Man:
Let me tell you about gold.
Gold makes the world go 'round.
But gold doesn't come easy.
Man: there's so much gold down
There, it's ridiculous!
Watch out!
Man:
Gold makes people happy.
That's why I'm here -- all that.
Man:
But gold will make people
Do things
They normally wouldn't do.
Get the [bleep] out!
No, no, no! Shawn!
It can make people greedy.
What the [bleep]
[ Indistinct shouting ]
And it's right out there
Right under the water.
God, it's a beautiful bay.
[ "Gold in these hills" plays ]
Listen up close, now ♪
What I say ♪
I'm a-gonna head out wes
One day ♪
I heard about a fortune
To be made ♪
And I'm a-gonna get it,
Now, just you wait ♪
'Cause I heard
That there's gold ♪
In these hills ♪
Gold ♪
[ Wind whistling ]
Narrator: nome, alaska
[ Wind whistling ]
For nine long months,
A frozen por
On the edge of the bering sea.
But come summer
The glacial ice melts,
And treasure hunters
From around the globe
Migrate
To this remote outpost.
Let's get this show on the road.
Narrator: because hidden
In these frigid waters
Is a fortune in gold.
For two million years,
Glaciers have been melting
Into the bering sea
And depositing sediments
Rich with gold
Into the waters off nome.
To haul it in,
Miners must dredge
Scouring the bottom
Of the bering sea
In custom-built rigs.
No two of these dredges
Are the same.
Narrator:
After nine months off the water,
Final preparations
Are under way.
Man: the only dredge
That I 100% trus
Is the one that I build.
Narrator:
The season starts now.
Anything getting done?
Oh, lots of gossip on the deck.
Not too much else
Getting done.
At the nome harbor
Boat launch,
59-Year-old steve pomrenke
Races to get his dredge,
The 80-foot, 80-ton
Christine rose,
Into the water.
The boys, they want to see gold.
I want to see gold.
It's one step closer
To seeing gold.
Narrator: as the larges
Dredging operation in the fleet,
The christine rose
Also has the largest overhead.
Steve p.: What's a good season
And what's a bad season?
We need 1,000 ounces.
I need a million and a half
To survive all winter long.
Let's get some gold made here.
Pussyfooting around here.
Them boys ready to go?
That one comes out,
Goes in the other way.
God almighty.
Narrator: steve owns and
Operates the christine rose
With his son, shawn.
I started helping my dad mining
When I was 14, 15.
I love my dad. There's been
Sometimes that I haven't.
Sometimes there's jus
No satisfying that guy.
Once it hits the water, man,
This season is gonna be good.
Think we're gonna kick
Everybody's butt.
Wade:
We will be going 24/7.
I think we're gonna ge
A lot of gold this year.
[ Engine sputters, stops ]
[ Engine revs, sputters ]
Moen: he said
There's no steering.
Narrator: just as the dredge
Is ready to launch,
Shawn discovers tha
The outboard thrusters are shot.
Without them, the boa
Has no steering or propulsion.
You live by the weather up here.
The weather dictates
What you do.
Are we gonna be in port or are
We gonna be out, making money?
I haven't had a paycheck
Since last halloween,
Last october 30th.
Every day up here is pretty much
1% Of your season,
So if you lose one day,
You've lost 1% of your whole
Livelihood for that year.
Narrator: across the harbor,
Alabama man vernon adkison
Prepares for his maiden season
As a dredge owner.
Gold holds its value.
If I can get a little bi
Of that stuff,
Maybe I can survive
The coming hard times.
Over the winter,
I put together the wild ranger.
Goal for this first season
Is just to keep the boat afloa
And make sure
That none of my crew members
k*ll themselves
Or somebody else.
Go get your dive gear.
Narrator: vern and his crew
Are rushing
To get the wild ranger
On the grounds
While the weather is holding.
Meisterheim: that thing's
A beautiful piece
Of machinery
Right there.
A bunch of men are on it --
Well, one sexy man --
But, I mean, it's fine. It's
A beautiful piece of machinery.
And I am sexy, by the way.
Narrator: just down the coas
On belmont beach,
Nome native zeke tenhoff
Prepares to hit the water.
Tenhoff:
I have four years of experience
Running my boat, the clark.
It's pretty dang sturdy,
For sure.
Over the years,
I've spent thousands
And thousands and thousands
Of dollars
On parts and pieces
For my gold dredge.
