01x05 - Captaincy

[bunniefuu]

Gold dredging is the only thing

That's ever reliably excited me

In my life.

Emily:

We're on the gold, baby!

[ Clanging ]

It allows me

Almost complete freedom.

It's life as direc

And as visceral and real

As I've ever felt it.

But that freedom can actually be

Kind of scary.

Some people can't handle it.

Shawn:

[ Groans ]

Hurts so bad,

It'll make me puke.

[ Gagging ]

Your captaincy sucks.

Get the [bleep] out!

Tenhoff:

If you fail up here

You fail hard.

[ Rattling ]

[ Horn blaring ]

[ "Gold in these hills" plays ]

Listen up close, now ♪

What I say ♪

I'm a-gonna take that risk

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 ♪

--Captions by vitac --

Captions paid for by

Discovery communications

Gold ♪

Ian: I've been up here

Three summers now.

And this has been, by far, the

Worst dredging season I've seen.

I think they're gonna say

This is

Probably one of the wors

Dredging seasons we've had.

Narrator:

For six straight weeks,

The dredging fleet has been

At the mercy of weather.

Shawn: if mother nature

Don't let me go out and mine,

I'm screwed.

I got to pay my bills.

I got to put food on the table.

Narrator:

Nerves are frayed.

It's been a bad summer

To be a gold dredger.

It's been a really bad summer

To be a gold dredger.

Narrator:

Now the skies are clearing.

Tenhoff: we got to ge

On some gold today.

Otherwise, I'm gonna lose it.

Well, I'm gonna star

Paddling out.

Yeah.

We ain't got long.

We need to pound some gold

Through this box.

Emily: the main reason we're

Here is to get money together,

'Cause we both direly need it.

Narrator:

But on the wild ranger,

A storm is about to begin.

Scott and I are gonna clean ou

The box.

See what the last 17 hours

Of bottom time has done for us.

Can you hear me

Down there?

Narrator:

Last trip,

A malfunctioning water heater

And suction system

I had [bleep] for suction

The whole time -- no suction!

Derailed the wild ranger.

Now stuck in por

Waiting on parts,

Captain scott meisterheim

Cleans the dredge's sluice box.

You got to make sure

You get it all.

Thinking of making

The next child support payment.

I have a 12-year-old daughter

That lives in michigan

And a 17-year-old daughter

That lives in arizona.

My daughters love me

Unconditionally,

And I love them both

Unconditionally.

Birthdays, happy moments

In their life --

If I can't supply those

For my daughter,

I'm pretty worthless

As a father.

I'm thinking we have somewhere

Between 5 to 10 ounces.

Maybe some of that is some hopes

And dreams.

I don't think there's a lick

Of gold in that box,

So you can think

There's a [bleep]load,

And I'm gonna think

There's nothing.

Where's steve?

Why isn't he here?

Steve's not coming.

I don't give a [bleep]

About steve.

Did you contact him?

No. I didn't contact steve,

And I'm not gonna.

Your idea.

Good job.

Narrator: captain scot

And tender steve riedel

Have clashed since day one.

You want to be on this [bleep]

Today or not?

I'm here.

Load the [bleep] fuel.

Fill the tanks.

I don't want steve here

'Cause I don't give a [bleep]

Scott's breaking

The dredger's golden rule --

Harvesting the vessel's

Gold haul

Without the full crew present.

We're gonna rinse everything ou

Like we normally would.

When we get to the hard parts,

We'll talk about it then.

Copy that.

Aye, aye.

[ Whistling ]

Walker: this right here

Is all one piece with that.

No.

But isn't that bar up on top?

Boys.

Oh.

For [bleep] sake.

What's happening?

How come you're here doing this

Without me?

I was told --

This is, like,

Even suspicious.

Why am I not here an hour and

A half ago, when you started?

Because they didn't wan

All this [bleep]

There's no [bleep]

Going on.

Steve r.:

This is our gold, not your gold.

This is the boat's gold.

It's my boat, though.

I need to be here.

You're still my tender,

So I still need you to just do

What I tell you.

Captain scott, meanie.

It's getting worse, actually.

He is aggressive --

Overly aggressive.

