03x06 - Taking on Water

[bunniefuu]

[narrator]
Previously, on
"The Last Woodsmen"...

[Matt]
Going!

...winter shutdown closes in.

[Matt]
Nice one.

And Jared gets a lucky break
on a Hail Mary payday.

[Jared]
I'm hoping to earn $100,000
on this wood salvage operation.

Go where I tell you to go!

But with the final log barge
of the Forever Claim

fast approaching, the pressure
is on to cash in big.

Whoa!
[bleep] Jimmy!

[Jared] This is gonna take
everything we have.

No time to waste.
Let's go.

[mellow music playing]

[cellphone ringing]

Hey, Leon, how you making out
out there?

[Leon]
Oh, it's not bad.

Just moving wood while
the weather's good.

But they're saying the storm's
coming pretty quick.

They said it's gonna look
worse than the last one.

Yeah, this could get--
this could get pretty ugly.

[Leon] Yeah, looks like
a full-on blizzard.

It might be it for
the Forever Claim this year.

[Jared] All right.
Well, be on standby.

[Leon]
Yeah, for sure.

- OK.
- [Leon] Bye.

[Jared]
Old Man Winter is coming.

That's real life [bleep]
right now.

Like, it's not good.

It's not good at all.

So right now, I really have
to be very diligent.

I got to log like a son
of a b*tch to get this done.

After logging full bore
for months,

Jared's time at
the Forever Claim is almost up.

In three days,
a massive winter squall is set

to shut down
the operation,

leaving Jared just two days
to fill one last log barge

before falling back
to Kachelot Creek.

[Jared] For me to have any shot
at buying the Forever Claim,

these log barges not only have
to pay the royalties to John,

but on top of that,
they need to have

a little bit of profit.

I have to make
every penny count.

But already,

the first snowfalls
of the season are hitting

the Forever Claim's high
country, forcing Jared

and his crew further down
the mountain.

You know, when you see
that weather forecast of snow,

you gotta-- you gotta act fast.

You don't want your equipment
trapped up here.

[groans]
I hate the snow.

Snow here on the coast is
different than any other snow.

It's just really slick,

and it's just hard to deal with.

We tuck and run when it snows.
We have to.

[suspenseful music playing]

- You OK, Norm?
- Oh, those [bleep] tires, man.

- This is like ice.
- Oh, yeah.

Can you tow me out of here?

[Jared] Could try yanking
you out for sure.

We're gonna have
one chance at it.

- Yeah.
- [Jared] I'll get
the tow chain on it.

- We'll go from there.
- [Norm] OK.

Hopefully this works.

[Jared] I'm gonna give
her everything I got.

You're gonna have
to do the same.

[Norm] Yeah.
[exhales sharply]

[suspenseful music playing]

OK.

- [engine revving]
- [chain rattling]

[bleep] yeah.

Nice work, man.

[exhales]
OK, let's go.

[grunts]


and five miles away...

Ugh!

- Oh, it's miserable.
- It's [bleep] ugly out here.

...fallers Jim and Rob battle
freezing rain to stack

big timber before
the winter storm hits.

- [Rob laughs]
- [Jim] Holy [bleep], man.

[Rob] The yellow cedar
looks like a beauty.

- Ooh, rock solid.
- Oh, yeah.

Rock solid.

- God-awful hang up up there.
- Yeah, big time.

That looks very unstable.

- Is that coming off, though?
- It's a big boulder there.

Oh, it's a boulder.

I don't think

it'll pull the boulder
down with it.

But if the boulder rolls,
it's coming right at you.

It's coming right
through here, man.

Yeah, it's going right
down through this trough.

Like, you can't touch
that thing.

There's nowhere to stand
to cut that thing.

Because if it rips the roots
off the rock, you're going

right down the hill
with the roots and the rock.

Yeah, the roots and the rock,
you're right.

Yeah.
You're gone.

- All sorts of [bleep] we gotta
deal with.
- Yeah.

And to top it all off,

it's frickin' miserable
out here.

[sighs]

This looks like mayhem.

I think it is going
to be mayhem.

Where you gonna try
and send her?

We're definitely not
swinging it up the hill.

I think my only option
is right there.

I'll put it right below that
other big boulder right there,

I think.

I hope.

I'm gonna put whatever I can
for an undercut on that side.