Narrator: zeke sunk 30 grand
Into the 20-foot clark,
But he's in deb
For a whole lot more.
Tenhoff: my financial situation
Is just kind of weird.
Last year, I was doing plumbing
Under houses,
And I got an infection in my leg
That almost k*lled me,
And I rack up 180 grand of deb
At a hospital,
And, you know, I'd like to be
Able to pay off some of that.
If I make 100 grand this year,
I'll be happy. Absolutely.
Narrator:
But making bank won't be easy,
So zeke is taking on
An extra hand.
Tenhoff:
I called up a friend
And encouraged her
To come up here.
I've known her my whole life,
And she's not used to doing
This kind of work.
She's used to going
To art school.
And gold dredging is dangerous.
Things go wrong fast.
Narrator: zeke's new deckhand
Is greenhorn emily riedel.
Steve r.: I worry about you
All the time.
[ Scoffs ]
Yeah.
[ Chuckles ]
Emily stops by
Her father steve's bus
Before heading
To the clark.
It's a way to stay alive.
It's, you know --
Keeping your wits about you
When you're down there.
Yeah, that's the most importan
Thing, actually,
Is that you don't,
You know, panic.
The fact that you're
A greenhorn, though,
Is my main concern.
It's just that you just don'
Even know what to look out for.
As for steve, he'll be working
On the wild ranger,
And today he's late
Meisterheim:
Steve, who is a tender,
Who looks after the boat,
Couldn't be located.
Narrator: and his skipper's
On the warpath.
Meisterheim: basically,
I got a boat full of rookies,
And this is our first time
Going out,
So it's just really stressful.
Everyone's got their [bleep]
Head up their a*s.
Not a good start.
Narrator: owner vernon adkison
Has hired scot
To put the wild ranger
On the gold,
And he won't get paid
Until he does.
Meisterheim: basically
I'm dredging for my freedom
And for my children
To have child support.
I'm $150,000 in debt.
Increasing daily.
I have bills to pay that if
I don't pay, you go to jail for.
Narrator:
On the first day of the season,
The only hand
Who did show up for work
Is greenhorn jason walker.
Tie your shoes.
I get along
With very few people.
I'm the kind of person --
You either like me or you don't.
[ Whistling ]
Narrator:
Better late than never,
Steve riedel
Finally hits the dock.
Meisterheim: is tha
A fresh, hot cup of coffee?
It is.
Oh. Selfish [bleep]
Where's mine?
Well, you don't put in
The request.
Oh, that's right. If your
Cellphone was working, though,
You could've called
And see if I --
If you'd have texted me,
I'd have been here.
Okay.
Text.
Meisterheim: steve is an idiot.
That's a concern of mine.
I would just as soon
Kick him off the boat,
Right into the [bleep] water.
Just make yourself
More available next time.
Make sure your [bleep] phone
Is charged.
Uh, I was --
I don't --
That's all I'm saying.
Okay.
I don't want excuses.
Walker: does somebody
Still have to go
Fill up
That gallon gas jug?
Yeah, but, see,
I don't have a wallet on me,
So someone's gonna h--
[ Steve whistling ]
Steve, you got any money?
I do.
Good. How would you like
To get us some gas?
"Soitenly"!
5 Gallons, unleaded.
Okay.
5 Gallons, unleaded.
Meisterheim: steve is kind of
An irritating person,
But I didn't come out here
To make friends.
We're just gonna have to
Make the best of it.
We argue, he can leave.
I don't care
If he's here or not.
Narrator:
On the christine rose
The thrusters
Are still broken.
Moen: this is when
It gets interesting.
We'll get her going.
You watch.
Let's get this damn thing
In the water and get going here.
Narrator: but with the season
Short and the clock ticking,
Steve launches anyway.
Moen: this is the momen
We've been waiting for.
[ Metal creaking ]
Whoa!
It's on the ground!
It's on the ground!
Watch out!
Watch out!
Wade:
It's pretty smashed.
Shawn: [bleep]
Is it all right?
It's pretty smashed.
[Bleep] him and his [bleep]
"Hurry up. Let's get it in."
Ah! It's one problem
After another here.
Narrator: in the rush
To get the christine rose
Into the water
Whoa!
The dredge broke loose
And slid off its trailer.
Well, it smashed
The [bleep] out of this.