It's not me that he has

No patience for

Or jason that he has

No patience for.

He just has no patience

For anything.

I was put in my place

That I'm just a tender.

I just can't handle

Either one of them [bleep]

I got to get some food, and

I'm gonna let them deal with I

Since they think they know

What's going on.

We got two geniuses on board.

Let them dump all the gold

Out of the back of the box

Into the water --

If there is any.

Narrator:

Just outside the harbor

I'm just really keeping my

Fingers crossed for a good day.

[ Engine revs ]

Narrator: scott foster

Takes the 19-foot sluicey

On a new hunt for gold.

Scott:

I've been feeling the pressure.

We've lost several days

Due to things like the sluice

Box not functioning correctly.

These things cost us

The opportunity

Of going out and getting gold.

Narrator:

On shore, the dredge's owner,

Ian foster,

Keeps an eye on his investment.

Ian: I think that's scotty

Right there --

Scotty and my girl sluicey.

Narrator:

The sluicey's maiden gold season

Has been plagued by mechanical

Problems and bad design

Ian:

And I'm sunk, literally.

Narrator: causing a rif

Between the partners.

It's my f'ing dredge,

You know?

Like, what the hell

Is going on here?

Scott:

He's been dredging for not even

A year of his life in total.

I've been dredging

My whole life.

There's no way you can

Squeeze that into just one year

Of self-taught experience.

Narrator:

Solo diving is dangerous.

[ Engine turns over ]

That a girl.

Narrator:

But ian and scott have to gamble

If they want to leave nome

With a healthy stash of gold.

Alone on the ocean bottom,

Scott is bombarded by rocks

Tumbling from the dredge

30 Feet above his head.

A big enough rock could knock

Scott out, leaving him to drown.

The anti-thrust is a panel tha

Absorbs the force of the water

Moving through the sluice box.

If it fails,

The water can push the dredge

In a circle around the anchor,

Dropping the tailings

Right on the diver.

I'm not sure what's waylaying

Him on the surface.

I think that means issues.

If this keeps up,

I'm never gonna make any money.

I'm pulling it in.

I'm just wasting my time.

I'm getting frustrated.

I got to have a chat with ian.

Narrator:

Midnight, belmont beach.

Tenhoff:

We just decided, "you know what?

We're here to dredge,

And sleep comes second."

Strapped for cash, zeke tenhoff

And greenhorn emily riedel

Head ou

For their first night dive.

Okay. We have to put in

At least 10 hours.

Emily:

At least 10 hours?

At least 10.

Wait.

Run at least 10 or dredge 10?

Dredge 10.

When the weather's good,

I can't get a good night's sleep

And really relax if there's

Something I could be doing.

If for any reason

I'm not putting in

As much energy as I know could,

Then I'm failing myself.

It's gonna get pretty dark

Pretty soon,

And I want to ge

A lot of hours in.

Setting the bar pretty high

For myself tonigh

As far as sleep deprivation

Is concerned.

There's a decent swell

Coming in,

But the spot that we're on

Is in deep enough water

So it's not breaking.

Tenhoff:

Okay. Get in position.

Getting chilly out, zeke.

[ Chuckles nervously ]

Okay. Drop it.

Oh. [Bleep]

[ Screams ]

Emily.

Getting chilly out, zeke.

[ Chuckles nervously ]

Okay. Drop it.

Oh. [Bleep]

[ Screams ]

Emily.

No!

[ Laughing ]

[ Laughing ]

Oh, god.

Okay. Okay.

I brought a ton

Of extra clothes.

Yeah.

Okay. Sweatpants.

Here's a wool shirt.

There's a couple

Big jackets.

Well, I just dropped the anchor

And fell in the water,

And that water is really cold.

Brr.

That was freakin' cold.

[ Coughs ]

Narrator: the bone-chilling

Waters off nome are 40 degrees.

[ Shivers ]

Even a 30-second exposure

Can cause hypothermia

To set in rapidly.

Tenhoff: I don't want emily

To get hypothermic,

'Cause it's getting a little

Windy, and she's freezing cold.

That took

My breath away.

I couldn't breathe

For a little while.

Really?

I think you might be right --

But I'm going down there!

