11x13 - Tea Time

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

GARY:
Ooh! Big chunk.

-Oh.
-RICK: Check that out.

This might tell us
who built this stone road.

-Right there.
-GARY: Oh, yeah.

It's Latin.

PHIL:
These are very old.

They were a precious commodity.

The first hole.

MARTY:
Finally, we're drilling

under the Garden Shaft.

MARTY:
Talk to me. What do you got?

RICK:
We found it.

NARRATOR:
There is an island
in the North Atlantic

where people
have been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found
a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it...

...man-made workings
that date to medieval times,

and a lead cross
whose origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

MARTY: Okay, gentlemen.

Money and time are
getting more precious.

-Absolutely.
-Time especially.

NARRATOR: As a new day
begins on Oak Island

for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina

and members of their team...

Mother Nature and
some other things got us

in the Garden Shaft.

...they have gathered
in the w*r room to discuss

the most ambitious and
challenging operations

that they are conducting
in the hopes of solving

a 229-year-old mystery.

The excavation
and drilling programs

in the fabled Money Pit area.

After much deliberation,
Rick and I, Craig,

with input from
a lot of you, actually,

we have decided that
we don't feel

we have the requisite targets

for canisters at this time,
for caissons.

So, we're going to
just put it off

until next year,
as far as the canisters go.

RICK:
We thought there would be

targets out there
that we could say,

"Okay, we need a can here,

we need a can here,
we need a can here."

And, unfortunately, we don't
have that at this point.

It's a timing issue.
We can't get

the Garden Shaft done
in the time it would take

for caisson work
on additional targets.

So, we're not going to
put cans down.

Are they pumping right now?
They're pumping it out?

ROGER:
Yeah, that's what
they're doing right now.

They're lowering the pump
and we're going to see

where the sediment's at.

NARRATOR:
It was Rick, Marty
and Craig's hope

that by now, representatives
from Dumas Contracting Limited

would have been able
to complete the reconstruction

and extension of the
mid-18th-century Garden Shaft

down to a target depth
of 95 feet

where it is expected to breach

a seven-foot-high tunnel.

A tunnel that
leads directly west

into the so-called "Baby Blob,"

where water testing
in previously drilled boreholes

has identified a massive source

of gold, silver and other metals

between 80
and 120 feet underground.

This is where
our water starts, right here.

And then it comes in
along the side.

NARRATOR:
However, several weeks ago

after salt water began
flowing into the Garden Shaft

at a depth of nearly 67 feet,

Dumas has
been working tirelessly

to seal any leaks and
stabilize the structure.

And now, even though
they are finally able to

continue the efforts to reach

the potential treasure tunnel
below the shaft,

the workspace that Dumas
requires to safely operate

in the Money Pit area
will prevent Rick, Marty,

Craig and the team from
conducting what they hoped

would be a second
major operation this year.

The installation of
several ten-foot-diameter

steel caissons
at other locations

in the Money Pit area,

where evidence of not only
man-made workings,

but also precious metals,

have been recovered
between depths of



So, then what are we going to
do in the Money Pit instead?

RICK:
Well, to address
everyone's concerns,

what're we going to do?

Currently, the sonic rig
is still there.

There's a lot
of unique opportunities left

to come up with
high-value targets.

-MARTY: Yep.
-Yep.

So, we're gonna get more data.

We will continue with
the vertical drilling

with the sonic rig,
which will allow us

to be most efficient when

we finally do mobilize
the oscillator next year.

-RICK: Yep.
-SCOTT: And don't forget, guys,

the Garden Shaft isn't
finished, there's still

a lot of work to do there yet.

They're gonna
come down on this tunnel.

When they get close,
we're gonna start drilling.

And then, as they
come down through that,

we're going to see
how this tunnel lies.

We're going to see
how it was built.

We're going to
see where it goes.

That tunnel is going
in the direction of

where our precious metals
are coming from...

-Right.
-...which is very
exciting to me.

RICK:
Dumas suggested
they could get


talking an 80-foot diameter.

From an informational
perspective,

it is literally a big dig.

Yep.

NARRATOR:
As Dumas continues

extending the Garden Shaft
to a total depth of 95 feet,

where they hope to breach
a mysterious tunnel,

in the coming days,
once they have reached

a depth of 90 feet,

they will use a lateral
probe drilling device

capable of reaching
up to 40 feet

outside of the Garden Shaft.