And then I'm gonna go to
the low side and cut up as much

as I-- the low side as I can.

And hopefully it doesn't
pinch me.

And then I'm gonna come back
to the high side and cut up as

much of the high side as I can.

And I'll have a trigger
right here.

I'll hit that last strap
of wood,

and then I'm gonna run
like the wind...

[laughs]

out that way.

With a 7,000-pound hemlock
propped against it,

this giant cedar could easily
push straight down the hill,

bringing the tree behind it

and the boulder it's standing
on right down on Rob.

To avoid that, he'll aim
his undercut 90 degrees across

the hill and carefully
carve his back cut,

leaving a final slab of
holding wood for last.

But even then,
there's still no

guarantee the boulder
above him won't topple.

Let's do it.

As Rob's working, he's
gonna keep his focus where it

needs to be, and my job is
to keep an eye above

him and behind him.

This tied tree that's right
above him could break

and fall straight down.

So my job is to keep being
the eyes and the ears.

Hey!

It's already starting
to pinch me.

[groans]

- That's not good.
- No, it's pinching right here.

There's so much pressure
from that hung up hemlock

on the top
that it's pushing the tree

straight down into the ground.

That's why it's pinching me.

It could fall over
prematurely here.

I think I'll get as much
of that low side as I can before

I get stuck for sure.
- Yeah, you got it, buddy.

OK.

[buzzing noises]

Now, it's the fun part.

[suspenseful music playing]

[buzzing noises]

Moving.

[suspenseful music playing]

[buzzing noises]

- [loud roar]
- [bleep]!

[slight cracking]

She's talking.

I don't know
what it's gonna do.

It's popping, it's talking,
it's cracking.

I don't know if I should go
back in there.

I don't know.

[slight cracking
noises continue]

[groans]

[cracking noises]

It's like a blaster
when a blast doesn't go off.

He doesn't want to go back
in there and put another fuse

on it and light it--
he just wants it to go off.

[cracking noises continue]

Ugh.
You [bleep].

Whoo-hoo!

There we go.

Down the mountain,

in the calmer weather
of the Forever Claim camp...

[Ross speaking]

[Leon speaking]

...foreman Ross and boom boat
operator Leon join the charge

to prep logs for the inbound
barge, with nearly 300 bundles

sorted and staged
and 100 left to go.

Yeah, so we're dewatering some
wood, and we needed this extra

volume to be able
to make the barge deadline,

and we're working a little bit
overtime here.

We don't want it leaving light.

[engine making
deep grinding noises]

[deep grinding noises continue]

[engine cuts off]

What's that?
You got something
going on with the boat?

OK, be right over.

[Ross speaking]

[bleep].

[muffled noises]

[muffled shout]

Ah!

[muffled shout]

[bleep]!

- I've never seen that before.
- [bleep] me either.

Agh!

Holy [bleep] dude!

- Sorry about your boat, man.
- Oh, [bleep].

Oh.
[sighs]

Glad you're OK.

What do you think?

Where did it look like
it was coming from?

Up by the end,
up by the drive.

Yeah.

So, either a seal went,
something had to go up front.

- [bleep] that was takin'...
- I didn't hit no rock, nothing.

- Yeah, yeah.
- So...

- I'm glad you're OK.
- [bleep] Jared's gonna lose it.

Yeah.
Well, let's get you warmed up.

Maybe a shot of whiskey
to warm you up.

[Leon]
Oh, yeah.

[cellphone ringing]

[Jared]
Hello?

- [Ross speaking]
- What?

[Ross speaking]

[Jared]
Holy [bleep] man.

Leon's OK, right?

[grunts]

[Ross speaking]

[Jared sighs]

OK, I will meet you there.

Back up the mountain...

It's a lot more rotten
than I thought it was.

She's talking.

...Jim and Rob face a 60-ton
tree that's threatening
to fall early.

[slight crumbling]

I got to go back in there.

[deep cracking noises]

A couple more little nibbles,
and hopefully she goes over.

[machine whirring]

[loud crack]

Slowly, slowly.

Sagging that back tree, though.

[crumbling grows]

[bleep] yeah.
Honey shot, Rob.

- Yeah, straight down the hill.
- Nicely done, pal.

Whoo!

Well, the rock
stayed up there.

