15x04 - No Jane, No Gain

[bunniefuu]

[honking]

[Dave]
What do you say, Vernon?

[Emily] Welcome.

[narrator] Two new arrivals
on the Golden Coast.

Each with dreams.

I'll give you a full day's
pay, free, if you'll take me.

[narrator] And
stars in their eyes.

I'm definitely excited.

I am not nervous yet.

[narrator] But will they make
it on mining's toughest stage?

Cause to mess up
out here is to die.

[narrator] There is drama.

I literally [bleep] in a
plastic bag this morning.

[narrator] There is love.

I swear to God I think we
still have a future together.

I just don't know.

Better take my
temperature. I got a fever.

[narrator] There is riches.

Gold fever.

[narrator] And there is danger.

I can see the
hospital right there.

That's good news.

Somebody on this
boat is going to die.

[narrator] Now on As
The Bering Sea Churns.

A long stretch of
rough sea conditions

put a squeeze on the
miners plans for summer

as the gold has
been hard to come by.

Now as Mother Nature
opens a window to opportunity,

each member of the fleet is
looking to make the most of it.

[crow cawing]

[Emily] Weather is good again.

It's a calm day. The
visibility should be improving.

So we'll get out there
and see how she rolls.

[narrator] For Emily Riedel,
that means expanding her team.

So this morning heading to the
airport to pick up one Miss Jane Kilcher.

I asked her to come up.

She's a good friend of mine,

and she's gonna help me stand on
the boat for the rest of the season.

I definitely need
some additional help,

and it would be great
to have Jane around.

I mean she's a hard core chick.

I've set the bar at 250
ounces this season.

It will be a struggle for sure,

especially with the
weather the way that it is.

But I think we can do it.

I'm building a family,

so I need to build a
legacy to go with it as well.

[Emily] I think the
plane is on the ground.

So I think she'll be rolling
out with her luggage here.

In order to get
where I need to be,

I need to add a new
member to the team.

So I'm bringing up
my friend Jane Kilcher.

She's someone I trust.

She is a good friend of mine.

And she'll bring an
Alaskan frontier attitude

to this business, which
I think is much needed.

- Janny.
- [Jane] Hey.

[Emily] Hey hey.

[Jane] Hotter than I thought.

[Emily] Yes it is.

[Jane] It's only cause you
have your nice feather jacket on.

[narrator] Jane
Kilcher has been living

the Alaska frontier
life for years.

[Jane speaking]

[Jane] It's too big for
us to bring it on board.

- I want to sh**t it.
- [g*nsh*t]

[narrator] Tackling every
challenge that's come her way.

And always in her
own unique style.

Come on, move.

Move.

Excited to see muskox
and baby muskox.

But I've never been
on a dredge ever.

Not even... not even
been close to one.

[Emily speaking]

Not only have I
never been on dredge.

I'm kind of going in blind.

I didn't even like look it up.

[laughs]

So obviously Jane
knows absolutely nothing

about gold mining, but she
is an Alaskan to the core.

She has had this
badass, do it yourself life.

She was a commercial
fisherman for a while,

and then she's been living
on a homestead for a long time.

She's not afraid of
anyone or anything.

She's perfect for Nome
and perfect for gold mining.

Was that your?

Uh. Yeah. That's our boat.

Yeah, that's the Eroica.

[Jane] How is it Eroica?

Yeah, uh, well, at least
they don't say Eroica.

No, unless there's a
lot of PDA on your boat.

I mean...

[Emily speaking]

I'm definitely excited.

I'm not nervous yet, but I'm
looking over at the dredge,

this looks like
a floating shack.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Well, dredging, the...

[Emily] You can
say dredging, yeah.

[Jane] So we're going dredging.

[Emily] The action of dredging.

You could call it
sucking, but that's...

[Jane] We're not sucking.

- Well...
- [Emily] A little bit.

Yeah, dubious.

Back to harbor.

Honestly, I wonder
what people on the boat

are gonna make of Jane.

There is definitely never
quite been anyone like

Jane on the Eroica or on any
other boat in the world really.

[chuckles]

[Emily] We're about
to do a shift change,

so this is perfect time

to kind of show
her around the boat.

How do you even dredge?
I've never been on one.

I'm gonna see how it
works. So I'm excited.

[Emily] The lease is
like a mile by a mile,

and we're pretty close to it.

It's like a three mile trip.

Most important
thing for Jane today

is to get acclimated to the way

the dredge works as
quickly as possible.

Oh, we're almost there.

Because we just don't have
a lot of time to slow down

and teach her what's up.

Time on the sluice
box is too precious,

so she's just gonna
have to like jump right in,

sink or swim, see how it goes.

There's no rails on the
boat, bothers me greatly.

I guess I'll be
doing this a lot.

Very rustic.

[Jane speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Okay.

Like Darth Vader over here.

That's him breathing?

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Oh.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[Emily] Yeah.

[Emily speaking] That's what's
making the air for the diver.

[Jane speaking]

[Jane] Afraid he's
gonna stop breathing.

[producer speaking]

My initial thoughts is I can
see the hospital right there,

that's good news.

- [Emily] Yeah.
- [laughs]

Straight to the hospital.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] We're dredging.

[narrator] But Emily is not the
only miner adding manpower.

[Vernon] Hey, Bryan,
hey let's go pick up Gary.

Yeah, I saw the plane land a
couple of minutes ago, so he

ought to be getting his bag.

[narrator] Vernon Adkison is bringing in a
heavy hitter in hopes of upping his game.