This will allow the team

to not only collect samples
of the tunnel

in order to determine
just who may have built it,

but also, hopefully,

pinpoint the source of
all the precious metals

that have been detected
in the area.

I know that there's
been some setbacks,

but when I look around
the w*r room table

and I look in
the eyes of the guys,

I don't see any sense
of being done.

I see enthusiasm,

I see some really smart people

all focused on
a singular agenda:

Trying to solve the mystery.

So, I know
we're making progress.

You know, there's
every reason to believe that

as we move out in the year,

that we are really
gonna use this opportunity

-and turn it into a positive.
-Yep.

MARTY:
Okay, let's get back to
the things we can do.

RICK:
Yep. Agreed.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon,

as the team from
Dumas Contracting Limited

continues the extension of
the Garden Shaft

in the Money Pit area...

-GARY: Artifact time.
-RICK: Hope so.

God, I love this place.

...Rick Lagina and Craig Tester

join metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

and Billy Gerhardt
near the southern edge

of the triangle-shaped swamp.

Got that stone roadway,
we're close to shore.

Imagine how many people
landed on this beach

back in the day, came ashore.

Ooh, look at that.

Kind of looks similar to
the rocks

-on the stone roadway.
-MARTY: Yeah.

NARRATOR:
One week ago,
while excavating

near the massive
cobblestone road

in the southeast corner
of the swamp,

Marty Lagina, Billy and Gary

uncovered yet another
possible section

of the mysterious construct.

This is a type of road

that was built
in Europe in the 1500s.

NARRATOR:
Since the team's discovery
of the stone road

in 2020, experts, such as
historian Terry Deveau,

have speculated that
it could be as much as



ALEX:
The stone path
looks exactly like this.

NARRATOR:
And incredibly, in 2021,

while visiting Alqueidão
da Serra, Portugal,

a location that
served as a stronghold

for the Portuguese sect
of the Knights Templar

from the 12th to
the 16th centuries,

Rick and members of the team

were shown a nearly
identical feature.

BILLY:
The bottom there is different.

Way more rockier
and bigger rocks.

I guess we've got to dig,

-right?
-GARY: Yeah.

-CRAIG: Gotta dig.
-Yeah.

Craig?

There's a rock here.

And there's one
in the ground here.

And there's one here.

And there's
one here.

Four in a row?

Four or five there,
at least. Yeah.

And it's all very uniform.

Rocks don't end up in
a straight line

-like that normally.
-Yeah.

Hey, Rick.

Okay.

As you can see,
we got down deeper here.

We started hitting
rocks everywhere.

So, to me, it almost looks like

it's an extension,

part of the stone road
or work material,

but it's definitely way,
way more rocks

than there should
naturally be here.

RICK:
I agree with you, Craig.

And you're roughly at the same
elevation as the stone road.

CRAIG:
Yeah.

It's a natural incline

from that stone roadway
coming down like a ramp.

CRAIG:
Yeah.

Probably went
right on to the beach.

-RICK: Well, it's
definitely different.
-CRAIG: Oh, yeah.

GARY:
It's a natural incline

from that stone roadway

coming down like a ramp.

And elevation-wise,
it just seems to be

a continual slope
coming on down with this.

This would be, definitely,
the lowest part.

It probably went
right on to the beach.

RICK:
Well, it's definitely different.

It's a tough one.

-CRAIG: Could be an extension.
-RICK: Could be.

NARRATOR:
In the southeast corner
of the Oak Island swamp,

Rick Lagina
and members of the team

have just discovered
a possible ramp feature

connected to the stone road.

Well, we're not gonna
pull this out right now.

I think,
I think we want to continue

looking that way because
he hasn't gone deeper there.

-Mm-hmm.
-That's basically it.

And if it's, you know,
continually going lower,

then it could be right there.

NARRATOR: If the team has
actually found a ramp

connecting the stone road
to the shoreline,

could it represent more evidence

that the road--
or ship's wharf--

was constructed in order to move

heavy cargo
from a large sailing vessel

onto Oak Island?

Craig felt there were
some rocks that one could

suggest that they were
a little, mini-wharf.

-Why don't you go ahead and
metal detect this?
-Yeah. Will do.

RICK: And it certainly
does look like that.