Yeah.
[bleep] that was wild.

We survived.

Yeah, I was kind of worried
about that rock coming down

the hill, but it didn't
even budge.

That hemlock just slid off
of there like it was greased.

Cool.
Thanks, Jim.

Hey, yeah,
good stuff, man.

[suspenseful music playing]

With a season-ending winter
storm now two days out

from the Forever Claim,
the race is on to fill one last

log barge before it hits.

But without a working
boom boat,

loading that barge
will be impossible.

And since bringing in
a replacement would take days

they don't have, Jared's on
a mission to rescue this one

from the ocean floor.

[Jared]
I got a plan in my head.

I know everybody's gonna
think I'm crazy.

Time is of the essence.

So today we're using
the world's biggest

fishing rod, a grapple yarder.

We're gonna get the diver
in the water.

Mike's gonna go down.

We're gonna run
the dive bag up.

I'm gonna run
this poly steel rope down

to him with a shackle.

He's gonna shackle
that to the boat.

And then we're gonna run it
tight to this cleat.

Communication is
gonna be key here,

and hopefully it goes all good.

To get this boat back above
water, the team will use

a scuba diver
to mark its location.

Then, after running a rope
down from the surface,

they'll send a steel cable
to haul the whole thing up.

But if they misjudge
the weight of the boat,

this yarder could easily
pull itself straight over.

Diving is something
that I'm just not versed in,

so I called my buddy Mike.

Mike is a skilled diver
and is also a contract mechanic

that works for me all the time,
so whenever I need anything

like this done, just call Mike.

There she is.
I'm pretty confident

on the sounder.

- That's it.
- That's it right there.

- Yep.
- That's the boat.

- 40 feet of water, Mike.
- Perfect.

We'll get this rodeo going.

Can you hear me, Mike?

[Mike speaking]

Try that again, Mike.
I didn't copy that.

Radio check, Mike.

Just checking if
you found the boat.

Radio check, Mike.

[bleep].

Something wrong?

[Jared]
Something's wrong with his mask.

I can't hear him.

Can you hear me there, Mike?
Did you say you were coming up?

[suspenseful music playing]

Over here, Mike.

You OK?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[bleep], back up there.

Yeah.

- What's that?
- [bleep] me.

- You OK?
- No.

[bleep] mask slipped up.

[bleep] flooding in.

- Were you drinking it?
- [bleep] yeah.

[bleep], dude.

[bleep] that was hateful.

That was [bleep] terrible.

I'm not really too comfortable
with you using that mask again.

Well, I'm not either.
I'm going to put my other

stuff on, and I won't be
able to talk, but...

it's too risky, man.

We could talk to each other,
and it didn't work.

So we're gonna have
to go by the old way.

Braille.

[suspenseful music playing]

What do you think for depth?


You probably lost five feet.

Tide's going down, yeah.

On the coast
of the Forever Claim...

We're just getting Mike
back down into the water.

The comm system mask
buggered up and, uh,

we need to find the boom boat.

We just have to hook up
the cable from

the grapple yarder to the boom
boat and we will be actioned

to pull this boom boat up.

At this point, I have
no communication with Mike.

I'm definitely gonna be
helpless on top of the water,

not knowing exactly what's
going on down there, but I know

he's a confident diver,
and I know

he's gonna get the job done.

[suspenseful music playing]

You know, we're kind
of at the mercy.

We don't know what Mike's
doing down there.

[suspenseful music intensifies]

- We found the boat.
- You got it?

OK, that's gotta be slid
down the cable.

Here comes the shackle.

Right now, the grapple yarder
has now shot the cable

on a kind of a shower-curtain
system that we've made.

So the cable will be going
down to the boom boat.

Go a little lower.

[Jared] Right now, Mike is
down there hooking the eye

onto the boat.

All he has to do right now is
hook it up and then come back

up, and we're gonna
pull this boat up.

Oh, man.
I hope this works!

[Jared laughs]

You got her.
Nice!

God, what a good feeling
that is!

Nicely done, Mike.
Nicely done.

Love it when a plan
comes together.

OK, Chris, this is all you.

We'll definitely have
to pull easy

'cause you don't want
to pull it off the steel.

[Chris and Sean speaking]

[Jared]
Moment of truth.



fallers Rob and Jim strike out
alone in a bid to double

their output before
the winter storm hits.

