10x06 - Miners on the Storm

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
now on "bering sea gold"...

A violent summer storm forces
the fleets into safe harbor...

With the summer season
being so short,

It's not time we can lose.

Narrator: ...but in mining,
there are no days off...

Everyday we have
is so important.

It's just an endless
circle of working.

Narrator: ...and as the captains
toil on their dredges,

They reflect back on their
most dangerous setbacks...

Mother nature has kicked
my a*s in the past,

So I've learned
not to mess with her.

We need to get
the hell out of here.

The dredge is falling apart.

Eroica.
It means hero in italian.

Narrator:
...personal moments...

I finally made it,
and it only took me five years.

That is the best gold cleanup

That we've ever had
in our lives.

Narrator:
...and triumphant achievements
on the bering sea.

Let's go.

-Whoa.
-Ah.

♪♪

Whoa! Stop!

What the ?

Turning dirt into gold.

--Captions by vitac--
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator: the summer mining
season on the bering sea

Is a 120 day window
between the spring melt

And the descent of winter,

But nearly half of those days
are lost as the mining grounds

Are besieged
by storms strong enough

To force the dredges
off the water.

On these days, the fleet seizes
the opportunity to repair

And upgrade their dredges

Because when the weather clears,

The mining grounds
reopen for business,

And it's game on.

♪♪

In nome harbor...

Shawn: it's blowing like hell
right now from the west.

Going to take awhile for it
to lay down after this blow.

But I need to figure out
what's going on

With this generator right now.

Narrator:
...captain shawn pomrenke
is weathering the storm

By repairing a busted
generator on the havilah.

Shawn: helps provide hot water
to the divers.

We got to get this thing
up and running.

Narrator: he'll need it
functional to help reel in

His 1,200-ounce season goal

And fund construction on his
mega dredge through the winter.

With the summer season
being so short,

There's no such thing
as a day off.

Narrator:
along with the repair...

Shawn: I'm going to get it fixed
and we got

To get back for a cleanup.

Narrator:
...the captain has a 2-day run
of bluff concentrates to clean.

Oh, come on.

Once this weather breaks, I want
to be ready to head back out.

Narrator: mr. Gold is no
stranger to broken equipment,

Constantly pushing
his dredge to the limit.

Shawn: I love pushing things
right to the limit.

If you didn't,
life would be boring.

♪♪

We need to get the hell
out of here.

The dredge is falling apart.

Narrator: five years ago,
shawn went head-to-head

With the bering sea
on the christine rose...

It's really fricking bad out.

Narrator:
...and nearly lost everything.

Shawn: this sucks.

Yeah, we probably should have
left a couple hours ago, man.

Mother nature is probably the
only thing that I'm scared of.

You go out and you think
you got her licked,

And if you don't respect her,
she's going to kick your a*s.

I'm getting pushed out
right now into the deeper water.

Straight to the edge.

♪♪

Narrator: after more
than six hours

To travel just 8 miles...

Whoo!

...the cr finally
reached safe harbor.

That's what makes it fun.

♪♪

Shawn:
we pushed it and waited way
longer than we should have,

Getting greedy,
bringing in good gold

And not wanting to leave,
and, you know, like,

"Well, we might get
another 10 ounces.

We might get another 20
if we stay a couple more hours,"

And then you regret it.

Oh, come on.

It's sucking air.

Sucking air somewhere.

Well, I'm trying
to figure it out.

♪♪

Narrator: 90 miles east
at the bluff...

♪♪

Kris: it's caught on this.

Narrator:
...captain kris kelly is
taking advantage of the storm

By reinforcing the pontoons

On his revolutionary
amphibious dredge, the reaper.

Kris: I got
to get this in the back,

And I got to do it
without wrecking it, too.

Narrator:
in the captain's sights,


To establish the irish
as known gold kingpins.

Kris:
halfway point of the season,
we could have done better.

I mean, I know things
are going great

And the boat
is working great,

But I just don't understand
why I'm not over 100 ounces.

I should be over


These pontoons
are a separate piece.

These white pontoons right here,
so I have to keep them in place

So they're not moving around
because I like these pontoons.

I want to keep them,
so I got to make sure

I strap them to the boat
and make sure they're secure

So they don't rub around too
much and puncture themselves.