Could a small boat
pull up to it? Sure.

And my hope is
that as we excavate,

we'll come
to a greater understanding

of what the stone represents.

No. No metals in there.

Why is it there?

Why was it built? Who built it?

We have that construct,

but we have
no explanation for it.

Well, you should dig over here.

And then we can clean
this area up and then...

have a go at looking
at this area in its entirety.

Yeah. I like, I like that idea.

Okay.

RICK:
Let's get after it.

NARRATOR: As the investigation
in the swamp continues...

TERRY:
HI-6.75. Here we go.

This is a little bit
to the north and west

-of the actual H-8 caisson.
-Yeah.

-...in the Money Pit area...
-28.

Thank you.

...geologist Terry Matheson

and Oak Island historian
Paul Troutman

are overseeing the drilling
of a new borehole

known as HI-6.75.

A borehole nearly two feet

from H-8, one of the team's
additional targets of interest

located more than 50 feet
southwest of the Garden Shaft.

Thank you.

TERRY:
The H-8 caisson intersected

possibly the Chappell Vault.

This hole will hopefully
cover that ground.

If we could recover that,
there'd be a lot of artifacts.

TERRY:
No question.

NARRATOR:
In 2017,

after recovering
pieces of parchment

and leather bookbinding
in a six-inch borehole

known as H-8,

the Oak Island team

excavated a five-foot diameter
steel caisson

in the hope of encountering

the legendary Chappell Vault.

A large, wooden chest
that was reportedly

drilled into by Frederick Blair
and William Chappell

in 1897.

And which was believed
to contain both gold

and parchment documents.

We have
a 14-foot plug right now.

But we're stuck.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,
the Oak Island team's caisson

struck a large object
at a depth of 170 feet.

Something was in front of
the can and we were pushing it

for a while
until it hit something hard.

NARRATOR: But unfortunately,
as they extended the caisson

deeper in the hopes of breaching
the potential vault,

it was pushed deeper
and into a void

somewhere off to the side.

I'm glad
that we're getting it done.

We're going to 171.

TERRY:
Yeah. That's right.

NARRATOR:
If the team is able

to not only penetrate
the mysterious void,

but also locate
the fabled Chappell Vault,

once the Garden Shaft project
is complete,

they will be able to excavate
a ten-foot-diameter caisson,

and hopefully, retrieve it.

PAUL:
Hopefully, we can get
a few more answers

-with this borehole, but...
-TERRY: Right now,

we're well above target horizon,
we're only 28 feet below grade.

HI-6.75 is going
to yield up a lot of secrets.

PAUL:
Yes.

NARRATOR: As the core
drilling operation continues

in the Money Pit area...

-ALEX: Hey.
-RICKY: Hey.
-GARY: Hello, chaps.

NARRATOR: ...at the Oak Island
Interpretive Centre,

Rick Lagina
and his nephew Alex

are meeting with Gary Drayton,

archaeologist Laird Niven

and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan.

All of this is coming from
inside that circular feature.

NARRATOR:
They are eager to receive Gary,

Laird and Emma's analysis
of a coin,

as well as a potentially


that were both found
one week ago

in a large stone foundation

located near the shoreline
on Lot 5.

GARY:
Uh, let's have a look, mate.

That's the right size
for a penny

-or an half-penny.
-Yeah.

GARY:
Oh, yeah. No mistaking that.

King George?

Well, let's take a look.
Emma?

NARRATOR:
Earlier today,

Emma scanned the coin

with the SkyScan 1273
CT scanner,

which emits non-destructive
X-ray radiation

to penetrate corrosion

and reveal
the object's finer details.

-RICK: Oh, there you go. Yeah.
-ALEX: Okay.

-LAIRD: Right there,
see on the righthand side?
-GARY: Oh.

-Yeah.
-LAIRD: It should say,
"Georgius III Rex."

GARY:
Yeah, it's Latin-- Georgius.

LAIRD:
It's the third.

Yeah. That's definitely, yeah.

So, 1760 to 1820.

-GARY: Yeah.
-LAIRD: I think

it's the first edition head.

-GARY: Yeah. An early head.
-LAIRD: Yeah.

So, that's...
takes it into 1770s.

NARRATOR:
An English penny or half-penny

that could date back
nearly three decades prior

to the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795?