Look at the damage that did
On the front end.
When it popped off the kingpin,
The trailer slid back,
And this front end dropped
Onto the trailer
And smashed all this up.
Narrator: damage to the hull
Could sink the christine rose
And the entire operation.
Steve p.: You know,
The whole season up here
Is just about 120 days.
You got to have dir
Running through the wash plant,
Running through the sluice box,
To be able to make money
In this game.
Let's do it.
Narrator:
Owner steve pomrenke's decision
Is to roll the dice
And see if she floats.
Steve p.: We need to ge
Some rollers under back here.
Yep!
[ Metal creaking ]
[ Clanging ]
Whoo!
Narrator: deckhand robbi wade
Checks for leaks.
Git-r-done!
Moen:
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
Ha ha ha!
Ha ha ha ha!
That was out of control.
Narrator:
Steve's gamble pays off.
The christine rose is seaworthy.
Now the challenge
Is getting to the grounds.
Shawn:
Outdrive motor's broke,
So I'll paddle with the backhoe
To steer us and control us.
Narrator:
With its thrusters broken,
The 80-foot dredge must claw
Its way into the bering sea.
It may look strange,
But the makeshift paddle
Is working
For now.
Shawn:
We don't have any gold yet,
So we need to get out there
And dig and get some gold
So we can pay for the parts
To keep this thing running.
It's time to get ou
And make some money.
Narrator:
Three miles to the west,
On the 20-foot clark
[ British accent ]
"This ship is unsinkable!"
Emily: "not even god
Could sink this ship!"
"Not even god
Could sink this ship!"
[ Laughs ]
Captain zeke tenhoff
And greenhorn emily riedel
Are ready to strike.
All right, anchor woman.
All right.
It's coming up.
Emily: I guess zeke is kind of,
Technically, my boss,
'Cause he's the captain
Of the dredge, but, you know
[ Scoffs, laughs ]
Whatever. [ Laughs ]
Take your time.
This thing is totally light.
Tenhoff: hold on.
Give me some space.
Give me some slack.
Our families have known
Each other for a long time.
Our dads went to high school
Together.
So I've always known zeke.
Almost there. All right.
Drop itbaby.
Thank you.
Aah!
Tenhoff: to have someone there
All the time --
Even though
She's not my girlfriend,
She's tremendously loyal to me,
And she's not gonna leave me
Out in the cold.
Narrator: the clark
Is a diver-operated dredge.
A compressor on deck sends air
Down to zeke 20 feet below,
And a heater funnels hot water
Into his suit,
Combating hypothermia
In the 45-degree seas.
Tenhoff:
When it comes right down to it,
I'm working under 20 fee
Of water,
And it gets dangerous.
You have to negotiate
Big, heavy things,
And you have to think about your
Breathing constantly and exhale.
And if you get tangled up
In something
And you lose your air regulator
And you panic,
It's inevitable that guys are
Gonna die in the water here.
Narrator: to mine gold,
Zeke wrangles
A 100-pound vacuum hose.
The hose sucks water,
The ocean floor,
And hopefully gold
Up into the dredge's sluice box.
Water from the vacuum's pump
Flushes the dredged material
Across a series of screens,
Washing rocks and other debris
Back into the bering sea.
Gold,
20 Times heavier than water,
Seeps past the screen
And gets trapped in a mesh
Carpet called miners moss.
Emily:
We're here to get gold.
That's the base reason
As to why we're here.
Narrator: since most gold
Is as fine as dust,
They won't know what they have
Until the sluice box
Is cleaned out.
Tenhoff: almost all of what I'm
Recovering is really fine gold.
The waves and the surf
And the storms,
They rustle everything around,
And since the gold is so small
And the gold is so heavy,
It just works its way down
As low as it can get.
And once the gold can'
Penetrate anywhere further,
It stays there.
The gold's under rocks,
Basically.
Emily:
Zeke is a badass underwater.
He's unstoppable,
And he gets us on the gold.
He goes into this intense drive,
You know,
Especially once he sees gold.
There's absolutely
No stopping him.
Whoo!
That's frickin' awesome!
Narrator: back on shore,
In the heart of nome
It's time for ian foster
To say goodbye
To his former life.
Ian: I was an investigator
For child protective services
In alaska, in rural alaska.
We served 15 villages.
Narrator: ian's quitting his job
As a social worker
To start a new career
As a bering sea gold miner.