[Vernon] Time getting short.

The gold of getting cold
and we need to bring it up.

Get the show on the road.

It's been blowing like,
like a blue ball banshee,

but I think that wind is
just about blown itself out.

The ocean is laid down,
it's go time, it's show time,

it's time to get the gold.

The start of the
season has been rough.

I am looking to get 300 ounces.

I am looking to move into
the top tier here in Nome.

But so far it's been one
gut punch after another.

But I am stepping up big.

There is Gary.

He is travelling light.

Yeah, buddy, get some gold.

[Vernon] Nice.

[Gary] Yeah.

I'm expanding my dive team.

I'm bringing in one of
my aces Gary Simpson.

That ought to put us
back in the fast lane.

[Vernon] Hey, Gary.

[Gary] It's good to be back.

[Vernon] We got the team
back together, we'll start moving.

And that's what it's all
about, getting that gold.

Gary is the beast.

[Gary] Oh! Wow!

There is gold right here.

[Vernon] There you are Gary.

We've got to rename
you, you'll be the,

Gary the gold gorilla.

[bleep]

Now these two polar bears in tow

and good weather
in the forecast,

we still have time to
make this season lift.

[Gary] I'm ready to
kick some a*s out here,

make some gold.

[Vernon] Okay.
Everything ready to go?

[man] Yeah.

[Vernon] Go out there
and get some gold.

[narrator] But the gold ship
crew is not alone in the harbor.

[Vernon] How the hell are you?

[Dave] What do you say, Vernon?

[Vernon] You brought
your weight belt with you?

No.

Oh, that's the one
thing I couldn't bring.

It's too heavy.

But I wanted too because I
brought every damn thing else,

you could believe that.

This voice calls out.

And I know this voice, even
though it's been years since I heard it.

Oh, God, it's Dave Thompson.

We call him Hurricane Dave.

Hands down the most
intense man I've ever known.

We're talking, hold on to
your life kind of intensity.

[Dave] Hey it is damn
good to see you, my friend.

Dammit, brother.

I've been waiting nine
years to do this Vernon.

Nine [bleep] damn years.

Yeah, that's a
long time to wait.

[Dave] I'm telling you, look,

it is so good to see you.

[Vernon] Well, it's good
to see you, too, Dave.

Dave, he made a
memorable impression

when he was out
here mining for me

almost a decade ago.

[Dave] I'd love to
offer my services.

No promises.

But you're invited to come down

tomorrow morning at about eight.

Okay.

So I am going to get off your
boat, leave you guys alone,

you all can talk about
me and decide whether,

oh no, this idiot, no, no.

It started with him
completely losing it

when he was unimpressed with
our equipment that we had on hand.

My God, my God,
I can't believe it.

They don't have a weight belt.

My God.

Now to his credit, he did
manage to pull it together.

Let me get down there
and find out what's going on.

Come back and attempt one dive.

But it all went to
hell in a hand basket.

Pretty damn fast after that.

[Dave speaking]

[Vernon] Yeah, we got 60
pounds of air up here Dave.

[Dave speaking]

[Vernon speaking]

[Dave speaking]

[Vernon speaking]

[man] What's up? 60 psi, 60.

Yeah.

All right, so this is it.

It's over.

[water splashing]

I guess that's the end of Dave.

I thought that was the
last time I'd ever see Dave.

I mean, why would
I think otherwise?

But lo and behold, here he
is as he lives and breathes,

all juiced up and
wound tighter than ever.

And I have absolutely no
idea what he's doing here.

[Dave] I understand you're
gonna try to leave the dock.

[Vernon] Yeah.

I'll give you a full day's
pay, free, if you'll take me.

Just let me see
what you're doing.

That's it.

Don't pay me a thing.

You don't even have
to buy me a drink.

All right. Well,
well, here's the deal.

You're welcome to come
and observe and see

how we do it and like I
said, we'll get things going.

Well, if you're interested
in taking me on, Vernon,

I'm all for that.

After that, I'll have to
figure out what I can do.

If I can work with you if
we can figure all this out,

all the better, because
I really like you.

And if we can't, because
you can't use me,

I understand that too.

Yeah.

All right.

Let's go have some fun.

- That's what I am saying.
- [Dave] Okay?

[Vernon] Yeah.

Oh, well, let me give the...

[Dave] Let me get
out of your way.

There's not much I can do here,

except stand around and watch.

I don't want to stick my
hands where they don't belong.

- So...
- [Vernon] Yeah, good stuff.

Just lay low until
we get going here.

I started this
season light on crew,

but now I've got more divers
than I know what to do with.

I don't know if Dave will
ultimately make the cut.

I mean, the guy is a
commercial sponge diver.

He's legit, but he's nuttier
than a squirrel on mushrooms.

So we'll just have
to see how this goes.

All right here we go boys.

[producer speaking]

I came back to get the gold.

That's it.

I came here nine years ago

when I first found
out about this.

Didn't work out back then.

I didn't fail, I learned.

Who is it that said that?

Right, Nelson Mandela
once said, "I don't lose.

I only win or learn."

I didn't lose nine years ago.

I learned everything I needed to,
to come back here and try again.

And here I am, we'll see.

It's a hell of a boat
you got here, Vernon.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

There's good gold
all around out there.

We'll get on something.

[narrator] While seas
are calm in the east,

out west on Tomcod,

growing swells are making
conditions not too swell.

But back in the harbor.

We're here at the
barge, ready to go,

and we're on standby

until the ocean calms
down just a little bit more.