If so, who left it
in the foundation on Lot 5?

Someone who may have left
something of value behind?

Or was it someone looking
for the fabled treasure?

ALEX: We think
we're still in the foundation,

and this just came from the fill

-that's actually really close
to the top of it.
-Yeah.

ALEX:
It's also in the stuff

that was thrown
onto this feature.

It means whatever's
underneath it is older.

Older, yup. Yeah.

ALEX:
The Money Pit was supposed

to have been discovered
in 1795.

And that's why these 1760s dates

that we're getting off the coin
and the other artifacts

make Lot 5 so fascinating.

If this feature
was covered over,

it may have been associated
with whatever did happen

in the Money Pit
prior to its discovery.

So, in our world, that means

maybe this Lot 5 feature
is associated

with early depositor activity.

-You were here
for this, as well?
-Yeah.

This was exciting, too.
It's a glass bead.

-Oh, wow.
-Yeah. It is colored.

This is a stretched bead.

You know, they'd have
different colors

of enamel laid in,
and then they'd stretch it...

-Mm-hmm.
-...for, like, 150 feet...

-ALEX: Mm-hmm.
-LAIRD: ...and then
just cut off the beads.

GARY:
So, it's probably off

-a bracelet or a necklace.
-Mm-hmm.
-Yeah. Yeah.

-Most likely from Venice.
-GARY: Wow.

NARRATOR:
In 1470 AD,

a specialized method
for the production

of fine glass bead jewelry

was developed in Venice, Italy.

As demand quickly grew,

Venetian glass beads also became

a highly valued type
of barter currency

along trade routes

in Europe, India, Africa
and the New World.

LAIRD:
Interestingly, we did find
another one earlier on.

This one's even smaller.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that

if the team has actually found
two Venetian glass beads

in the mysterious foundation
on Lot 5,

could there be
even more valuable artifacts

waiting to be recovered
deeper below?

LAIRD:
Yeah. So, very, very similar.

Which means there's probably
a lot of them out there.

-Yeah.
-LAIRD: Yeah.

ALEX:
If this was truly valuable,
maybe this

and the other things we're
finding could be a trade item,

could be just
in a chest of valuables

that was taken from somebody.

LAIRD:
We need to find an expert
because beads are

an extremely complex subject.

And that's why we need someone
who's been doing it

for years and years and years.

RICK:
That little item there

-might be highly significant.
-Yeah.

These are nice finds,
but as your dad always tells us,

These are nice finds,
but as your dad always tells us,

"Let's go out there
and find some more."

-More digging.
-Yup.
-Okay.

RICK:
Thanks, Laird. Thank you, Emma.

-EMMA: Thank you.
-RICK: Bye-bye.

NARRATOR: As a new day
begins on Oak Island...

-OPERATOR: Coming down?
-RON MacKENZIE: Copy that.

NARRATOR:
...and while operations

to deepen the Garden Shaft

continue
in the Money Pit area...

GARY:
What a great day
for finding treasure.

RICK:
Okay. Here we go.

-All it takes is one good find.
-That's right.

NARRATOR:
...Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton

and Billy Gerhardt continue

searching for valuable clues
near the potentially



in the southeast corner
of the swamp.

Is that pottery?

-RICK: Billy!
-GARY: We both saw that.

-Look. See that?
-Oh, I see it, mate.

That's nice.

Oh, ho, ho. That's...

I see... I see color.

That's gorgeous, mate!

Oh, look at that!

And there's another piece there,
as well.

-RICK: Where?
-There.

-RICK: Oh, yeah.
-You see the rim?

RICK:
Yup, yup.

All right, let's see
if this is a match.

Oh, that is absolutely stunning.

-That's beautiful, mate.
-What is that?

That-that's old.
That is some fine china,

by the look of it.

I mean, this is high-end stuff.

I know
that this Chinese porcelain

was really, really popular.

That's what the Portuguese
fleets used to bring up

through these trade routes.

Really, really nice.

NARRATOR:
Potentially ancient
Chinese pottery?

If so, could Gary Drayton
be correct

that it may offer
another Portuguese connection

to the stone road
in the Oak Island swamp?

According to documented history,

beginning
in the early 16th century,

Portuguese explorers,

including Vasco da Gama,
who was also a member

of the Portuguese sect
of the Knights Templar,

made extensive trading
expeditions to China,

bringing back,
among other goods,

fine Chinese porcelain,

which then became highly traded

throughout the region
and the Americas.