All right. Get on it, dude.

I was just saying, you know?

Are you getting cold fee

On me?

It's a large swell, it's murky

Water, and it's dark outside.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

And there are thousands

And thousands

And thousands of dollars in gold

Directly below us.

We need to dredge

In bad conditions.

All right, all right. Let's

Dredge in bad conditions, then.

Narrator: only 15 minutes

After emily's icy plunge

[ Engine turns over ]

Zeke gets back to business.

Now I know what he means

By terrifying.

I can't even imagine

Being down there right now.

That's crazy.

Narrator:

As zeke dials in

The swell picks up.

Emily:

It's kind of a rough night.

Emily:

No. I'm seasick as hell.

I did not factor in

The swell.

[ Chuckles ]

I have so much regret.

It's fine, zeke.

I can tough it out.

If you want to stay down there,

I can tough it out.

If you are in the mode, then,

You know, let's do it.

I'm in the mode.

We're on the gold.

Okay.

Let's stay.

What's a little seasickness,

Right?

Narrator:

Just after daybreak

On the biggest dredge

In the bering sea.

Shawn: oh, yeah.

We're doing all right.

But you never know

Until the end of the day,

And the more dirt you pu

Through the plant,

The more money

You're gonna make.

Narrator:

Shawn pomrenke is hitting hour 5

Of a 12-hour shif

Behind the backhoe.

Shawn:

I got to be out here.

We need to make some gold.

Need to find that mother lode

So my dad can finally retire.

There we go.

Back's starting to lock up

Already.

Putting my feet up on the chair

And running like that,

That usually helps.

But this time,

It didn't seem to help at all.

Narrator: during a bar figh

Six weeks ago,

Shawn got stabbed in the back

And aggravated an old injury.

Aah! [ Groans ]

Try to work through it.

Makes it hard to focus

On what you're doing

When you're in constant pain.

I'm having a hard time

Even talking right now.

It hurts so bad.

Wade: you know,

He's sitting in the chair

With his knees on the par

Where you should be sitting,

And he just looks like

He's really hurting.

[ Groans ]

Narrator:

With shawn down for the count,

The most important job

Goes to greenhorn robbi.

Shawn: back's hurting so bad,

It's making me sick.

[ Groans ]

It's like having somebody with

A knife in your back all day.

Narrator:

Despite the pain,

Shawn keeps his eye

On the prize.

Gonna watch him here.

The more dirt he puts through

The box, the more I make.

Boy, robbi ain't moving it.

He's got to learn

Sooner or later.

Looks like no dir

In the bucket.

You got to know

What the hell you're doing.

Otherwise, you're just gonna

Burn fuel and not make no money.

Wade: this material here

I'm digging, it's hard.

It don't like to give itself up

Quite as easy.

Some days it's good.

Some days it's no good.

Shawn:

If you miss one little thing,

It could cost you

Thousands of dollars.

I mean, give him some advice.

Narrator: but before shawn

Can make it to the excavator

[ Gags, sighs ]

[ Vomits ]

Shawn: hurts so bad,

It'll made me puke.

Narrator:

On the christine rose

[ Cellphone dialing ]

Shawn: hey.

What time were you guys planning

On coming out?

Robbi's not bringing up

Full buckets.

My back's [bleep] not feeling

The greatest either.

All right, dad.

Thanks.

Narrator:

With his injured back flaring up

And deckhand robbi

Pulling weak buckets,

Shawn pomrenke calls

An early shift change.

Shawn: if you ain't moving full

Buckets, you ain't making money.

Shift change now.

Narrator:

Shawn's relief --

His father, steve,

And greenhorn cody moen.

Moen: pot of gold, man.

Little troubles

Here and there.

Yeah.

We need a good operator

Running the backhoe.

'Cause that's the main thing,

Is bringing material up

From the ocean floor

Of the bering sea

And getting it up

Into the wash plant.

Narrator: with shawn and robbi

Not pulling their weight,

Steve throws down the gauntle

To greenhorn cody.

You think you can whip

The old man's a*s

In a digging competition?

A dredging contest --

Young buck versus

The old, rusty nugget.