Ian: I did somewhere over 100
Investigations in my 2 years.
[ Sighs ] um
Sometimes you make a difference,
And a lot of times you don't.
It's a tough job.
I've been thinking abou
This day for, like, six months.
[ Chuckles ]
It's like you're gonna continue
Doing the same thing
Or you got to mix it up
Drastically,
And this is me mixing it up
Drastically.
Narrator:
For the last eight months,
Ian spent every spare moment,
And his $20,000 life savings,
Building a dredge --
The sluicey.
Ian: I mean, what's the wors
That could happen? I could die.
Well, everybody
Has that same risk,
Waking up every single morning,
So I don't really consider tha
A big deal.
Second thing,
I could go broke financially.
I'm already broke financially.
I just happened to spend
My savings on an investment.
I spent money on a dredge.
No turning back now.
[ Engine turns over ]
Narrator: in nome harbor
Let's just call steve.
The wild ranger
Is still stuck on shore.
Huh. Okay.
Two hours ago,
Steve riedel was sen
To fill a spare gas tank.
But once again,
He's nowhere to be found.
Steve, this is scott.
I did not call your
[Bleep] phone to listen
To your voicemail.
You've got exactly five minutes
To get here, or we're leaving.
[ Exhales deeply ]
You know, [bleep] that.
[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep]
Let's go. Go.
The clock's ticking.
Let's go. Go. I mean it.
I'm untying the [bleep] boat.
We're leaving.
My phone's ringing.
Hold on.
[ Cellphone rings ]
Hello?
Excuse me?
Steve: hello?
Scott.
[Bleep] off.
[ Whistling ]
Steve: pretty sad.
He hung up on me.
He's all mad.
Was 10 minutes out.
Oh, well.
Narrator: on belmont beach,
Ian foster is ready to kick off
His career as a gold miner.
But his dredge, the sluicey,
Has sprung a leak.
Ian: have you ever wanted to see
What a swamped boat looks like?
Here it is.
My initial investmen
Is about 15 to 20 grand
In my dredge,
And I'm sunk, literally.
I've got an electric motor
Up here
That actually runs
My water heater,
And I've got my compressor
On the floor.
That's mostly underwater
Right now.
I'm gonna have to
Take those apart,
Dry them out, put them back on.
And the bottom line is,
How much gold do you bring
Home at the end of the day?
And I can't go out and work
And make money.
It's ridiculous.
Everybody wants to come out here
And find the gold, you know?
I mean, I got news for people.
It's not [bleep] easy.
Narrator: three miles
Off the coast of nome,
The wild ranger
Reaches its claim.
I'm not nervous.
I just want to be comfortable
When I go down.
Narrator: for the dredge's
First dive of the season,
Captain scott meisterheim
Is auditioning greenhorn jason.
Jason has trained
In nome harbor,
But this is his first dive
In the bering sea.
Meisterheim: there's a lo
Of dangers in dredging.
It's dangerous
All the way around.
The water temperature right now,
It's just above freezing.
You could freeze to death.
You could get hypothermia
And never come back up.
Getting tangled up in your
Air hose, your anchor line --
It all happens.
It's happened to me.
And you just got to not panic.
All he has to do
Is hit the bottom.
That's what he's afraid of.
He's afraid he's gonna fall
Into a big hole
And never be found again.
Right now jason really has
No idea what he's doing.
He has no idea where he's at.
I expect to see him up here
In about less than five minutes.
I really do.
Narrator: when jason
Starts sending the ocean floor
To the sluice box above
There's hope for him yet.
The captain's concerns
Are silenced.
I'm glad he got down.
I'm glad he got used to it.
Finally getting to do
What he came here to do.
I just might have found myself
A second diver.
[ Laughs ]
Time just went on and on and on,
And I dug a trench and a hole.
There should be 25 ounces
In the box!
[ Laughs ]
Narrator:
Two miles to the northeast
Wade: we're swimming our way
Out to the ocean.
We're gonna go do some digging.
Narrator: the christine rose
Uses an excavator arm
To claw its way
Through the water.
We want to get out there
And get some gold in the box
So we can get a paycheck.
Narrator: but before shawn can
Mine gold, he has to find it.
It's always a good idea to do
Some prospecting before you dig.
All right.
Narrator: the christine rose
Is one of the few dredges
Without a diver.