But you look. You can see
the age on the back.

-You see that crackling
on the back?
-Mm-hmm.

It's been in there a while.

RICK:
What we're looking for
is to try

to establish a connection
between these artifacts

and the actual

physical constructs:

stone road, stone path.

It's possible this pottery
will give us great insight

into what this feature
represents

because that stone road,
to me, is still inexplicable.

There's something right there.

-Something? You've seen it?
-Yup.

-Ooh!
-Ooh!

-Big chunk.
-That's a big chunk, too.

GARY:
Yeah, that's a big chunk.

Okay, mate,
I've got it in me hand, mate.

I'll wait till you get out.

There's-there's another one.
Gary!

-There's another one. Yup.
-There's another one?

GARY:
That is so fantastic.

-I think
this may be something different.
-Is it?

GARY:
Yeah. I think this is teacup.

Don't get any better
than that, mate.

What a perfect start
to the morning.

Let's see. Look at that.

-No. It's not...
-It's either a teacup or a bowl.

Oh, yeah. Actually...

-It might fit?
-...it's two different vessels.

Where's the silver spoons,
though, with it, right?

That would be nice.

And I'll bet
there's more in here.

-GARY: Yup.
-RICK: Yup. Here you go.
Here you go.

Oh, look at that, Billy.

Yeah.

GARY:
I love this blue glaze.

Oh. Yeah, that's a Chinese
design on it, as well.

Turning into the swamp
tea party, isn't it?

[both laugh]

If you found all that pottery,

it should be
a pretty good chance

of finding something else
there too, right?

Yeah. With that amount of finds,

I think we have
to go through it by hand.

GARY:
Agreed, mate.

And I'll put these to one side

'cause I'm turning
into Gary Potter.

[Gary and Rick laugh]

NARRATOR:
While Rick, Gary and Billy

continue searching
for clues in the swamp,

back in the Money Pit area...

TERRY:
Let's, uh... get ready

for another core.
Here it comes.

-118.
-Thank you, Colten.

NARRATOR:
...other members of the team

continue monitoring
the core drilling operation

in borehole HI-6.75,

a borehole where they hope
to recover evidence

of the fabled Chappell Vault
nearly 180 feet below ground.

Thank you.

Wow. That doesn't look good.

-Little bit of, uh, PVC?
-Yeah.

You know what that means,
my friend?

-It means we're drifting.
-Yeah. That means

we're not going straight down.

Yeah. Unfortunately,

the drill drifts off,
it looks like we tagged

into either H-7 or maybe
H-6.5 that's in this area.

And so, we're going down
and getting that PVC.

NARRATOR:
Unfortunately,

the drill pipe has
veered off course,

and apparently, encountered
another nearby borehole

that was previously drilled
by the team.

MARTY:
It's very difficult
to drill a straight hole.

Sometimes these holes wander
on average five or six feet.

And if the borehole walks
a little bit

and gets into one
of those other ones, it'll...

it's almost impossible
to get it out.

So, we're going to move the rig.

And if we're still
in the right area,

or heading for the right area,
then we can keep going.

It's discouraging.
Uh, the idea that we're passing

-through an old borehole--
that's-that's not good.
-Yeah.

We don't want to keep chewing
on this all the way down, so...

That's right. Yeah. We've got
to get them a new spot.

I agree.

-TERRY: And then we move on.
-PAUL: Okay.

NARRATOR:
While Terry and Paul regroup
in the Money Pit area...

JACK: I'm really excited
to see what this guy has to say.

CHARLES:
Yeah.

I think this is the place, Jack.

NARRATOR:
...Jack Begley

and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse

have traveled
some 50 miles northeast

to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I think it's back here, Jack.

-[knocking]
-Hi, Phil.

-Hey. How you doing?
-Good. How are you?

Not too bad.

NARRATOR:
Here, they are meeting

with Philip Doucette,
a specialist

in glass bead design,
at his studio

in order to have him examine
the believed Venetian beads

that were recently found
on Lot 5.

So, we were working
on Oak Island,

and we've uncovered
this buried feature.

And while digging
amongst the boulders,

our archaeologists found
these beads.

They believe that
they could be Venetian beads?