Steve: cody believes

He's a really good operator,

Which I don't really know

If he is or no

Because I haven't watched him

Dig out there yet,

But we'll see if he is or not.

Moen: to set this up,

We need a judge.

I got the perfect judge.

My best buddy, dave, is in town.

Prepare to ge

Your [bleep] kicked.

Meet there with the skip.

Narrator: steve sweetens the po

With a $400 nugget.

For the biggest nugge

In the jar.

Moen: all right.

Sounds good.

I'm excited.

Narrator: the judges arrive,

And cody takes the controls.

Are you ready?

Go!

The rules are simple.

Steve and cody will each dredge

10 Buckets.

Since full buckets mean

A better shot at gold,

Whoever pulls

The fullest buckets wins.

Virnig: oh!

Steve: oh!

I already got him beat.

Moen: full bucket!

Good bucket.

It's been really good.

Steve:

He's hammering it.

Man, he's gonna make me star

To sweat here.

Narrator:

Now it's the boss's turn.

All right,

Old, rusty nugget!

[ Laughs ]

Whoa!

Got a good one there.

I think I got stuck here

In a bad hole.

That ain't full!

Somebody's already dug here.

Virnig: we're running

Like right dead even.

Old man's

Getting nervous now!

No way!

Yeah!

Narrator:

As the gold dust settles

From steve's final bucket,

It's time to go

To the judge's scorecard.

Steve:

The judge has the verdict.

Golden boy --

80 Points.

Not bad.

Out of 10 buckets.

And steve the boss man,

89 Points.

Yeah!

Steve is relieved.

But, you know,

That was awful damn close.

Good competition.

Awful close.

Yeah!

400 Bucks worth of gold

In my pocket.

I didn't really realize

How good he was

Until we did this competition.

Love you, man.

Cody's gonna be climbing the

Ladder on the christine rose.

As far as I'm concerned, he can

Take that whole thing over.

For one shift,

He can be the deck boss,

And I'll have

Complete confidence in him.

It was a hard battle,

But I got him.

Narrator:

Two miles inland,

The wild ranger crew

Continues their cleanup

In owner vern adkison's trailer.

Right now the boat is in

Complete disarray.

Narrator:

Yesterday

Why am I not here an hour and

A half ago, when you started?

Because they didn't wan

All this [bleep]

Steve r.:

This is our gold

Captain scott meisterheim

Squared off

With deckhand steve riedel.

I was put in my place

That I'm just a tender.

I just can't handle

Either one of them [bleep]

Narrator: now the skipper's

Laying down the law.

I think they need

A big shot of reality

Before they go back ou

On the water.

[ Spits ]

Captaining this boat is the

Hardest thing I've ever done.

It shouldn't be.

There's one person in charge,

And two people that need to do

What you tell them.

Let me tell you something.

Tell me.

I hope you're

[Bleep] serious

About listening to what I'm

Saying to you this time.

Any time I open my mouth

And say something,

Whether you agree or disagree,

Don't contradict me.

Don't tell me about a better way

To do it.

You'll be gone.

I've had it with you

That much.

You think that's funny?

Okay, scott.

I don't find your laughter

To be very respectful.

[ Sighs ]

I'm holding everything in, okay?

Walker:

He just wants to yell and scream

And belittle you

As much as possible

To make himself feel better.

'Cause it only will take

One phone call

For me to tell vern

That you're done.

And you'll be done.

Trust me.

Do it today.

Okay.

Narrator:

But there's still one deckhand

Who hasn't gotten the message.

I called steve

Early this morning

And told him that jason needed

His help to run this material,

To classify it down smaller,

And he said he was on his way.

Four hours later, I called him

And asked him where he was,

And he was busy taking care of

Stuff in his own personal life.

Well, here you don't have

A personal life.

You have a job to do,

And you do it.

I don't care if it takes

16 Hours a day, 20 hours a day.

You do your job.

[ Cellphone dialing ]

[ Cellphone rings ]

Steve r.:

Hi. Steve.

Hi. How are you?

Don't speak to me that way,

Or I'll hang up.

No. You need to listen to me,

Or I will not talk to you.

Don't interrupt.

Yeah. You do.

Yeah. You do.