Narrator: the key part
of the plan to make the mark

Is to keep the reapershipshape.

Kris: taking care of all
the last-minute problems.

Narrator: no easy task when
you're 80 miles off the grid.

Right now, my dad
is taking a fuel run,

And my brother
is nowhere to be seen.

To be a miner,
you need to be a boat captain,

A welder,
a small-engines mechanic.

I can pretty much do anything,

And it's made me a little
c*ck because of it.

♪♪

Narrator: for kris...

Kris:
see what I'm going to do.

Narrator: ...the road from
greenhorn cabin boy

To c*ck captain
has been a journey

Of optimistic self discovery.

-Yeah, yeah.

Steve:
who the hell is the captain?

Who in the
is the captain?

Narrator: kris' first season
in nome found him

Under the mentorship
of minnowowner and captain,

Steve riedel...

Get out of here.

...an aspirational figure
and a demanding taskmaster...

Make us proud.

...who gave him the opportunity
to mine the bering sea...

Crack divers that we are,
the a team is going out.

It's andrew .

...with no instruction
whatsoever...

♪♪

Oh, man, there's not even
a snorkel on his compressor.

Are you okay?

I've been sucking down gas.

I just got a big-a*s
whiff of it.

I gave my brother a little bit
of brain damage,

But he'll be okay,
right, eh?

Here is your gold, andy.

Narrator:
...but after a single season
under the great captain...

Welcome to steve's world.

That's pitiful.

Narrator: ...the payouts
just wasn't there.

Kris, looks like
you're packing up.

I'm going to go work
on another boat.

You quit the minnow?

Yeah, that's correct.

You know, I just, I can't afford
to feed myself anymore.

Steve is kind
of a idiot.

I knew I wasn't making
enough money that day,

But I look back on it now,

And I know that mining teaches
you to work for free an like it.

You'll go a week or two with not
making any money at all,

And then in two days,
you'll pay for everything.

A little adjustment.

Narrator: kris has always faced
adversity with a smile...

Kris:
mining, everyday is a gamble.

There's 100 ways to fail
and only one way to succeed,

And that's get gold.

Boom, almost one side.

Narrator: ...and after their
inaugural season as crew...

Andy:
after our failing season with
steve, we got to do something.

Narrator: ...the family
made the jump to dredge owners.

We're like this
close to making some money,

And I am super excited.

Go.

Go again.

Wow.

Go.

Whoa.

Narrator: with the cheapest
winter operation

In nome's history...

♪♪

...under the cheapest captain
in nome's history...

What the ?

Kris: it's frozen.

...family patriarch
brad kelly...

They say,
"luck of the irish?"

Psh.
We ain't got no luck.

We do have luck: bad luck.

Narrator:
...the process was a wee
bit harder than expected...

It's cold.

I think it's all going
to work out really good.

Here we go.

Narrator:
...but they fought through...

♪♪



...grabbing a taste
of golden possibility.

That'll be $10,698.

Brad: whoa. Finally a payday.

Thanks, steve.

Hey, this is nothing compared
to what we're going to get.

Narrator: ...leading to seasons
of on-the-job learning...

Take her away.

Ah!

...in which the sweet hooligans
climb the steep curve...

...that is gold mining
in the bering sea...

These claims right here
are the new reaper claims

Owned by the kellys.

Kris: there's no cobble
on this entire plains.

This hole is literally
filling in as quick

As I can dredge it out.

We haven't found
any gold at all.

This is another failure.

We're basically .

Narrator: ...and bootstrap
their way to become...

Tell you what,
you give me $30,000 now

And $10,000 next year
when you hit the gold.

... Subsistence status miners
in nome,

-Okay. Okay.
-Oh, yeah. It's yours.

Thanks, man. Thanks.

...all the while buoyed...

Dude, and I'm not even trying,
and there's gold.

...by kris' unquenchable
optimism and determination...

We need a lot of gold today,
man.

I know you can do it.

Every year,
we make it a little higher.

We may go back down,
but we make it up higher.

One day, we'll be
at the top of the peak.

Narrator:
...as he grew into a miner.

Everything is a hope
and a dream.

Just keep trying
until I make it.

I'm a miner.