PHIL:
Very nice.

And they've come out
of the ground?

And they were there for a while.

The signs of the pitting
that you can see on the ends.

Well, I know exactly
what these appear to be.

These are drawn glass beads.

And what really
identifies these as drawn

-is that the stripes are
incredibly straight.
-CHARLES: Right.

And that comes
from pulling against the glass.

It pulls them out straight.

-Oh.
-Yeah.

These beads, I'm very confident,
were made in Venice.

This color--

the red and the blue
and the white--

are very early formulations

of glass in that color.

So, the style of this bead--

it speaks
towards it being older?

Is there a time period?

Yes. So, based on the color
and the design,

I would confidently say
that these were made

between 1500 and 1650.

JACK:
Wow.

PHIL:
These were made between 1500

and 1650.

-Wow.
-Really?

NARRATOR:
In Halifax, Nova Scotia...

PHIL:
These are very old.

NARRATOR: ...glass bead expert
Philip Doucette

has just confirmed
that the two beads

that were recently unearthed

in the stone foundation
on Lot 5

are Venetian trade beads

and date as far back
as the early 16th century.

CHARLES:
The date range
for these beads--

you're extremely confident that

it falls into that time frame?

That's correct.
Um, drawn glass, white-striped.

They were a precious commodity.

Wow.

Yes. There was a really
brisk trade going on.

Five or six
of these beads would

-buy a beaver pelt.
-Really?

And that's a high-value item.

And a bracelet would probably
have 40, 50 beads on it.

-Oh.
-That's a small fortune
in trade.

CHARLES:
Okay.

PHIL:
And it was a great currency

for the people that were
coming across the Atlantic.

In particular, in Nova Scotia.

It was first the Portuguese,
and then,

the Spanish,
and then the French took over,

and the British
taking over Louisbourg.

The Portuguese were
a major trader

up and down the American coast,

and then,
the Canadian coast at that time.

And they would have
these barrels of beads

that they would trade, which
come originally from Venice.

We have found some things

that pointed to the Portuguese
possibly being on the island.

There's even questions on
the stone road along the swamp.

There are theories that,
that stone road was

built by the Portuguese,
based upon the dates.

We've wondered if the Portuguese
could be involved,

and they had made it
to Oak Island, but

maybe they were over
on Lot 5, as well,

and these beads got lost.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible

that these Venetian beads--

which may be 500 years old,
or older--

could offer evidence
that the feature

on Lot 5 was built
during that same time period?

If so, could it also
have been constructed

by those
who created the stone road

in the triangle-shaped swamp?

And perhaps explain
the high trace evidence

of precious metals
that have been detected

all across the Money Pit area?

If the Portuguese were here,

these beads could be
an indication

that they were around
the Lot 5 area.

They might be the depositors of
the treasure in the Money Pit.

We don't know, but this could
be what answers it all.

Well, here. Let me
give these back to you.

But keep them safe.

JACK:
This makes the bead
more important.

CHARLES:
Yeah, absolutely.

Lot 5 has become
a very prominent point

on-on the island.

And-and it makes you wonder,

-"What else is there?"
-JACK: Well, this is

-really great information.
-CHARLES: Agreed.

-We appreciate it.
-And I want to thank you
for your time.

-PHIL: Oh, you're very welcome.
-JACK: Thanks, Phil.

NARRATOR:
While Jack and Charles
begin their return journey,

back on Oak Island...

-RICK: This was
the most interesting area.
-GARY: Yeah.

-Why don't you
just start digging?
-Yup.

NARRATOR:
...Rick Lagina,

along with Gary Drayton

and Billy Gerhardt

continue their search
for additional clues

along the stone road,
or ship's wharf,

in the southeast corner
of the swamp.

BILLY:
Do I dump it, or do you want
to pull some of it out?

GARY:
Did you see something, Billy?

BILLY:
It looked like

a piece right away, but...

but I'm not sure.

GARY:
Seems to be a lot
of peat in this.

There could be some pottery.

RICK:
I think that's a rock.

I'm not sure.

No, that's a bit
of pottery, mate.

And it's different, as well.

It's got black edges.

So, it's two-toned. It would
have been black and brown.

Or brown and tan. Look.

-See that darker glaze there?
-Oh, yeah.

-GARY: And it's on that side.
-Yup.

