the lights on?

I will definitely
throw the cables

before you quit gold mining
with me, buddy.

Okay.

All right, buddy.
Cables are down.

Okay. I got them.

I'm coming up.

It's 2:00 in the morning.

Like, I mean, we definitely
can't say we didn't try,

but at some point,
you know, like I said,

it's just mind over matter,
you know, and whatever.

Well, that might not have been
the strongest finish,

but I'm still happy
that we did it.

We got our four dives
in and that's just stellar.

Hopefully, there's enough gold
in the box

to prove that
it was worth the push.

I don't know. That looks like
a lot of hard work down there.

And, like, if it's, like,
in the middle of the night,

it's dark, and it's murky
and it's like, I don't know.

I just... When you're having
a bad time like that,

it's like
if I'm gonna have...

You having this bad
of a time doing this,

then like I should get
another career.

Like,
how you start feeling.

Yeah. Well, you know,
this is a long day.

You know?

I feel like such a cush
little sometimes.

I'm just like, "Ah, if I don't
get my nine hours of sleep,

I'm cranky."

We'll be sleeping
like babies.

Cleanup time.

Right now,
we hope we get 35 ounces.

Right here, we got
a little bit of proof

that we did pretty good.

That's a nice piece.

That's a nice piece.
We got a bunch of nice pieces.

The Mistress
and her support beam
survived the night,

and now it's time
to reap the rewards
from Kris's winning gamble.

It's looking
really good today.

Oh, the box looks really good.

I'm happy for my brother
and Kevin.

I got you.

The beam held on.

It's a Bering Sea miracle.

I took a big risk

and now, hopefully,
it'll pay off on the scale.

We have to make money.

We got real bills here.

Nobody gave us this operation.

We're making payments
on it still.

We spent money
on the crawler, the all-in,
the new excavator,

all these are real costs.

That's why I set our goal
at 1,000 ounces

'cause we can't see


We're on an excavator barge
for God's sake.

So, this is what we got

and no matter what it is,

it's never enough.

So, you know, here we go.

Let's see
what we got, baby.

Let's see what we got.

- Five.
- Going five.

- Ten, baby.
- Ten.

It's moving quick.

Twenty-five.

Thirty-two, Kris.

Keep going, Kris.
Thirty-three.

Oh, he wants to get to 33.

Okay, 32.95,

which is basically 33.

- Thirty-three.
- Thirty-three.

- I like it. Andy, we're good.
- That's great.

- That's not a bad number.
- Nope.



Oh, heck,
let's just call it 33 ounces.

It's worth over $59,000

and it's the Kelly's
biggest clean out

so far this season.

I know everyone
may look at this

like we didn't accomplish
what we wanted to accomplish.

That's still
a lot of gold here.

- Two pounds of gold.
I love it when we weigh gold.
- Two pounds of gold.

Yeah, 33 ounces.

- That's pretty decent, right?
- That's...

Dude, that's success.

That's proof right there

that the Mistress
is gonna make us

$2 million a year

for the next 10 years

and that's what that is.

Okay. It may not be
a Mr. Gold number,

but 33 ounces
is still pretty good.

And we just keep
getting better,

which tells me
we're doing something right.

My confidence in Reaper Nation
keeps growing.

Uh, we still have a lot to do

to make our operation better.

I think that we could get
these numbers up.

Okay? Let's go.

Divide and conquer.

Let's get out of here, guys.

- All right.
- Let's go make this happen.

Uh, we're going
to Bill Potter.

We're gonna sell some gold

and we're gonna let him make
fun of me for a little while

because we have
some of the dirtiest gold

I've ever panned.

Hey, guys.
How's it going?

Hey, good morning.
How are you?

Good afternoon.

Ah, hey.

How much gold you say
you have in here?



I'm willing to bet whilst
we're all done about 32.

Yup, .

Well, we were expecting you
to bring out your
big magnet today.

Well,
let's see how much magnetite

we have in here.

Magnetite, 1.1 ounces.

- Wow.
- I told you it was bad.

That's hitting
on the money, yeah.

Tell you what,
I'm gonna be real generous

and only nail you
for a half ounce.