[narrator] One captain is still
hoping to get back on the water.

You know, there's
pretty big swells out there

and it will just kick
our a*s all day with.

We are so close to
going, it's disgusting.

Now's it not the time to go out.

You know, if I was
to try and push it,

I can actually break
something on the barge.

[Kris] Well I don't
give two [bleep]

I just want to get on the water.

This is gut wrenching.

I went for the brass ring,
and so far it's been a disaster.

Right now, I owe 125,000 in
three weeks just to keep going.

So I'm enacting a two-prong
plan just to get back on track.

Get the Mistress and the
Reaper on the water today.

But James is crying
that it's too rough

to take the Mistress out.

It's a freaking excavator barge.

Come on, man.

[Kris] Look at this.

[bleep]

[James] Go for it.

Hey, what the [bleep].

What the [bleep]
dude, you just said,

we couldn't go
and they're going.

I hate to be passed.

We have to go. We have to.

[James speaking]

[James] Fire up the
thrust master, please.

[man] Okay, thank you.

I hate to see
everybody going out.

And my captain is a [bleep].

It's really important
for us to get out there

and make some money because
everybody is going hungry.

And I'm not even joking around.

We're going hungry.

We need to start
making some gold.

We have rent to pay.
Everybody's got bills.

And we got a big payment
at the end of the month.

Thank God we're on our way out.

[Kris] Dude, we should
have been out here hours ago.

Look at how flat this is.

James is too
conservative for my liking.

And I don't really give [bleep]

how much I have to argue
with James to get out here.

I just don't want to hear
people bitching saying,

I don't want to go out.

And it's not that I
don't want to go out.

I just want to be able
to go out and go mining.

And I mean, I admit
you don't want to draft

your $2 million operation.

You definitely don't.

But if your $2 million operation

doesn't make any gold,

it's a sack [bleep] you
know, so, you know,

like it's, it's kind
of like a fine line

of what we can get
away with this season.

And I personally think
this boat is a battleship.

It can handle a lot of action.

It can handle some damage.

Is port spud ready to drop?

Okay, we're on our spot.

We're dropping
the spud into place.

Every hour we're now
running is $400 that we lose.

We're ready to
turn everything on

and finally start
making some money.

I'm ready for the shaker.

Okay.

Good.

James really didn't even
think we were going out today.

And I mean, I admit
there is a little bit of a swell.

What the [bleep]
you expect this ocean

to be like a lake thing
out here and make money.

Dude, I'm just
trying to hold on and,

you know, wait for these
sets to calm down a second.

But I can't [bleep] dig in this.

I'm getting [bleep]
kicked out of me.

Probably [bleep] break something.
'Nother [bleep] big set coming in.

[bleep] hold on Michael.

[producer speaking]

Yeah. Hang on.

[man speaking]

I can't...

[man speaking]

[James speaking]

The swells are pretty deceiving.

That's what I keep
trying to tell everybody.

Right now this [bleep] these
swells are kicking our a*s.

[James speaking]

[man] Kelly?

What's up?

What's up?

A little too rough.

[James] Yeah.

[James speaking]

God, these swells are
[bleep] spuds and spud wells.

This is gonna snap one.

[James speaking]

[Kris] I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

I was kind of forced
to come out here and,

you know, push it,
but I never wanted to.

Yeah, okay.

It is a little too swelly.

[James] Let's go home.

I'm the boss of this operation,

and I have to make tough calls.

Kevin supplies money, but
he's back in the lower 48.

So, look, it's just me now,
and I thought James was wrong,

but this time it turned
out he was right.

Those swells don't
look like much,

but they're deceptive as hell.

We're getting beat [bleep].

But we'll stop for the morning

and we'll go back
in a few hours.

We've got to keep trying.

Well [bleep] stop.

I am sorry I keep
pushing us into things.

And I got to get out of
here and make this work.

And I get bummed out when
I feel like I'm working for free.

Eventually I'm gonna get
tired of saying I told you so,

and something
major is gonna break

and they're gonna look
at me and oh my god, well,

what [bleep] did you expect?

I think Kris is gonna
hopefully start listening.

And if he start
to see the reality,

no matter what I do,

what I say, I don't think
they're ever gonna [bleep]

understand the ocean and what it's
like to work on a [bleep] splendid barge.

It's not a dredge,
we're not on anchor.

It's just depressing, you
know, very depressing.

We didn't make any money at all.

So I'm on an expensive
boat ride with no drinks.

Wow, amazing.

Oh, it actually looks
pretty good, huh?

[narrator] While he waits
for swells to die down,

Kris Kelly has got another shot

at testing the new Reaper in
the flat waters of the harbor.

[Kris] Feeling
real lucky it should.

You're permitted to come aboard.

Well, we're just gonna
test start up the engines,

test everything out, make sure
we have no major problems.

[Kris] To make
Reaper Nation a reality,

it's supposed to be a
two-pronged as*ault.

I head up the Mistress.

My dad and brother
run the Reaper.

The swells are too
big for the Mistress.

I'm gonna see if those
clowns got the Reaper ready.

Judging by the fact my
dad was too lazy to show up,

I'm not optimistic.

[Kris] Well, do you need
to shorten that anchor line

on that back because
that's way too [bleep].

Start to prime the system and
let's go through the motions.

[engine starting]

[Kris speaking]

[Kris] There's no gas in it.

No, I thought Dad...

I'm not gonna say it dude.

[Kris] Okay, let's...

We obviously didn't
come prepared.