-I've never seen that before.
-And I haven't, mate.

It's got the black glaze
on both sides.

That... that is different.

All right,
I'll put that in the bag

to add to the collection.

RICK:
I do find
the credible collection

of pottery
telling some sort of story.

And so, we need
to do our homework.

Uh, we need to understand
what... how old this pottery is,

what it might have
been used for.

Is there a cultural-stylistic
understanding of it?

And then go from there.

GARY:
There we go.

More pottery, mate.
Look. It's tumbling out.

[Rick chuckles]

Oh, here you go, Gary.

Here's your favorite.

What've you got? Oh. [laughs]

Oh, that's bloody beautiful.
Look at that.

That... is really nice.

I think this is older

than that other porcelain
we found. Oh, yeah.

I mean, this is really nice.

Look.
That's not the same pattern.

-That's an older pattern.
-RICK: No, that's different.

There was a lot of people here,
spent a lot of time right here

at the end of this road,
and it might span centuries.

-RICK: Let's see
what else there is, right?
-Yeah.

Look at that, Gary.

Check that out.

What the heck is that?

GARY:
Oh!

GARY: This is
absolutely stunning, mate.

That is either a shoe or a boot.

NARRATOR:
While searching for clues
near the stone road

in the southeast corner
of the swamp,

Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton

and Billy Gerhardt
have just made a potentially

critical discovery.

Obviously, it's leather.

It looks like the heel piece.

I think that is a heel

of a boot or a shoe.

I'd say it's the heel, yeah.

-Do you see
that square hole there, mate?
-Mm-hmm.

GARY:
And that was made
by fastening this sole

to the shoe with odd nails.

Little handmade nails
that had square shanks.

Now, if it was modern,
it would be glued.

So, this is an oldie--


because now they're glued.

NARRATOR: The sole
of a possibly ancient boot?

Found near the stone road
in the swamp?

But if so,
just how old could it be?

And who did it belong to?

-That's a very cool find.
-Yeah.

RICK:
If there's a certain

style to this type of shoe,

since its close proximity
to the stone road,

you may be able
to infer who built the road.

I think it's important

to understand the age
of this artifact...

I'm going to put it in a bag.

RICK:
...and the dates on the pottery

and see what it tells us
about the mystery.

I'll bring it back to the lab

where they can
conserve it properly.

All right, mate. And I'll let
you know if we find any more.

Perfect.

Good luck. See you.

GARY:
See you, mate.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon...

-MARTY: Hey, Scott.
-SCOTT: Hey, guys.

They're just above
where the tunnel should be

-on the west side.
-NARRATOR: ...Rick

and Marty Lagina join operations
manager Scott Barlow

in the Money Pit area.

SCOTT:
They're gonna be on an angle
for the first hole,

judging by the looks of how
that drill's sitting.

NARRATOR:
After months of tireless work

and unforeseen challenges,

representatives from
Dumas Contracting Limited

have successfully extended
the Garden Shaft

to a depth of 90 feet,

and are ready to begin
a core-drilling operation

in the hopes of penetrating
the seven-foot-high tunnel

located just five feet deeper
below ground.

A tunnel which leads directly
toward the Baby Blob,

and a potential cache
of buried treasure.

Hopefully, they get some wood
in their returns.

-Let's find a tunnel today.
-Let's find a tunnel.

MARTY:
Finally, we're ready
to do the probe-drilling

down to what we think
is the tunnel.

-RON: Hold the rod.
-So, we need the data.

We need to probe-drill first
and try and see

where this tunnel is
and what might be inside it.

Okay, let's just see
what happens.

Okay, Ronnie,
want to start drilling?

[air hissing]

-All right, there we go.
-There we go.

Yeah.

MARTY:
I am extremely excited
about this,

because what we find at
the bottom of that Garden Shaft

could be everything.

The key to this whole mystery
might be down there.

It's possible that that's
where the treasure is.

So, I mean, we could find it.

RICK:
What does this tunnel represent?

It's been the focus
of the year, you know?

Does it represent searcher era
or-or pre-searcher era?

So...

all fingers crossed.

The hope is there's a wood core
in there and we'll send it off.

SCOTT:
You may not hit anything

until the very bottom,
until the 95-foot mark.

-They're about there now.
-Yeah.

[metal crunching]

RON:
Copy, Paul?