You know, I can go anywhere
in most countries

And find gold there, I bet.

I'm an adventurer.

I can go to the
north pole tomorrow

And probably launch
an expedition.

Kris, you're the man.

Narrator: coming up...

This dredge
needs to be renamed.

The eroica.

Man: it's twisted quite
a ways up there.

Shawn:
I got to get up on top there.

Whoa.

Narrator: in nome harbor...

The boat got pretty
beat-up on this last run.

...as a summer storm blows
through, captain emily riedel

Is assessing the damage
to her dredge, the eroica.

Emily:
there's a lot to do before
we can get back out there.

Narrator:
emily was on a season-long
quest for 500 ounces of gold,

And at the halfway point,

She still needs 391 ounces
to hit the total.

We have to raise the header
of the sluice box

Up one link on a chain.

I think we should go up
as high as we can.

Narrator:
looking to upgrade her dredge,

The captain is hoping
a sluice box adjustment

Will help her reach her goal
in the back half of the season.

We're not getting the proper
angle on the box,

And it's causing the material
to not be processed.

I'm very passionate
about the eroica.

The eroicais who I am
in nome.

That is the only
identity that I have.

Narrator: the eroica
is the heart and soul

Of emily's operation...

Without the eroica,
I'm pretty much nothing.

Narrator: ...and with
the purchase of the dredge,

Her identity as nome's first

And only female
dredge owner was born.

Emily: I had to spend upwards
of $60,000 on this dredge.

♪♪

My bank account is empty,
so we better find gold fast.

If I can't be a success,
then I will truly know

This isn't right for me,
but I don't know that yet.

This dredge needs to be renamed.

So I'm thinking is,
it's a little bit nerdy,

The eroica.
It means hero in italian.

It's the name of beethoven's
third symphony

That he dedicated to napoleon.

-All right.
-Good name.

Man: the eroica.
It's badass.

I wanted to name it something
that would signify

The hero's journey,
a person who is kind of

Struck down and beaten down
and fights his way back up,

And that's what
the dredge is to me.

Emily, are you going to
come start this or what?

All right, boys.

Whenever you're ready.

Narrator: on the eroica's
first day out...

Emily: I should be the first
diver on the new dredge.

Narrator:
...emily christened the dredge,

Taking the first dive.

All right, you little b*tch.
What you got?

Got it.

Feed it to me.

I don't know what it's like
to have kids,

But I feel like my boat
is like my child.

I am proud of it.

I love seeing it.

I love seeing what it's become,
and I've been a part of that,

And that's a certain connection
that you can't really explain.

We haven't guaranteed this
is going to work.

Like, this is not...
I kind of --

Oh, it's going to work.

Narrator: across the harbor...

I wanted to see if it was
running out of fuel,

But it's not
running out of fuel.

Narrator:
...captain shawn pomrenke
is three hours

Into repairing
a generator on the havilah.

Shawn: I don't know
what the hell is going on yet.

We got probably
one more day of repairs.

Who knows if we'll be out there
when this weather lets up,

But we're going to sure try.

We have to be able to push
through the small,

Little problems,
pushing it to the limit.

It's just
another day for me.

Narrator:
mr. Gold doesn't only push
the limits of his machines.

He also pushes himself
to do whatever it takes

To keep his operation running.

Shawn:
chaos is good for the most part.

♪♪

Whoa! Hey!

♪♪

Narrator: a snapped spud cable
means the christine rose

Is stuck in place...

If the waves came,
we could lose the whole boat.

Narrator: ...and at the mercy
of the bering sea.

Shawn: it's twisted
quite a ways up there.

We ain't got much choice
here now: fix it or swim.

Narrator: for the captain,
there is only

One course of action...

Shawn: I got to get up on top
of there, though.

See, that's the only thing
I don't like right now.

...climb the 30-foot gantry

Without a safety
harness and fix it.

♪♪

Ah.

Whoa.

♪♪

Narrator:
mr. Gold's efforts...

Yeah.

...have exacted their price.

Oh, I'm used to being
right there, hands-on,

Getting it done,
but it breaks you down.

I love gold mining.

It just took its toll
on my body.

Ah.
-The boss is dying.

I'm trying to get my back
back in.

It slipped out again.