A giant backhoe
Does all the work.
To see if they're on a hot spot,
Shawn uses the ancient practice
Of panning.
Shawn:
See if we can find some color.
If we can't find some color,
We'll move on.
Narrator: the lighter dir
Gets sifted out,
While the heavier gold
Sinks to the bottom of the pan.
Moen: there's a picker.
Looks good, man.
Wade: yee-haw!
Yeah.
Let's stay here.
Narrator:
But as shawn gets ready to mine,
He sees a rising swell
And a retreating fleet.
Hey, robbi
Looks like a bunch of little
Dredges are heading in.
Man: kevin come in,
Mike has come in,
And now joey's coming in
Right now.
Shawn: the water
Is getting pretty rough
For these smaller dredges.
They're coming in now.
Shawn:
Put some gold in the box.
I'm ready for a paycheck.
Narrator:
Shawn decides to stay put,
Because the christine rose
Is buil
For stability
In strong currents.
A pair of 520-pound anchors
And two 35-foot, 10,000-pound
Stabilizing poles called "spuds"
Keep the dredge
Rooted in one spot.
For the first time this year,
The christine rose
Is mining for gold.
There's the pay dirt.
A bucketful hits the shaker box,
And the bigger rocks
Are bounced out.
Shawn: all the oversize
Goes off to the side,
And all the fines and heavies,
Hopefully, end up in the box.
Narrator: water pushes the finer
Material through the sluice box,
Where the sand is washed away
And the gold gets trapped.
Shawn:
This looks like the stuff.
This looks like what we want.
Narrator:
They're finally on the gold,
But the swells continue to rise.
Shawn: seems like it's getting
Pretty bad now.
We'll see how long
We can ride it out.
If we can finish digging today,
I'll be happy.
Narrator: three miles
Up the coast is the clark.
After five straight hours
Underwater,
Zeke finally heads topside.
It's getting choppy, and I think
It's gonna get a lot worse.
You can see the whitecaps
Getting bigger
Out a little further.
I think
This is just one of those days
Where it gets bad
And it gets bad pretty fast.
Narrator: with the tiny clark
At risk of capsizing,
Zeke has no choice
But to head for shore.
On the wild ranger
The waves are really picking up.
Narrator:
Faced with a rising swell,
Captain scott and greenhorn
Jason are packing it in.
Meisterheim: we're just gonna
Have to call it a day.
That's just how it goes here.
Tie this.
Let's get out of here.
Whoa!
[ Grunting ]
Whoa!
[ Grunting ]
Bring your other arm in.
[ Groaning ]
Meisterheim:
Jason has no boat experience.
One poor decision,
And he's [bleep] up,
Laying in the ocean.
[ Breathing sharply ]
Oh, it popped right out.
Damn!
Heading in right now.
Just a dislocated shoulder.
I don't mean
"Just" a dislocated shoulder,
But that's what it is.
I'm gonna need maybe
A little bit of assistance.
Okay, vern.
I'll see you in a minute. Bye.
It's really been a bad end
To a bad day.
[ Groans ] okay, okay.
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
[ Grunting ]
Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.
Okay. Okay. Do it.
Narrator: two miles from
The safety of nome harbor
Shawn: southwest.
20 Knots. 5-Foot seas.
The christine rose
Is caught in the rising waves.
Shawn:
They're getting big.
It gets a little hairy
When you get sideways
Into these big waves.
Narrator: with their thrusters
Out of commission,
Robbi and shawn
Have pulled anchor
And are depending on the
Excavator to paddle them in.
I just wish we had our outdrive
Motors working right now.
Would make life a lot easier.
It's already 4-footers now.
Barely moving.
Narrator:
To get to nome harbor,
They have to row
Around the jetty,
But the current is pushing them
Into the rocks.
Yeah.
Moving at half a kno
Into a 3-knot curren
Is a losing battle.
Shawn: this is not the fun par
Of the job.
This is where [bleep]
Is not fun at all.
Narrator: as the dredge inches
Closer to the break wall,
Shawn and robbi call for help.
How about it, goldfish?
This is christine rose.
You got a copy?
Shawn: we need a tow
Or to abandon ship.
[ Beeping ]
You got a copy?
This is christine rose.
Getting
Kind of nasty here.
Narrator: robbi spots one las
Dredge heading for port.
Sea monkey, sea monkey.
Come try
And give us a push.