[Andy] No, because, you
know, you ask dad to do

the simplest thing
and he can't do it.

[engine starting]

Hop that thing.

Idle up.

[Kris speaking]

[Kris] The hose is
like three feet too long

because it's just
binding up on everything.

[Andy] You guys have
everything off [bleep].

[Kris] Have a go at dad not me.

Buddy, in order for us
to succeed this season,

we're gonna not have to
blame things on our dad.

[Andy] Oh, well, he's
the one that [bleep] it up,

whom I supposed to blame, Kris?

[Kris] Well, you're
supposed to do it yourself.

Two major things I've
noticed with this test so far.

One, the Reaper
is a dumpster fire.

Nothing is set up right,
the system is messed up.

And two, Andy's instinct
is just blame my dad.

Yes, my dad is a disaster.

We know that.

But Andy needs to step up
and start acting like a captain.

Time for me to crack the whip.

[Kris] You have too
much rope on this.

You need to shorten this up.

That whole set up
is not gonna work.

Try doing that when
the waves are big

and you're gonna be sorry.

You need clamps for that.

That cleat is not gonna
support the anchor.

Of course you guys put
the battery on the foul line.

You didn't even try to
dial this boat in at all.

[Kris] That rope
needs to come up.

The pickup points are wrong.

The foot valves,
the crane at the front,

the gas, I don't even think
that gas system is gonna work.

[Andy] Oh man, this
whole system is [bleep].

[Kris] You guys aren't
gonna make it anywhere.

Pull that anchor up.

Start the outboard.
Let's get back.

Everything is
[bleep] on this boat.

[Andy] That's what
my dad is good at.

[Kris] And all I'm hearing is a lot
of it blaming my dad for all of this.

- [bleep] - [Andy]
What was that?

All I'm hearing is everything
that's going wrong,

you're just, that's dad's, that's
dad's fault, that's dad's fault.

That's dad's
fault is over there.

You have to take accountability
for your own [bleep].

[Andy] I am [bleep].

[Kris] I need you to
[bleep] run this thing. [bleep]

Okay, well, good job then.

Good job at all this.

[Andy] Where is my
other partners then?

Who is your other partner?

You need to be able
to do this yourself.

[Andy] So why do I need
dad on the boat for then?

[Kris] Dude, you know, it's
like right now stop worrying

about dad all the time, you...

[Andy] What do I need him for?

Well, what are you
doing on the boat,

man everything
is all [bleep] up.

You can't run this
boat by yourself.

You obviously need dad.

You obviously need him
next to you every second

because why isn't
everything going?

Everything that [bleep] up,

but not everything
that's dad's work.

[bleep]

[Kris] Do you see what I mean?

Put the air compressor,
put the air lines.

Oh, yeah, buddy, that
was all dad, not me.

So if I have to go
over dad's work,

what do I need dad for?

You, because you're...

You guys are [bleep] equals.

So obviously, you can't
do anything without dad,

because right now
dad is not here.

Nothing is working.

Start the [bleep] please.

[producer speaking]

How the [bleep]
you think it went?

[Kris] We got to fix the
water [bleep] on this boat.

And we need to do it today.

[narrator] While things on
the Reaper are stirred up.

On the other side of the harbor.

[Shawn] Security, security,
security, Little Irene,

leaving the inner
harbor, heading for sea.

[narrator] Mr. Gold's
gotten word,

swells on the
Tomcod have receded.

We finally got a
good weather window.

Getting out, we're
going digging.

[narrator] And you don't
have to tell Mr. Gold twice.

This is the one, this
is the run make some,

something amazing happen.

What's going to happen?

We got high, high,
high north winds coming.

You got to pull that water out,

it's gonna drop it down
and we're gonna be able

to take out to that
next beach line

that is just out of the
reach of the Myrtle.

So I can hit that next beach
line for four or five days,

we're gonna do really well.

[Shawn] The north
winds have come in.

That calms the swells,
pushes the water out,

and it's gonna allow me
to get to this beach line

I've been wanting
to get to forever.

It's been too deep,
inaccessible until now.

And this spot should be
absolutely packed with good stuff.

And this is exactly
what we need.

Since the Myrtle has been on
the bench for at least a week.

Just get another claim.

I'm gonna start
doing some test pans.

See what we got here.

[Dylan] And it takes a while to get
used to everybody does it different.

Everybody likes their
own way of doing it.

There should, should
be some gold here.

We want to see a smiley face.

Few pieces, not
what we're looking for.

We're going to go
ahead and move.

Oh, you're good, go up.

Let me try another.

Come on, I want to
see some cheese.

I don't feel real hot about
how we're doing right now.

But you know what, if we keep
pushing through we're going to find it.

No spot up.

Crap.

I got all my old points on the
GPS from the Christine Rose.

Let's go to that.

Nine years ago I tried
digging in that area

and there was really good gold,

but it was too deep a material
for the Christine Rose to dig in.

But I'm hoping that the
Myrtle is the machine

that will dig in that
area really good.

So we're gonna ahead, get
into the middle of this area

and see if we could
get to the bottom of it.

Hopefully it's good.

Myrtle is an absolute
game changer for me.

It can go to the
depths of 25 feet

where the Christine
Rose can only go to 19.

And it has a six yard bucket.

Those extra feet are critical.

It opens up ground I've
wanted to mine for years.

All right boys,
we're in the spot.

See what the hell
we can find here?

Hoping to see some sand on top

because all the suction
dredgers don't like sand,

so they stay away from it.