Now I'm in horrible pain.

Give me a second.
It might go away.

♪♪

♪♪

It's over.

Cut.

Listen to that.

That sounds beautiful,
doesn't it?

You have to keep
pushing forward,

And you just have to believe
in what you're doing

Is the right thing
and make it happen,

And if you fail,

I mean, you fall down,
get back up and do it again.

Narrator: coming up...

Emily: you're leaving at the end
of a season.

You're walking away
from the boat.

Shawn:
turning dirt into gold.

You touch the dirt,
and it turns to gold.

Narrator: and now,
a first look at

What's to come later this season

On "bering sea gold."

Emily: the reality
of the situation is

Is that there's
always the chance

That we just simply will not
be able to meet our goal.

Kris: now that andy is gone,
there's no going back now.

Dad and I are going
to keep pressing forward.

You know, I still owe my brother
over $40,000 for that boat.

Ken: with the setbacks
we've had, very positive

About the myrtle'sproduction
and what it's capable of doing.

Shawn, he's going down.

You know it's the end of the
season when hell freezes over.

This could be our last chance
to get enough gold

To fund the mega dredge.

Oh, yeah.

-We're almost unstoppable.

Whoa.

You never know if the pay
streak's going to continue

Or if it's going to stop,
but we're hoping it continues.

In the belly of the beast.

Don't die on me.

Kris: whoa.
One of the tires is shredded.

We're screwed.

The whole machine
is underwater.

Ken:
we're in a bad spot right now.

The swell is getting big.

Kris:
that's just k*lling me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Starting to wonder
if I got sabotaged.

Narrator: in nome harbor...

♪♪

We can't have the barge out
because the weather is bad.

Narrator: ...as the fleet
hunkers down to ride out

The mid-season storm...

We got to get
a few things fixed.

Narrator: ...captain ken kerr
makes repairs to his 600-ton

Bering sea beast,
the myrtle irene.

Dave:
if we're going to hit our mark,

We need ken to get
everything running again.

It's been a little tough.

Narrator: the captain and his
business partner, dave young,

Sets an ambitious 2,000 ounce
goal for the season,

But breakdown after breakdown
has kept the myrtle

In the harbor and off the gold.

We're going to finish
the season off strong.

One last little job
to do on my pumps.

Narrator: today, the pressure
is on ken to modify

The massive dredge's
hydraulic system.

Ken: we got a valve stuck open
that has no power to it.

This thing has got all kinds
of weird fittings on it.

Narrator: on the myrtle irene,

A complex system of
hydraulic lines control

Both the excavator and
the two 50,000-pound spuds

That anchor the barge
to the seafloor.

These hoses are 2.5-inch because
they're called dem fittings.

They're from denmark,

So we got the oddest ball
stuff on this barge.

There's no denmark
fittings around nome.

Let's break these loose.

Take that off.

Then we just eliminate
these lines.

We've got a lot of backup parts
and extra parts and pieces

That it seems like
every time, you know,

You just don't have that
one piece that you need.

You just keep hammering down
and fixing it and fixing it.

Eventually, you get to mine.

Narrator: ken has the parts...

Ken: we need to isolate
these tanks.

If we don't do this isolation,
our spuds won't work.

It's simple as that.

Narrator: ...he just needs
to find the right ones

And fit them together.

Ken:
I'll just get some tools out.

Narrator: ken keeps the hammer
down with faith

That the myrtle
will revolutionize

Gold mining in nome

And make him
alaska's greatest miner.

Ken: let's go.

We need air bag
up here somewhere.

♪♪

Narrator: on day one,
dan splashed the beast...

Ken: check all the bags.
Get them all going.

Make sure they all got air.

Narrator:
...on enormous inflatable bags.

Dave: is it going under?

Whoa, whoa!

Whoa, ken!

Stop!

Ken, wait!

Ken: ah!

Narrator: the cost,
just $10,000 a pop.

Grab it.
Go, go, go.

Ken:

Yeah, putting the myrtlein the
water this year was a challenge.

We never rolled one in before.

Popped a couple airbags,
and we had a heck of a time.

Our barge weighs 600 tons.

It's heavy.