Yeah. Go ahead.

We're on something.

-MIKE S.: Yeah.
-But if it's wood,

it can only be the tunnel.

NARRATOR:
It is a potentially
critical moment

in the Money Pit area

for Rick and Marty Lagina
and their team.

MARTY: It'd be about
the right depth for the floor

-of the tunnel.
-NARRATOR: After weeks

of frustrating setbacks,

representatives from
Dumas Contracting Limited

may have finally reached
a seven-foot-high tunnel

located just below
the Garden Shaft

at a depth of some 95 feet.

A tunnel that runs westward
towards an area

known as the Baby Blob,
where water testing has detected

high-trace evidence of gold,
silver and other metals

between 80 and 120 feet
underground.

-Wow.
-Could be you're
going through the floor.

-So, that's potentially
the floor of the tunnel.
-The floor of the tunnel.

-Pull it out
and see what we got.
-See what we got.

Pull it out.

♪ ♪

MIKE S.:
Yeah.

[air hissing]

We'll soon know.

MARTY:
We're about to see
what they went through.

I mean, sometimes it fails.
Sometimes you don't get a core.

But I think we have one.

MARTY: I want to see
a good piece of wood.

That's what I want to see.
That means that

our efforts are worthwhile.

♪ ♪

COTE:
Okay. Watch it
when you open it.

SCOTT:
Is that wood right here?

-RICK: Right there?
-Yeah.

That's wood there, yeah?

-MARTY: We got wood, baby.
-Beautiful.

RICK:
There's a collective
sigh of relief,

that it confirms
the existence of the tunnel

underneath the Garden Shaft.

Bingo, they did it.

Great relief.

And we can send it off
for C-14 testing,

and keep going to see
if that will lead to solving

the mystery
or finding the treasure.

MARTY:
This whole thing
is wood, then, isn't it?

-That's clay, wood.
-A lot of wood.

Yeah, that's got to be
six inches, isn't it?

Could we be one step closer
to finding a treasure

if, in fact,
a treasure's there? Yes.

I've been focused
for three years now

on the metals in the water.

You got two preeminent
scientists saying

these metals are coming
from somewhere,

and it's probably very near
the Garden Shaft.

SCOTT:
So, do we want to drill
another hole or do we want

to just get to digging?

I'd say we drill
the north corner,

tell you something
about the structure of it.

-Exactly.
-Might be a good data point

to figure out what it is.

It's a tunnel to somewhere.

-COTE: Yeah.
-It's a tunnel for something.

-It could be original.
-Yeah.

RICK:
If that C-14 date comes back

and if it predates

searcher activity,
it's incredible.

If you are looking at a tunnel
where people went in

to safeguard
a secret treasure...

[chuckles]
...that raises the bar so high,

I can't even get over it.

I mean, look,
it-it's been a long summer,

there's been a lot of obstacles,

but we've proven there's wood
down below the Garden Shaft.

We found it, right? That was
one of the goals, right?

And we're this far from...

-well, we're more like
this far...
-COTE: Yeah.

...from getting
to the top of that.

So, let's figure out
what this thing represents.

Hey, here's the deal: right now,
we're still in the game.

If that'd come up empty,
we'd start to think

-game was getting bad.
-There you go.

-We're still in the game, so...
-Let's move on.

NARRATOR:
For more than two centuries,

the inability of searchers

to recover something of
great value in the Money Pit

has caused many to wonder

if the Oak Island mystery
was based on mere fantasy.

But now, after discovering
new evidence

of ancient human activity
on Lot 5 and in the swamp,

as well as a possible
treasure tunnel

just below the Garden Shaft,

Rick, Marty and their team

have all but proven...

that an extraordinary treasure
is waiting to be found.

And they may have
finally located the solution

that will allow them
to recover it.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

GARY:
It's catching on something.

-RICK: Look at that thing.
-BILLY: There's something
curious

-about this boulder.
-That's like

the Nolan's Cross boulder.

JAMIE:
This soil is super compact.

This was constructed
for a purpose.

-Whoa.
-EMMA: It's an almost
exact match

-to a Money Pit sample.
-Wow.

RICK:
The association that could
be made is mind-blowing.

-What is that?
-Pretty solid chunk of metal.

TERRY:
That could be a piece
of the treasure vault.

Yep.