[Jim]
That's a big doug.

Well, we've got this great big
fir that's gonna be--

it's on the top
of this rock knob

that's on top of this bluff.

The top is blown right off
of it and it's cranked down.

We've got a particularly

challenging piece because it
has to go down there.

We're actually gonna kind of
control this a little bit,

keep it closer to the sideline.

That's gonna do the--
the least amount of damage.

I'm gonna have to chisel
an undercut out of this somehow

without getting pinched.

Top's broken off of it.
Water's seeping in.

This might be full of water
right now.

I'm gonna bore this.

Make sure it's not full
of water, because once I get

my undercut in and a big
gloosh of water comes out,

I'm not gonna
wanna be there.

[machine whirring]

Oh, there it is.
We got a gusher.

Now, if I was on the bottom
side of that, can you imagine?

Put my undercut in all above me
and just

[bleep] gloosh in the face.

That would have wrecked my day.

We're gonna put her right
down the sideline.

And I'm gonna have to get
an undercut on this thing.

It's gonna be flipping
down there.

That's gonna be difficult.
It's gonna be over my head.

Yowzers.

Not the best going.

This is gonna be what I call
a really happy smiley face.

If you look out of this tree
and you're looking straight in,

looks like it's got
a big happy face

and it's really open and wide.

That's mostly so that when
this tree starts to commit,

it's gonna be open right up
and it has a long ways

to travel before it closes
and disconnects

from the backside.

That way it has a lot more
chance to commit,

break that holding wood,
and fall freely from this tree

without tearing,
pulling, or deviating

for any kind of direction.

That is the plan.

With this waterlogged fir
leaning straight downhill,

the last thing Jim wants is it
shattering on the slopes below.

Instead, he'll try to send it
across the side hill

for a softer landing.

But with so much water damage
at the base,

controlling the fall will
be tricky.

So he'll make an oversized face
cut and hope there's enough

solid wood left
to steer the fall.

[Jim]
All right, cutting.

[machine whirring]

All right, that should be
good enough.

Looks like we're ready
to tackle this backside.

[machine whirring]

[suspenseful music playing]

[slight crumbling]

[loud roar]

[loud crumbling]

[echoing thud]

[Jim] Oh, oh, oh!
Textbook.

That was flawless.
That's exactly what we want.

Nothing happening
out of the ordinary.

No surprises.

And perfect stump.

It looks like there's
a pretty good volume in here, so

good job!

On the banks
of the Forever Claim...

- [Sean speaking]
- [Jared] Moment of truth.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Jared]
Wow!

[suspenseful music continues]

- There's a boom boat.
- [Sean speaking]

[Jared laughs]

Oh, man.
Whoo!

That's a sight to behold.

Well, we lost all the windows,

but at least it's not
on the bottom

of the sea anymore
and it's, uh--

it's up.

It's amazing the power
of those grapple yarders.

If we can get this fixed by
tomorrow morning,

we have a fighting chance
to fill this barge to the brim.

[Adrian]
This is k*lling our timeline,

so I gotta get boogyin'.

Whoa, that's cold.

Hoo, hoo!

Further up the mountain...

That's really cold.

...Rob finds one more giant
cedar to harvest before

the last barge
of the Forever Claim

arrives ahead of the storm.

[Rob]
Oh, yeah.

It looks like a nice cedar,

but it's leaning up and at that
rock bluff, and that's the last

place I want it to go.

If it hits the timber up on
the rock bluff, those trees it

hits could flick limbs and dead
tops back at me, so I could run


flicks a top 100 feet across

the side hill, you--
just basically you're dead meat.

I want it to go right in
this little bed right here.

It would be the best spot.

And if I could find some solid
wood right here somewhere,

I'll bring my undercut to
about here to put it down there.

But if there's no solid wood
all across here, I'm gonna

have to bring
my undercut to here.

'Cause I know this is
solid for sure.

But hopefully I can just
cut it up enough,

get some wedges in it,

to put it down where I want it,
right down in that bench there.

But can only work
with what you got.

Rob's best bet at saving
this cedar out?

Carving a face cut to aim
it away from its uphill lean

and down to a softer
landing below.

But if anything sends it
back toward the rock bluff,

it could collide
with the mountainside

and send heavy debris
raining down on Rob.