♪♪

One real bad mistake,
which we weren't far

From many times,

It would have been
sitting on the dirt,

And it would have
took us a month

To get it up, maybe longer.

Made her.

It's definitely
a learning curve.

This hose will go
into that fitting.

Narrator: to circumvent
the busted valve...

We have to isolate it in there
and isolate it out here.

...ken is going to split
the hydraulic lines,

Allowing the excavator
and spuds to work independently.

I'm fixing it.

We got a plan.

♪♪

Across the harbor...

-Yes.

Could you pull up some so
we could get some reach

On these and unlock?

Yeah.

Narrator:
...captain emily riedel
and her crew

Are five hours
into adjusting the angle

Of the eroica'ssluice box.

We're still having some
issues with our recovery.

You know, you want to have
enough of a pitch

And an angle to where
you're pushing stuff out,

But not so much where to where
you're not keeping stuff in,

And, you know,
we're just not there yet.

We want to make sure
we're there before we get

Into some serious gold.

Narrator: the adjustment
should maximize gold recovery

In the second half
of the season.

Emily: this is very clever
of you guys,

Using the jacks this way,
two jacks, one chain.

We're so much more
than just a jack.

Jack-of-all-trades.

The crew I put on my boat
is very important to me.

I want only the most competent
people to work on my boat,

And I'm only going to hire
the most competent people.

Narrator: emily's personal
connection to the eroica

Extends to her choice
of crew...

Hey, there's our carpenter
skill going to work.

-Work smarter, not harder.
-Yeah.

Narrator:
...but the personal approach

Hasn't always made things easy.

Emily: this is business,
and I am learning,

And I'm learning I'm getting
a baptism by fricking fire.

Derek:
that's all, folks.

So you can take this boat and
see how it does without a crew.

Narrator: when emily took
possession of her dredge

And became a captain...

Emily:
we're still on good ground.

We still have a season left,
and they're walking away.

Narrator: ...she quickly found
out that owning a dredge

Doesn't buy loyalty.

Look, derek. Like...

♪♪

I apologize.
My bad.

-All right.
-Are you...

Have a good day.

Ever since I took on the eroica
five years ago,

It's been a struggle
to find the right people.

Narrator:
...and over the seasons...

Emily:
I've heard you're quitting.

Yeah, I guess so.
Leaving tomorrow.

...she's learned just how fickle
a crew can be.

You know, and I'm sorry.

That doesn't change the fact
that you're leaving mid-season.

I don't care
about your apology.

They don't mean
to me.

There's nothing
for you to say.

I, unlike you,
commit to people.

You up my operation
by leaving,

And you feel good about it,
don't you?

Because I'm moving on.

You feel good about it,
don't you?

Oh, no, I don't.you keep on feeling good

I mean, I feel
apologizing.

Have fun in life
feeling good about it.

I've had a lot of crews
over the years that have quit.

So...i'm going
to leave you.

Obviously,
I'm going with him.

Wait,
you guys are both leaving?

You're walking away
from the boat?

Really?
Really, you guys?

After everything that
I've been through

And you've
seen me go through?

All of you people.

You,
and you.

♪♪

We're that loose
on this side, too.

-Yep.
-Right, right.

Right.
That's the whole idea.

You want
one more on this one?

-Yep.
-Okay.

After all these years,
I feel like it's happened.

You know, I finally found
a spectacular crew

That kind of shares
my vision, you know.

They all are entrepreneurs.

They all are very
accomplished divers.

-Oh, yeah.

Oh, here we got six inches
we can go up.

Let's go up
as high as possible.

Narrator: coming up...

We made it.

-Hell yeah!

Hey, hit me, man.
Go for it, shawn.

-I'm scared of you.
-Yeah, you better be.

Narrator: 90 miles east
of nome at the bluff...

Kris: we got to try as hard
as we can to get

As much as we can done today.

Narrator:
...captain kris is putting the
final touches on a pontoon fix

So when the weather clears,

The reaperwill be ready
to hit the water.

Kris: this is our year.

The new reaper
is doing great right now.

It's exactly what you want
from a beach launcher.

We just push our boat off,
and bam, we're making money.

It was one of the better ideas
I've ever come up with.

When the boat sits in the water,
the pontoons are going suck up,

So we don't really have
to worry about that.