All alone
And drifting towards the rocks,
The christine rose
Has run out of options.
Shawn: we're, uh
We're up [bleep] creek.
Narrator:
Just outside nome harbor
The current is pushing
The christine rose
Towards the jetty
We're just going backwards
Right now.
And their calls for help
Have yielded nothing.
Whoa!
We're getting pounded.
Narrator: the backhoe
Is the only thing keeping them
From being torn apar
By the rocks.
Now the 45-minute battle
With the surf
Has them running on fumes.
All right!
Getting off this time!
A call comes in
From the courtney ann,
A 25-foot fishing vessel.
It'll take all shawn's go
To keep them off the rocks
Until help arrives.
Thrashing around.
We're gnarly!
We're gone.
Shawn: I don't like
Getting in situations
To where we need other people's
Help to make it in,
But you do what you got to do
To get home.
That's the risk you take
In mining in the bering sea.
Nothing's given to you.
You got to figh
For everything you get.
My dad, you know --
He's taught me
"Do something that scares you
Every day."
Well, I think I took tha
To a new level.
Narrator:
For the christine rose,
The first mining voyage
Of the season
Was almost a complete disaster.
Look at this.
But shawn's risk
Was worth the reward.
Shawn: right here is your firs
Sign that we're doing good --
When you got a pile of gold
12 Feet down in the box.
That's probably a couple cases
Of beer right there.
Narrator: across town
In steve riedel's
Abandoned school bus
Why aren't we out,
Making money gold mining?
Why don't we bring
Our dive suits
And go, "hey, vern,
Just, you know"
"Let us out.
Let's rock."
The disgruntled deckhand
And his friend gran
Are hungry for gold.
Steve: so, we're going to the
Wild ranger with our wet suits
Just as a show of willingness
To work on a moment's notice.
Narrator:
Word has spread to steve
About the injury
On the wild ranger.
Now he's on his way
To reclaim his spo
And secure one for gran
With owner vernon adkison.
Steve: hey, vern.
Nice to see you.
Yeah. Same here.
Nice to see you, vern.
Hey.
What's the story?
Well, that's what I'm trying
To figure out.
Okay.
We talked to jason.
You know, apparently
He had a trip-and-fall acciden
On the boat.
It might've been an acciden
That could've been prevented
If we'd had a full crew.
There were only two men
On the boat.
This morning, you guys
Were given a heads-up.
I was on the way
To the boat.
Tell you what.
You were late this time.
If you're ever late again,
That'll be the last phone call
You ever get!
All right, so, let's decide how
Many hours I get in a heads-up.
Do I get an hour,
50 Minutes, 10 minutes?
I mean,
Scott is not friendly.
He could've given me
Zero time.
I don't care
If he's friendly or not.
Steve: when I'm on this boat,
Working,
He better be
Giving me some slack
And not be on my case,
Telling me what to do.
Look, here's the deal.
Scott's in charge of the boat.
That's agains
Our contract.
We don't have a contract.
Yes, we do.
We have an oral contrac
Made may 15th.
I'm gonna tell you this. You're
Not in charge of this boat.
You don't have
The expertise.
Stand your ground.
Back off.
You --
Back off, mr. Vern.
You're over by the transom.
Get off the boat.
You're off the boat.
Okay.
You're off the boat.
Adkison: he thinks
He's in charge of my boat.
He's put nothing into it,
Whereas I've pu
About $100,000 into it,
And he thinks he's got more
Right to the boat than I have.
Steve:
I promised I would be in nome.
I promised to work on the boa
And be a responsible person.
I'm gonna stop talking here,
Because there's too much anger
Coming on.
Let's go.
Grant:
All right. Let's bail.
Adkison: thinks he's gonna
Take over my boa
And dictate terms to me.
Doesn't work that way.
He's off the boat.
[ Wind howling ]
Narrator:
After only 18 hours,
The first good weather window
Of the season comes to a close.
Meisterheim:
Living in nome, alaska,
I have to get in the water
To make money,
And mother nature
Is not allowing it right now.
Narrator:
With the fleet anchored up,
It's time to see who struck gold
And who struck out.
On the christine rose,
Owner steve pomrenke
Starts the cleanup process,
Pulling the mesh carpets
Where the gold gets trapped
And washing them off
Into a set of tin tubs.
Steve p.:
That's about the pretties
Picture I can show you.