But this thing doesn't care

whether there is two,
three feet of sand,

it will dig right through it.

Oh, we got sand.

Come on, show me some
gravel underneath there.

Good, there is some
gravel under there.

Yes, there is.

If there is any gold in
here, it will be in this bucket.

[Shawn speaking]

Yeah, that's what
I am talking about.

Uh-huh!

That's some good stuff.

Dylan has got a
smile on his face.

There's only one thing
that puts a smile on my face.

Fire everything up,

prime the pump, make gold.

Woo!

We are good to go.

Oh he is coming up.

Wow, God, that is
some contraption.

This is all very crazy.

I'm gonna be
using that word a lot

because that is what it is.

But it's super cool.

I am definitely
afraid to fall over.

No, whaling.

[narrator] As captain
Emily expands the team,

her newest recruit is getting
a crash course in dredging.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Yes.

Oh, wow.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Oh wow.

[Emily] Yeah. Oh my God.

This is a lot of gold.

I just got here too.

That's crazy, Emily.

Get back to work guys.

Oh my God, looks like
you're buying dinner.

It can be life
altering to see gold

in that sluice box
for the first time,

and we're k*lling it today.

So I think Jane
is loving it so far.

And I think it's inevitable she's
gonna develop insane gold fever.

[Emily speaking]

It's like a jewelry
shop down there.

- It's so much gold.
- Yeah.

So it's super nice to have
Jane's energy on the boat.

She's funny. She
adds a lot of pizzazz.

There has been a lot of
surly, minor dudes on this boat

over the years, so
it's really nice to have

a badass woman on the team.

[Emily] So this is a motor,
it's a 100 horse diesel motor,

and it's connected to the pump.

[Emily speaking]

[engine starting]

Purred like a cat.

Things are making sense.

But I get is that it's really
loud on this boat all the time.

[laughs]

[man speaking]

[Jane] Oh, you did down here.

Oh, it's heavy.

[Jane speaking]

[man speaking]

[Jane] Okay.

[Emily speaking]

[man speaking]

[Jane speaking]

[man] What's my air pressure at?

[Jane] Looks like the
air pressure is at 200.

[man] 200?

[Jane] 20.

I am gonna put my
glasses on, it's 20, seriously.

[Vector speaking]

I wonder if he knows
I'm eating his wheat thins.

Okay, we weigh them.

Yeah, so you can ask
them how the gold is.

[Jane] Okay.

[Emily] How the visibility is?

[Jane] How is the visibility?

[Vector speaking]

[Jane] Ooh.

How is the gold looking?

[Vector speaking]

[Jane] Wow.

[Jane speaking]

Cause to mess up
out here is to die.

That's awesome.

Thanks, everybody.

Thanks, Nome
and all your crazies.

Like everybody here is crazy,
whoa, whoa, whoa, hands down.

There is gold, so I
see why it's worth it.

Looks like a jewelry
shop in the little sluice box.

We have a beautiful day, and
everybody is getting along on this boat.

And there's lots of
gold in this sluice box.

So, rock and rolling down there.

[narrator] One mile east.

We're looking quite predictive.

We're trying to find the
spot that we call easy gold.

That's what we're doing.

[narrator] With his A
team finally reassembled

and the wild card in the mix.

Three forty seven, we ought
to be getting pretty close.

[man] Yeah.

[narrator] Vernon Adkinson
is hoping for his first

hot streak of the summer.

I'm showing up about 800 feet
from the spot we got marked.

We're looking for a location
I've deemed easy gold.

It's a little spot that
I've kept up my sleeve

just for an occasion like this when
we're desperate to get on good stuff fast.

[Vernon] All right,
here we go boys.

We are here back
on that easy gold site.

[Vernon] Okay. We're
right over the spot.

All right drop rear
anchor. Good.

Now the trick is
to set the anchor

just right so the
boat will stay there.

It's got a lot of
current out here,

and we get drug
all over the place.

[Vernon] Put out about 50 feet,

and let's see what
this current is gonna do.

The problem is the wind
and current spin the boat

around like a rag doll.

So you got to dump
the anchor ahead

of where you want
the boat to end up.

It's a precision art form, but
I've gotten it down to a science.

Right now I'm just
letting the current take us

and settle into the anchor.

And we'll stay here pretty close

to where we put this damn thing.

[man speaking]

All right, then it is
coming around some.

Eventually both
anchors will bite in,

the boat will settle into
the land and that's where

we'll stay for a while.

The last time we let
it settle to the anchor,

the anchor line
was going like that.

This time it's over
in this direction.

I think ultimately
it will settle back

to where the anchor line
is leading in that direction.

In the meantime,

we got a stern line out
with a stern anchor on it,

and hopefully we'll
stay here pretty close

to where we put this damn thing.

[man] We're holding pretty good.

Dave, you stand back
there and keep an eye on

what's happening
with that anchor.

Don't let me run
over that anchor line.

You betcha.

You always anchor with the tide.

The tide is coming in.

The winds are
coming from the south.

If he had anchored that
way on the other side

of the cobble he
would have drifted

right over top of it,

but he anchored
on top of the cobble

which is why the boat
moved east 56 feet.

But I ain't arguing
with anybody.

That ain't happening.

[man speaking]

[Dave speaking]

[Vernon] It looks like it's
gonna hang right about here.

You know there is no
sense in fighting it anymore.

It's like a damn toothache.

We are here, so
let's just go ahead

and get our stuff together
and get about our business.

[Gary speaking]

I am going to lower the
jet down into the water,

and then we're fire it
up, and I'm going down.