No. I do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, that's true.

No.

And he hung up on me.

That's very sad,

'Cause he just reverts

Immediately to 4-year-old,

Except for f-bombs.

4-Year-olds don't use

The f-b*mb.

Except for one 4-year-old

I knew.

He used it one time.

But then that 4-year-old --

Well, he was actually

A 5-year-old.

He threw a phone at me.

So now it's

Five and a half hours now

Since I first called him,

And he's not here yet.

[ Whistling ]

He's pushing it.

He's on thin ice.

Real thin ice.

Steve r.:

It's apparent that scot

Just doesn't want me

On the boat.

He's so aggravated and so

Demeaning that, you know --

And his leadership skills

Are, like, zero.

[ Laughs ]

Steve's here for the gold.

I'm not here for the politics.

So it's a little scary.

I am wary of him.

I'm gonna have one more talk

With him, see how it goes.

I guess his future depends

On his reaction

To what I got to say.

Hey, guys.

Narrator: at the wild ranger

Cleanup shack

Hey, guys.

Meisterheim:

As the leader of the dredge,

I try to run a tight ship.

And to me, a tight ship is

I tell you what to do,

And you do it -- simple.

It's not working that way.

Right now with the wild ranger,

There's gonna be a mutiny,

It's either jason and steve

Are gonna toss me overboard,

Or I'm gonna toss

The two of them overboard.

Just a minute

On the thing.

Just hold on a minute.

Yeah.

We're gonna chat here.

Well, it'll be

A real short chat,

I'm gonna try not to be

A real [bleep]

But I'm gonna tell you

Some [bleep]

And I don't want you

To interrupt me until I'm done.

Okay.

I had the same talk

With jason.

There's no more doing I

Your way or his way.

It's only mine.

And that's

What you're gonna do.

Cool.

Well, I think

That's a bad decision.

I don't care

What you think.

Oh, yes, you do.

Your captaincy sucks.

Don't throw the f-b*mb

At me.

You couldn't captaincy your way

Out of a wet paper bag.

You've made

So many illegitimate mistakes,

Repetitively -- made mistakes

Over and over again.

You can't set an anchor

Worth a damn.

You're a pill

To work with.

[ Laughs ]

No leadership capability.

Your leadership thing

Is like --

On a scale of 1 to 10,

It's a 0.

You somehow fooled yourself

Into thinking

You've got some vested interes

In this boat,

And you don't have [bleep]

You did good

For two days, steve,

And then you started [bleep] up

With your stupid attitude.

Oh.

Don't throw the f-b*mb at me.

That's inappropriate --

[Bleep]

I'll say I

As many times as I want.

Bad, bad, bad.

I don't care.

Spank, spank, spank, scott.

The conversation's over.

Okay. You may leave now.

Leave my presence.

Get out of here.

You need to go away.

I need to get back

To work.

You get the [bleep] out.

Okay. I'll leave.

Meisterheim: okay.

I'm gonna go get isaac now.

Isaac's gonna fix

The boat,

And I'm gonna come back here

And help you.

[ Whistling ]

[ Sighs ]

I tried to be civil and calm.

[ Engine turns over ]

Funny, 'cause I don't see him

Walking anywhere

Which means his a*s

Turned around

And went back

To the [bleep] house.

I wish punching somebody in the

Face wasn't against the law

'Cause I would have done I

Multiple times already.

[Bleep] turned around.

Get the [bleep] out.

You're just talking

A whole bunch of gibberish.

Steve, you just need to go,

'Cause it's going to get ugly.

You get vern on the phone.

Vern throws me out, I'll leave.

Hey, scott.

Hey, vern.

Um, I got to talk to you

About some things.

You got a moment?

It has everything

To do with steve.

Okay.

He's in the [bleep] house righ

Now, and he won't [bleep] leave.

Telephone for you.

Steve r.:

Okay.

Hello.

This is steve.

I have a text message from scot

Asking me to come here,

And I'll show you

The text message.

He's right here.

All I need is for you to tell

Him to get the [bleep] ou

Before I pound

His [bleep] face in.

This is steve.

That's correct.