My back hurts and I'm tired,
And I want to get I
In the bucket.
Narrator:
The gold-filled sludge
Is then transported
To shawn pomrenke's garage,
Where the bigges
Mining operation
Also has the bigges
Cleanup system.
Just like on the christine rose,
Mud is dumped in
Bigger rocks are sorted out
And fine gold
Is sifted down a sluice
Into a collection bowl.
From there, the gold is further
Refined in a spinning wheel
Wade:
This is a gold wheel.
Shawn:
It pulls the heavies up,
And then the finer stuff,
The light stuff, comes over.
Narrator: and then gets
Transferred to a hot plate.
You got to cook the water
Off the gold
To get an accurate weight,
'Cause otherwise
You're just weighing water.
Narrator:
The finished product --
Pure bering sea gold.
Shawn:
You always hope you'll find --
Find a pile like this in a day,
But it don't happen that often,
But you never know.
That's what's the lure
Of gold mining.
If this don't earn
My father's respect,
I don't know what will.
Oh, dad's gonna get a kick
Out of this one.
We'll see what the hell
He's got here in his hand,
In his greedy,
Little mitt.
Hey, dad.
Wow.
Something to pay
The bills with today.
Narrator:
But the real moment of truth
The money man's here.
Hey.
How's it going, guys?
Selling the gold
To an assayer.
Assayer: so, you got some gold
For me today, huh?
It's a pretty fair amoun
Of gold for first jig out there.
Narrator: for the pomrenkes
To turn a profit this season,
They need to average
Nearly 10 ounces of gold
Per day.
46.67 ounces.
With gold selling
At a record high,
That's a $72,000 payday --
More than enough to keep
The christine rose afloat.
We're getting a pretty
Fair-sized check here,
But we go
A bigger operation.
We have bigger expenses
All the way around.
We need to do at leas
That amount every week.
The season's first trip
Is in the books,
And, with almost 47 ounces,
The biggest dredge
Has the biggest cleanup.
After a day like today,
We got to get ourselves
A couple beers.
All right.
Let's do it.
Just up the coast,
In their beachside yurt
Tenhoff: oh, yeah.
Emily: that is a sigh
I like to see.
Well, I like it, too, because
If I have enough of this stuff,
I don't need a girlfriend.
[ Laughs ]
Zeke and emily's haul
Is a healthy 5 ounces.
For the wild ranger
Normally you want to go
20, 30 Hours on a box
Before you clean it.
Their two hours at sea
Don't merit a cleanup
As far as I'm concerned,
There's a lot of rocks
And a lot of sand.
If there's any gold,
It's gonna be very little.
And their captain
Is down two deckhands.
Meisterheim:
Right now, I guess it's up to me
To make the money, to find
The gold, put gold in that box.
So, hopefully --
Hopefully it'll happen.
Narrator:
For greenhorn ian foster,
His dredge, the sluicey,
Took on water but no gold.
Ian:
What can possibly go wrong?
Everything that can go wrong,
You know,
'Cause it all has already.
Hopefully that means
I'm at the tipping point,
Where everything's gonna go
Smoother, you know, not worse.
Gosh damn. You can't knock
On wood on a metal vessel.
[ Knocks ]
Narrator: for every dredger,
This is just the beginning.
Meisterheim: I'm still here,
And I'm gonna stay here,
And I'm gonna make it happen.
If I can't find gold,
Then this has been
A complete waste of time.
Tenhoff:
When the weather's good,
On the water or off the water,
I work as hard
As I possibly can,
And it's as simple as that.
Steve p.: I don't think
I've ever had gold fever.
It's a job that I love to do.
That's what real life
Is all about, if you ask me.
Narrator: when the next window
Of good weather rolls in,
They'll be back on the hun
For bering sea gold.
Man: we're gonna be moving
Some dirt tonight.
Tenhoff:
The amount of money I make
Will be directly related
To how well I perform.
What the [bleep]
Zero leadership skills.
Get the [bleep] out!
Shawn: a lot of people have come
And tried to mine here,
And a lot of them go home
Brokenhearted and broke.
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01x01 - Paydirt
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The show follows boats equipped with various setups to achieve gold mining in a summertime, cold northern latitude, shallow water, ocean environment.
The show follows boats equipped with various setups to achieve gold mining in a summertime, cold northern latitude, shallow water, ocean environment.