[Vernon] Be careful under there.

Just keep track of where
that umbilical is at all times.

- [Gary] Yeah.
- Try not to get hung up on it.

I'm not beating around the bush.

We're getting k*lled
this summer so far.

[man] Feel good.

Hopefully we're on
that easy gold site

and Gary can drop down
and start filling that barge

fast because God
knows we need it.

[Vernon] Gary, can you hear me?

[Gary] Yeah, I can hear you.

[Vernon] Okay.

[Gary] Coming down.

All right. All systems okay.

[Gary] All systems are go.

Okay, everything feels good.

[Vernon] Okay it's
on you're at 17.7 feet.

- 18 feet.
- [Gary] Okay.

[Gary speaking]

[Vernon] What the [bleep].

[Gary] I really don't like
the way it looks here.

[Vernon] What [bleep] show.

[bleep]

[Gary speaking]

Okay, so standby I guess.

We're trying to
figure it out right now.

We slipped anchor bad.

We're at 300 feet from
where we dropped.

Yeah, I think what happened
when we turn the sluice on,

power of the sluice
box moving the water

kind of pushed us
and moved the boat.

[Vernon] [bleep] Dammit.

I don't know why in the
hell we're not on easy gold.

I don't know if the
coordinates were not right

or if we're getting
pushed off by the current.

But for whatever the reason is,

we're on more sand than
pebble beach right now.

This is a polite
way of saying this.

He does things
differently than I do.

I would never have set this boat

up like this ever.

We're sitting on a
spot that's worthless.

Little excited. I got a
lot of things on the line.

Our first real weather
window is opening up.

It's a little bit cloudy,
cold, but the ocean is flat.

I can go digging.

Tide's pushed way out,
we can grab gold out

that we never
got to grab before.

[engine starts]

So the waves kicked
our a*s this morning

and my dad and
brother's incompetence

demoralized me even more.

When we tested the
Reaper in the harbor,

man, I was pissed, and I'm
trying not to yell at everybody.

[James] I didn't
see what happened.

Oh, nothing good.
Nothing good happened.

So while these two
idiots are fixing everything,

the currents died down and I can
go back to work with the Mistress.

And we're so far behind to make
those payments in three weeks,

we need a record day today.

So we're going back to
where we were finding gold

before all this stuff happened.

[Kris speaking]

[James] Hell, yeah.

[James speaking]

[Kris] I know.

All right, finally, digging.

Yeah, baby.

[James speaking]

I'm not really liking this
material. It's really sandy.

I'm gonna dig down
a little bit deeper

and see what we get into.

No big cobble.

I don't know if
we're on gold yet.

They have to tell
me if I'm on gold.

[man peaking]

[Kris speaking]

[James speaking]

[Kris speaking]

[James speaking]

[Kris speaking]

[James speaking]

You don't just come out here

and land on gold
that's at there.

You got to go prospect.

Ready to rock and roll.

Make that gold.

Yeah, right now it's all
about feeling around little.

I feel roughly some hard packs,

some cobbles and something.

[Kris speaking]

He'll make it work, though.

[Kris speaking]

There's some bigger
rocks starting to show up,

looks too clean, though.

Being an owner of an
excavator barge is brutal.

Its less hands on control.

With the suction dredge, I
can go underneath the water

and find gold myself.

[man] There we go.

With the Mistress, all I
can do is test and watch,

keep my fingers
crossed and hope.

It's like a helpless feeling
while I watch us burn money.

[bleep]

Man [bleep] this is soup.

[James speaking]

[Kris speaking]

Yeah. I'm just trying to see
where they're lining up at.

There might be something
they know that I don't know.

You know, this could be
the edge of the paystreak

and where they're heading
could be the beginning.

So I'm gonna hit on
that same pay zone,

and we'll try and stay on the
same course, go east and west.

You know what they say. If
you can't beat them, join them.

What James is doing
is perfectly legal.

He's gonna line us up on
coordinates with Sean here.

Hopefully the paystreak
extends all the way over here.

We're getting closer.

[James] Almost in
line with the CR now.

[man] We're gonna try...

[Kris] All right.

Can we try it here?

[Kris] I really need it.
Please pretty please.

Hopefully we're on some gold.

Oh... Can't be any
worse than the last find.

I know [laughs]

I didn't see. I saw two flakes.

I saw a couple of
specks, but that was it.

I had to re-pan it twice
to make sure I wasn't...

Just to make sure,
yeah. [laughs].

That felt like something.

Oh, yeah.

Maybe I'm getting
into something now.

Wow.

[Kris speaking]

[James speaking]

Was there a color?

[man speaking]

Make that gold.

So yeah, James was right
about not going out earlier,

and now he just
got us on the gold.

So I'm gonna let
him do his thing.

Let's put gold in the box
and finally make some money.

[Kris speaking]

Oh, yeah. Of course.

I guess we're in it.

Nice good coarse gold.

Hell yeah.

[Kris speaking]

[narrator] Ten miles east.

[Vernon] Okay, Gary,
how does the bottom look?

[Gary] You know what?

I'm looking right here, and
this looks like it's been worked.

Yeah, it's all been worked.

[narrator] Vernon Adkinson is
finding his easy gold sweet spot

is not so easy.

[Bryan] We're on top of our
old holes. Our winter hole.

Yeah. These are the
coordinates I gave you for winter.

[Dave speaking]

This exact spot.

[Bryan speaking]

[Dave speaking]

[Bryan] Yeah, that's right, this
is where we worked in the winter.