I just want to make sure they
don't slide around in there.

Oh yeah, there's a few downfalls
with the reaperdesign.

It's too small.

You know, it can't really
handle the big waves.

You ever see the little
rubber ducky in the ocean?

It just rocks back and forth.

Sooner or later, we're going
to end up flipping it over.

You could use a little bit
more flotation,

But everything could
be changed and adapted.

Okay, one, two.

We're going to make it tight
just to make sure.

This is kind of like the
beginning of my mining career.

Those other years were just
learning to be a miner,

And that's what I've wanted
since the first day

I got to nome.

Narrator: the process
lit a spark in kris kelly.

Kris: almost done.

It came the realization
that my dad...

He had no idea
what he was doing,

And if I keep following him,

We're headed up
a path to nowhere.

Narrator: for the fighting irish
to achieve golden greatness,

They need to follow
a different kelly.

Kris: we're going on this
crazy adventure.

This is the first day of it.

Narrator: destiny was calling.

There's our 1,000 ounces,
so we just got to go and get it.

Let's go.

He would be cabin boy no more.

♪♪

Kris grabbed the mantle
of captain...

We're going to follow
shawn to the bluff.

...and set a simple,
inspired plan into motion.

We made it!

-Hell yeah!
-Whoo!

Follow shawn pomrenke
to golden glory at the bluff.

What's up,
you idiot?

What's up, stupid ?

-Shawn --
-no.

Are you with me?

No.

I think you're
with me.

How am I with you,
dude?

Huh?
Did you guys come find this?

-I can't --
!

-No.
!

Hey, dude, I deal with ken
yelling in my face all day.

Did you find !
What are you going to --

Hit me then.
Go for it, shawn.

-Oh, I'm scared of you.
.

Yeah, I'm
scared of you little .

You guys are a couple
of coward pieces of .

...that suck and got a leech
off of other people.

After battling mr. Gold...

Have a good day, shawn.

Comm line is busted.

...shoddy equipment...

...and each other...

You want to call me a ?

...the plan proved foolproof.

-9.3.
-9.3 ounces.

That is the best gold cleanup
we've ever had in our lives.

In our lives.

Narrator: ...as captain kris
led house kelly

To its best ice season ever.

Whoo-hoo!

Whoo!

I know how to read the ground.

I know how gold moves.

I know there's so many aspects
of gold mining

That you need to learn before
you can call yourself a miner,

And I finally made it,

And it only took me
five years.

Okay, that's it.

I need dad to get back
and my brother

To get back from wherever
the he went.

♪♪

But I'm ready to go mining.

I feel that we're on track
as a successful business.

I mean, if my dad and brother
were behind me

And we didn't fight


We would have
been there two years ago.

♪♪

Narrator: 80 miles west
in nome harbor...

Ken: we're about to make
a big mess out here.

We got to take these lines
and connect them.

Start sucking.

Narrator:
...ken kerr is improvising.

Ken: suck this oil out of here.

Narrator: short on time
and with a jumble of parts...

We'll go ahead and
put these two together.

...the captain
is trying to modify

The myrtle'shydraulic system

And be ready to mine
as soon as the weather clears.

Hey, dave.

Here, grab that hose.

This one here
with that one.

Dave and I work real good.
We're like brothers.

I'm going to screw it in.
-I want to try.

-Get out of here.
-Let me try it.

Get out of here.

-Let me try.
-Get out of here.

You know, we're the largest
private-owned

Gold miners in nome.

See the difference to them?

That's weird.

We formed arctic sea mining
in spring of 2014.

I met dave in 2013,

And we hit it off right away.

Next thing you know,
kept calling me and bugging me

About going in partners on it.

He brought in the investors
and some money.

I had the leases, you know,
and I had all the ground.

Together, we flew out
to oakland, california,

And looked at this barge,
the myrtle.

It had the spuds
already on it.

Arctic sea mining came together
when we looked at the barge,

And we decided, "let's buy it."

Built the myrtle irene
in the first year.

You know, it's an older
excavator and older equipment.

Building the myrtle irene,
it was a challenge.

Still is because we're still
working on it and developing it.

From the beginning to the end,
me and dave,

He gets them funds
and I get it done,

So the two of us
make a good pair.