I just wanted to hear tha

From you, vern,

Because scott's behavior has

Been erratic and uncontrolled.

Okay. I hear you to say

I am to get out of the trailer.

Okay.

Give me

The [bleep] phone!

Whoa.

And ge

The [bleep] out!

I'm leaving.

Please don't hit me.

Okay.

Meisterheim:

Steve is off the boat.

He's done.

Walker:

That went well.

So instead of punching steve

In the face,

I punched the generator.

Well, it didn't feel as good

As punching him in the face.

It did feel pretty good.

Narrator:

On belmont beach

Ian and scott examine

The broken-down sluicey.

Scott: it was like trying to

Dredge in a hurricane.

Okay.

And the visibility

Was crap.

For six straight weeks

Ian: have you ever wanted to see

What a swamped boat looks like?

Here it is.

Narrator: the dredge

Has spent more time in repairs

Than on the water.

Ian:

There's no point in diving

If you can't keep

Any of the gold you suck up.

Narrator: and yesterday,

A busted anti-thrust system

Rained rocks

On scott foster's head.

Ian: this is my first year

Owning a dredge,

Putting one together,

Building it from scratch,

And putting it out there and

Being responsible in the end

For everything that goes wrong.

Ian: two hinges on there.

Two hinges on that side.

What I'm thinking -- two bolts

Will have to go in there.

Scott: I just don't want to

Undo a nut every day.

Yeah.

I got all that.

I've gotten a little bi

Of a vibe

That scott's a little frustrated

With his predicament.

Yeah.

Wouldn't it be sweet if all we

Had to was just go "merrr!"?

Yeah.

Out of respect to him,

He's positive about it,

And he's working hard

And he's not complaining.

But I do get the sense that this

Isn't where he wants to be.

Narrator: so far this season,

Scott's done all the repairs.

Now for the first time,

Ian takes the mantle.

Ian: it's definitely game time

Right now.

I mean, this is my shot.

This is my dredge.

This is my boat. This is my job.

And we got to put time

Underwater.

We don't get paid

For mechanical fixing.

[ Drill whirrs ]

That's it.

[ Engine turns over ]

For the anti-thrust to work,

Put a bolt in it.

And that's gonna hold it fas

So when rocks kick it,

They just kick it straight.

It's like a wall.

And when you ain't dredging,

You pull this pin out,

Lift it up on the hinges.

There she is.

Thrust has been anti'ed.

I'm confident the sluicey

Is gonna be operating

On all cylinders at this point.

Narrator: with the weather

Window still clear

Scotty, we working today

Or what?

The sluicey is back

In business.

Come on, girl.

Taking the saddle again solo.

It's just the way I like it.

Narrator:

A mile up shore

Zeke tenhoff on the clark

Has been grinding on the gold

For nine straight hours.

Emily:

And if we're not careful,

They might sink the dredge,

Potentially.

So if we ever get a rock down

Like this in the sluice box,

We have to clear it out.

It's very possible

That we're losing gold

Because the water's sh**ting ou

The side here.

Tenhoff: the rocks

Weren't washing through,

And they built up.

Emily: zeke, are we getting

Any gold at all?

There's white water

Everywhere.

It's spilling over the sides

Of the box.

Yeah.

Huh?

Gold is heavier than water.

It sinks down with the rocks.

Tenhoff: sometimes if she's

Feeling kind of grouchy

And I ask her to do something

And she gives me some attitude,

I don't want to deal with

That attitude.

You know,

It's like, tread lightly, emily.

I don't really, really actually

Need you here

If you're not making my life

Easier.

Look, emily. I've been

Doing this for years, okay?

Stop freaking, like

I'm just saying, man.

You should've seen I

When I first came up here.

It was all over

The place.

That's because the sluice box

Completely filled with rocks

'Cause we didn't check

To make sure that the sluice

Box was set up right.

I'm gonna [bleep]

Stay up top then.

Okay.

Now we're spending all of our

Time together every day,

And we're working together,

And we're sleeping

In the same tent,

And, you know,

There isn't any space at all.

And it's just too much.

Things get tense between emily

When we're overtired, for sure,

And it's probably gonna ge

A lot worse.