It's moving already
in the wind,

so I guess I better get going.

[machine whirring]

[suspenseful music playing]

That's a lot more sound
than I thought it was gonna be.

That's actually nice.

This is gonna work
out better.

Way more holding wood than
I thought was in this thing.

That old Finlander
that broke me in

said, "When you can't see
that low side,

"put a stick in the undercut

so you know how far you can cut
without getting stuck."

OK, it's go time.

[machine whirring]

[light cracking noises]

[bleep] wind's starting
to blow back against it.

The wind's gonna blow it
right off the [bleep] stump.

And I'm gonna have
to scramble and run.

But there's--
there's no place to hide.

[machine whirring]

[deep crunching noises]

[bleep] me.

I seen it move in this seam,
this [bleep] moved.

So it's starting to sit
back even harder.

Not the best scenario.

Too committed now,
I gotta [bleep] do it.

[machine whirring]

[machine whirring]

[slight crumbling]

[Rob] [bleep]!
The wind switched!

Oh, it's going!

[loud crumbling]

- [loud thud]
- [Rob] [bleep].

The wind started swirling
and pushed it out that way.

It looked like it was going
exactly where I wanted it.

But the wind switched
and headed right for that

high stump,
and it split right in half.

The wind was blowing--

blowing right back up that way.

And then all of a sudden,
it must have been like
a suicide push.

It just [bleep] bounced it back
and then out, I guess.

It split, but there's two
beautiful blonde cedar slabs

there, which is still
worth a fair bit.

Things change.

So you just gotta
expect the unexpected.

But I got her on the ground,
and it's a win.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Adrian]
OK.


boat from the ocean floor,

Jared's fleet is back
in full force, just in time

to wrangle logs to the last
barge of the Forever Claim

before winter forces them out.

[suspenseful music playing]

I'm just gonna run over here,
take a look at this bag

and see if it's big.

Yeah, things are looking
really good here.

I got a whole bay full
stacked of wood.

These are the days that, uh--

that every logger dreams about,
getting the wood on the barge.

To have any shot of hitting
$2 million by the end

of the season, Jared's counting
on this barge for a complete

shutout, which after royalties,
could be worth upwards

of 100 grand in profit.

A shutout, that means the log
barge is leaving fully loaded.

There isn't another
dollar's worth of wood

you could put on that.

If I don't get a shutout today,
this is gonna be catastrophic

for me and the Forever Claim.

That's a nice bundle there.

What a freaking beast!

That's a heavy bundle
right there.

You can just feel--

[bleep]!

Yeah, we broke a bundle.

He's now got to put them on
one by one.

It's very time-consuming.

And when you see a crane like
that that's meant to be loading

bundles, loading single logs,
it burns a lot

of valuable time.

Forever Claim--

unattainable goal right now if

I can't get this wood
on this barge.

Don't [bleep] break.
Don't break.

Look at that.
Look at that [bleep] thing.

It's just hanging on there.

It's like me right now,
just hanging on,

hoping I make it.

Hey, Lin.
How we looking up there?

[Lin speaking]

[sighs]

Fully loaded.
Shut out.

That's music to my ears.

That's the best thing
I can hear out here.

Pretty proud
of my crew right now.

Everybody's rallied, everybody's
done what they needed

to do to get this done.

We're gonna have a good shot
at getting that $2 million

to buy out John
in the Forever Claim.

But now...

Old Man Winter is shutting down
the Forever Claim.

So all our efforts are going
to Kachelot Creek.

This is gonna take
everything we have.

If we can't pull this off,
the season is for nothing.

Next time...

[Kate] This thing wants to go
right towards the drop-off.

Oh, come on!

[David speaking]

[Jared] I really need
to make up for this.

There's a place called
Devil's Chute.

Money trees everywhere.

If I can extract that timber
before snow, I'm gonna hit

my goal by winter shutdown.

I need you to move float camp
with Adrian.

OK.

[Glen] It looks like
a hurricane coming.

And that's where we've got
to tow this thing.

[Steve] The winch
just broke on the tug.

[Adrian] No!
Ugh.

Here we go.

This is a hill to die on.

That brake back there is just
smoking like [bleep] crazy.

[Jared] We're dancing
with the devil on the way

to the Devil's Chute.