I know
it's going to fit it.

We join these together, we won't
be leaking no more fluid.

Smash them.

Narrator: coming up...

Okay, 60, 70...

Narrator:
and now, "weathering the storm"

With the miners
of "bering sea gold."

Emily: if it weren't for the
fact that the bering sea weather

Is so unpredictable,

We would probably
all be millionaires

Because there's so much
gold out there.

Kris: very treacherous.

For some reason,
it can go from flat oceans

To 4-foot breakers in minutes.

Ken:
you're at the sea's mercy.

You know, big wave just
comes out of nowhere.

Where the heck
did that come from?

You might get a wind that all
of a sudden picks up,

And I'm like,
"what in the hell?"

It drives you crazy.

Shawn: you got winds coming
from a different direction,

And the weatherman
was totally wrong,

And you don't know
what the hell is going on,

But for some reason,
I love the bering sea.

Narrator: 80 miles east of nome
at the bluff...

There is definitely a
load of gold here.

Narrator: ...a summer storm
has forced kris kelly

Off the water for almost a week.

I just got to get out there.

The next nice day,
get out there and hit it hard.

With half the season in the
rearview mirror, it will be up

To nome's
most optimistic dredger,

To captain kelly united
to their season goal.

Kris: at the halfway point
of the season,

Every dive hour we have
is so important.

Every day we get out there,

We need to put in
as much work as we can.

I can do it.

You know, I can do it,
and watch me.

♪♪

Narrator: back in nome...

Looking pretty minable
tomorrow actually, bob.

I think you is up next tomorrow,
eh, if we go mining?

Narrator:
emily riedel is finishing

The final fixes on her dredge.

It does look like tomorrow

Could be a potentially
dredge-able day.

Oh, yeah.
It will be.

I know that my boat is capable
of producing hundreds of ounces,

And it's just going to take
the right circumstances,

The right weather,
and with that,

We can be successful.

That sounds like we're about
as good as we're...

-Yeah.
-...going to get.

That's all she wrote.

♪♪

Narrator: just 50 yards away...

Kenny.

We're done.

Let's get back down.
Let's get up on that gold.

Yeah, let's get some gold.

Captain ken kerr
and business partner

Dave young have
finished modifying

The myrtle irene's
hydraulic system.

We finally just took the hoses
apart and capped them.

We macgyvered them up
and welded some ends

And took some ends that we had
on some other hoses

And, you know, put them together
and finally got it fixed.

Narrator:
the biggest dredge in nome

Is ready to tear up
the gold grounds

Once mother nature lets up.

♪♪

All right. Let's go.

Hopefully the weather holds out
for a fun day of digging.

Narrator: across town
at the pomrenke compound...

Shawn: I'm like a goose
golden eggs.

Narrator:
...mr. Gold has one last task
before the storm clears...

We're turning dirt into gold.

Narrator:
...clean the concentrates

From a 2-day
run at the bluff...

Shawn: that's what I do.

I touch the dirt,
and it turns to gold.

Narrator:
...and with construction
of the mega dredge underway...

Shawn: millions upon millions
of dollars worth of gold

Is left in that ocean,

And I'm going to build
a machine to get it.

Narrator:
...shawn will need to keep
the ounces flowing.

♪♪

Okay.






Is worth over $105,000.

Shawn: I mean, right now we're
halfway through the season,

And I definitely need
to focus on the mega dredge.

We need another 1,000 ounces.

There ain't no stopping
at this point.

I'm going to make this thing
happen one way or another.

You just keep making gold.

♪♪

Yep, smells like money.

Every 100,000 counts.

Narrator:
as the storm blows through,
mr. Gold solidifies his spot

At the top of the count,

But when the weather clears,
the battle begins again.

Kris: you know,
it's been a long, hard struggle

To get to this point.

Let's do it.
Let's go.

Shawn: and boom, 1,000 bucks.

Boom.

Brad: shawn is .

Stuff happens when
you're out there, I mean,

You just keep working.

Ken: I know one thing.

You got murphy's law: whatever
can go wrong will go wrong.

He's in danger of getting burned
by boiling water

Pouring through his dive suit.

It's really high up here.

Man: we might have 100 ounces
in a day.

Emily: hey.