[ Birds squawking ]

Narrator:

A storm rolls into nome

[ Indistinct talking on p.a. ]

Forcing the gold dredgers

Off the water

And kick-starting

A fleetwide cleanout.

On the christine rose,

The pomrenkes hi

Another hot spot.

Moen: the box looks

Amazingly good right now.

Shut up and feed that plant.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator:

Greenhorn cody moen

Proved his mettle

To the boss man,

Helping the dredge bank

A massive 98-ounce,

$166,000 Payday.

There's more gold in the box

Than we thought, so that's good.

Narrator: stuck on shore

With yet another repair,

The sluicey boys manage

Just 2 ounces, worth $3,400.

In their yurt on west beach

Tenhoff: what else are you gonna

Do on a rainy day, you know?

Zeke and emily slowly

Coax out their treasure.

Don't spill that.

Emily: I want go get a master's

Degree in opera in europe,

And that's not gonna be possible

Without a lot of money.

And so it just kind of hangs

Over everything I do.

Tenhoff:

We got to sell this stuff.

You need to go to vienna.

Steve r.:

Well, I'm walking home,

And right now I'm boatless

And happy.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: for the crew

Of the wild ranger

Meisterheim:

That much gold is not good.

The feeble cleanou

Is one more hi

In a season of failures.

All you need

Is about 50 more pans like that,

And you'll have an ounce.

Walker: I came to nome

Totally prepared for everything.

The only thing I was no

Prepared to deal with is scott.

Narrator:

In the middle of nome

Hey, zeke.

How's it going, kenny?

Hey.

Good to see you.

I'm emily.

Hi, emily.

Nice to meet you.

Narrator:

The clark crew are rested

And ready to sell some gold.

Let's see

What you got.

[ Tinkling ]

I love that sound.

3.42 troy ounces.

Tenhoff: 3.42.

I can give

A 60% advance today

And the balance

After it gets processed.

Yeah.

Let's do that.

I need to ge

Some more gold

If I'm gonna get out of nome

This winter.

Might need to pull down

Another 20 or 30 ounces.

So, will $3,700 work

For an advance for you today?

Yeah.

That sounds great.

Is this gonna be enough

To get your ticket to europe?

Yeah.

Kenny:

Ticket to europe?

Yeah.

I'm moving to austria this fall.

You're moving to austria?

Yeah.

And you're leaving

Poor zeke here?

[ Inhales sharply ]

I'd rather be here,

Honestly.

Maybe you're just friends.

Even better.

Thanks very much.

Yep. Thank you.

Nice meeting you, emily.

Nice to meet you.

Zeke, good to see you

Again.

I'll be back.

Have fun in austria.

Thank you.

I will.

Six weeks into the season,

As the christine rose gathers

An insurmountable pile of gold,

The clark is opening up a lead

On the smaller dredges.

Ooh.

What do you say?

I say indeed we shall.

I think it sounds like a grea

Idea in this crappy weather.

Nome may be a cold,

Harsh place,

But 60 miles away,

There's one reliable hot spot --

A volcanic hot spring

Where gold miners have soothed

Their muscles since 1900.

Tenhoff: we just have to go easy

On the jeep.

It's got teeny, little tires.

Scott:

It's like riding a pogo stick.

Oh, this gonna be good,

Guys.

This is gonna be real good.

Emily: this looks pretty steamy

And nice.

[ Laughs ]

For me, diving an 8-hour shif

Is, like, easy-peasy.

I could do that every day.

I loved working the nozzle,

Being down there by myself,

Just moving material.

It was awesome.

I'm a total addict now.

It's just that when you're

Down there at this point --

When you're down there,

I'm not relaxed at all.

I'm on the top,

And I'm completely tense.

That's why I need to be

Down more often --

So you can get used to it,

You can get over it.

Well, we'll see

How it goes.

All right.

No peeking, guys.

I'm gonna peek.

It's dark.

[ Laughs ]

He wants to see if the rumors

Are really true.

Ian: zeke and emily, their

Relationship, it's complicated.

Zeke having to train her

To do what this job is

And then throwing,

Like, living conditions

And everything like that,

It's crazy.

[ Rattling ]

[ Horn blaring ]