Okay.

Crap. That sucks.

Maybe I jinxed myself
by calling that's easy gold,

because so far it's been
nothing but a pain in the a*s

trying to get back on it.

The first spot was all sand.

[Vernon] Now we're on top of a spot
that we cleared out over the winter.

These currents keep
knocking us to hell

and we can't get smack
dab on the coordinates.

Honestly, it's just not working.

I think we're done, Gary.

We're gonna pull
out and come back

and give it another
shot tomorrow.

[Gary] All right.

[bleep]

[Gary speaking]

[Vernon] It looks like the anchor
line is wrapped around the hose.

[Gary] How in the
hell did the hose

get behind the
anchor line like that?

Okay, Bryan, I'm gonna leave
you down here to monitor him.

I'm going to start
up the engine.

And I'll just very slowly
ahead on it towards the anchor.

One thing after another, now the
anchor line has caught up around the hose.

So, now we've got to get
it untwisted and back up.

It's The Gong Show today.

[Bryan speaking]

[Gary] No. I am [bleep].

[Gary speaking]

He's got it.

All right. Pull it up.

Just side off,
don't bust the nuts.

This is one of those days
you just want to forget.

We'll head back to
shore, lick our wounds

and see if we scared
up any gold at all.

[Bryan speaking]

[Bryan] It's one of
those days, I know.

[Vernon] I've got to say,
everybody performed

about as well as could be
expected under the circumstances.

What?

No [bleep] way would
I allow the [bleep]

that I've seen here
today on my boat.

I do not dive in bubble
gum operations like this.

And don't get me
wrong, I like Vernon.

I like 'em all.

They have a [bleep]
up way of doing things.

Well, in any event, it's obvious

that there's no way I
can stay on this one,

because somebody on this
[bleep] boat is going to die,

that somebody hasn't already,

is only by the grace
of whatever God exists.

In any event, I'm not gonna
make any money on this boat.

And if I can't make any
money, I can't stay here.

I'm gonna have to seriously consider
buying another damn ticket and going home.

So if I can't generate a
paycheck, I can't stay.

And I dearly want to,
because I'm telling you,

there's gold here.

With the right operation,
there's gold here.

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Okay.

[Emily speaking]

[narrator] On Claim 14.

Mother Nature may be
putting an early kibosh

on Jane's first
day of gold mining.

[Emily speaking]

Safety first.

It's all fun and games until
somebody loses an eye.

You'll be having a great day
out here and beautiful weather

and then the weather God decides

to throw it all at you

and you've got to roll out as quickly
as possible before somebody gets hurt.

That's how gold mining works.

[Rick speaking]

[Emily] Yeah, okay.

[Rick speaking]

[Emily] Yeah.

[Jane] We're gonna have
you idle down and come up.

[man speaking]

[Jane] Yes. Copy that.

[man speaking]

[Emily speaking]

[Jane] Yeah, it's
clearly getting worse.

[Emily speaking]

[Rick speaking]

[Jane] Oh, my God.
You had two of 'em.

[Rick speaking]

[Jane] Ooh. I'll add
them to the collection.

Oh, my god.

Look at this.

I don't want the
wind to blow them.

First day here.

Pretty awesome day.

The weather is
coming up, obviously,

which can make it, you know,
horrible out here and unsafe.

So we're going in.

[Rick speaking]

[Emily speaking]

That's a lot of gold
in the sluice box.

Better take my temperature.

I got a fever, gold fever.

[narrator] Back out on Tomcod.

[man] See it?

[Kris speaking]

[man] Better,
we're getting better.

We're getting down there.

[Kris] Yeah, we're
getting better.

Yep.

[Kris] Thank God.

[James] I'm like the
same line as the Rose.

So we'll try and stay
on the same course.

As we're mining, the gold
keeps looking better and better.

[James] That's big rock.

This ground is just
ridiculously hard,

super rocky, but great pay.

But the ground is brutal and
it's pushing our old excavator

to the limits.

Old Betsy, you know,
she's getting tired,

doesn't quite have
the digging power.

I think she is just old [bleep].

Yeah, no horsepower, dull
teeth, super hard grounds.

That's just a
recipe for disaster.

So basically, I know this
excavator is on life support,

but I have another one,
the Volvo, and it's way better,

but it's still being
prepped in the harbor

and it won't be ready
for a couple of days.

So, I need this girl to hold on a
little bit longer for daddy, please.

It's crazy. That's all we need.

We just need time
on [bleep] water.

There we go baby,
treat her nice. I love you.

Give me the gold.

Hang in there.

Jeez, you hear that?

- [bleep]
- [Kris] Yeah.

[producer speaking]

[James speaking]

[Kris] Oh, what just happened?

I think we just
broke the excavator.

Did it break?

[James] Where am I leaking?

Where am I leaking?

[man speaking]

[James] I smell it.

[man speaking]

[Kris] We're checking it out.

There might be a
problem with the excavator,

which I hope to God there isn't.

Is it bad?

[James speaking]

[man speaking]

[James speaking]

[bleep]

Get us out of here.

Get back to the dock.

This machine's
done for the season.

We should have had the ex... the
other excavator on the deck right now.

Spud up.

This isn't a minor
setback, dude.

This is a catastrophe.

We've been waiting this whole
[bleep] time for good weather,

and finally we make it.

And now the hydraulic
oil cooler is cracked,

and it just sucks.

I'm trying not to yell and scream
[bleep] I am in a bad mood now.