I'll even give you
your jar back.

So, you're looking at


You're the boss, Bill.

In that case,
I'll offer you $40,000.

- No, no.
- .

$30,000 will be fine, Bill.

I'm sorry I don't have a lot
of a personality today.

We've been k*lling ourselves.

And $40,000.

Oh, yeah.

- Thank you very much.
I really appreciate it.
- All right.

Bill, thank you so much.

- And you're very nice, too.
- Thanks very much.

Thank you so much
for having us.

You have a great day.

Wow. Look at
how much gold is there.

It looked like a fat cleanup.

The Tenhoff crew
is ready to see

how big their four-dive bet
paid off.

I think we got
about 30 ounces.

If we're already slapping down
cleanup like this,

even if this is as good
as it got, I'd be fine.

yeah.

But I know
it's gonna get better.

Weigh out this gold,
see what we got.

Scale.

Okay, sweet.

Oh, God.

Zeke, we can do a mad dash

and get batteries in town.

- And weigh it in town?
- Yeah.

In your truck?

All right. Let's do that.

Let's put it in a jar
or something,

and then we'll bust into town

and get some...
Get some AAA batteries.

Yeah, we're gonna
do this real quick.

Put it in that tin.

This is looking like it might
be the biggest clean out
of the summer so far.

There's no way I'm leaving
this amount of gold

lying around in the yurt
while I go look for batteries.

You have the scale, right?

This gold is coming with me.

It's nice.
It's a lot of work, you know,

like that's like the essence
of, like, a lot of labor.

We've got some new batteries
for our scale.

Let's weigh out this gold,
see what we got.

All right. Here we go.







What are we at?



Right now, with this cleanup,

it's about 30 ounces.



is worth a hearty $52,000.

And Zeke is already
within striking distance

of his season goal.

We're really early
in the season

and we're pulling down


I'll take it.

This is a huge number.

The four dives
really pushed us

and it was exhausting,
but it was totally worth it.

This might be shaping up
to be my best season yet.

I couldn't be happier.

If we can keep slapping down


things are going real well.

Well,
let's see how we did
on the Myrtle cleanup.

Hopefully, it's a big one.

After risking
it all on shallow water,

Shawn Pomrenke's
hoping the gold goes deep.

It's getting
in the right area,

trying to find that hot spot.

It's pretty damn good.

I needed something
to reignite my season.

It took several hours
to find it.

Pretty clean.

But hopefully, this hot spot

is the answer
I've been looking for.

Let's see what we got.

Thirty, forty.

There's 50...







That's nice, Ron.

Pretty damn good.



is worth over 156 grand.

And shallow ground
made deep pockets

for Mr. Gold.

All right, Myrtle.

Oh, that's a good one.

Doing really well.

It's enough
to keep the lights on,

pay the fuel bill,
pay the guys.

We were only on the hot spot
for a few hours.

Seeing big numbers like this
in that short amount of time,

not only tells me
we're on the right spot,

but we're gonna be seeing
bigger numbers

from here on out.

Hopefully, I'm right
'cause we need it.

That's a good cleanup.

That's more like what
we're supposed to be doing.

We're so close.

We're gonna hit it big.

It's time to get back to work.

Let's go do it again.

Across the fleet,

rolling the dice has paid off

as Shawn stays atop
the leaderboard

while Reaper Nation
and the Tenhoff crew

makes some noise of their own.

Next time
on Bering Sea Gold...

Waiting for dad.

There might be some yelling
and screaming.

What's going on now?

We got some
to figure out.

Today's
the day, gentlemen.

We really don't want
anything bad to happen

when all of your investment
is hanging clean in the air
like that.

I'm actually
falling behind.

I really have to stay focused.

We're gonna pop
him down there.

See what happens.

Oh, my God.

Woo!

I'm excited.

How's it looking down there?

It looks like
we will have a fat cleanup.

So cool.

Made it!

We made it! Perfect.

All these years
in your future,

I still have to
make a living.

You wanna leave me
with ?

It ain't my fault!

Yeah, it is!

Oh, my God.

This boat will sink
from the back end

if we don't get that
hole taken care of.

We're already
taking on water.