We're gonna go in.

We're gonna rip this
[bleep] excavator dinosaur

[bleep] off the deck.

We're gonna put
the Volvo on here,

which all the way around
is a better machine if it runs.

[Kris] After 20 something
thousand dollars

invested in the piece of
[bleep] it better [bleep] run.

Every day as an owner
of an excavator barge,

I learn something new.

Today, I'm learning, I
really don't know that much

about running an
excavator barge.

I'm constantly
getting my a*s kicked,

but all I can do is keep
learning these lessons

and try to keep
this operation alive.

I knew something bad
was gonna happen today.

[narrator] In Nome Harbor.

Here we are on a big adventure.

First day out with the
Reaper, the new Reaper.

Andy's gonna go
down and make us rich.

The morale's high with
crew cause Kris isn't here.

It's actually really peaceful.

We're going out here, we're
gonna make it work today

and have a good, peaceful,
quiet day, that'd be nice.

[narrator] After addressing
the captain's fixes,

the new and improved Reaper
sets off on her maiden voyage.

This boat is ready to go now.

He shouldn't have to mess
with it for the next few years.

So Captain bitched
his little a*s off,

how dad and I
prepped the Reaper.

So we did everything
he said to do.

So hopefully we'll get some gold
in the box unlike, you know, who.

See you guys later.

Look there it is.

You want to see what a
waste of money looks like?

Just cast your eyes
on that [bleep] bucket.

They're all standing
around, five crew members,

all waiting to get paid.

No one's working.

Wow. There's the
captain himself.

You look good at the harbor.

Thanks. See you later captain.

Call us.

We'll be out making gold.

And now they're working hard,

cause he looks embarrassed
because we're on the water.

[Andy] Now I'm on the water.

Yeah. Now he's
got a lot to live up to.

Oh, yeah, now he'll [bleep]
Damn, he is on the water now.

Hurry up, guys.

[Andy] Oh, dude, my clean out.

I'll beat them every time.

[Brad] Let's do it.

Line me up with that buoy
right where that is right there,

a little orange buoy.

That's one of Kris'.

[engine starting]

There you go.

Oh yeah.

[man] How's it looking?

[Brad speaking]

[Brad speaking]

So I did everything
my brother said to do.

Hooked up everything
the way he wanted.

Now, my boat's front heavy

and basically under the water.

Hey, don't blame me.

Hopefully his other ideas
didn't screw up things too bad.

[Brad speaking]

Let's go.

[Andy] The pressure
is good, 120 pounds.

All right.

So far, so good. Knock on wood.

The box is running,
everything's running all right.

Hopefully Andy puts
us on big gold right now.

Everything's
working good up here.

How's the visibility Andy?

[Andy] Visibility
sucks, but I can see.

[Brad] What's the
bottom looking like?

[Andy speaking]

[Brad] What's that
mean? No cobble?

[Andy speaking]

[Brad speaking]

[Andy] My brother is [bleep]

[Andy speaking]

[Brad] What's the matter, Andy.

You okay?

[Andy speaking]

[Brad speaking]

[Andy speaking]

[Andy] Okay, I'm gonna
get the hell out of here.

[Brad] So what
do you want to do?

[Andy speaking]

This is complete garbage.

The water heater is crap.

The front of our boat is dipping

and what the hell is my
brother with his buoys?

I don't understand that.

It's a bunch of rocks,
dude. What is he, stoned?

[Andy speaking]

- What the hoses?
- [Andy] Yeah.

Too much float on it?

[Andy] Yep.

So we gotta cut the float?

That's Kris' idea, two floats
on each side. Too light,

What the [bleep] he
keeps [bleep] everything up.

[Andy speaking]

It was good the way it was.

That's the last time
we listened to Kris.

We can't listen to a failed
captain on a failed boat.

We should have probably
named this boat the SS Kris Kelly.

[laughs]

[narrator] On the Tomcod.

[James] Feels good to
be back out on the sea,

digging, making money.

[narrator] The
Myrtle's digging deep

and the captain is
digging what he's seeing.

I mean, the Myrtle's
been sitting here all lonely

and sad hasn't been running, but
now she's happy, back up and running.

Got dirt going through the box.

Materials looking really good.

Lots of colors.

Sometimes you get frustrated.

Sometimes you don't
get anything else.

There's days I want
to quit and give up.

How come I don't quit?

We got way too much on the line.

Way too much money

and way too many
guys count on me.

So they can feed their family

and now my son
is working for me.

He's got a new kid.

I'm a provider.

Only way to provide
is to find gold.

My family, that's
what I'm doing this for.

That's why I push it 24/7.

They're all counting on me.

Hopefully with this deep ground,

I'm gonna come
through big for 'em.

[Shawn speaking]

Night shift's here.

Those boys are going to
make some money tonight.

This spot is hot.

I want to keep the Myrtle
on it digging around the clock.

I'm going to keep
that gold coming.

We've been down
for almost a week,

so we got to make
up for lost time.

Oh, you got to rub
the good luck belly.

Yeah.

We got these guys all
ready to rock and roll.

It never stopped,
but, hey, that's the gig.

That's the life we choose.

I wouldn't have
it any other way.

Need to pile up some gold.

Well, we're gonna clean gold.

I don't know how to clean
gold, but I'm about to find out.

I have no idea what to do,

but I'm happy to
be of assistance.

[narrator] With only one day
of gold mining under her belt.

[Emily] The fronts moved
in quicker than we thought,

you got cut off early,

but let's get the material
out to the cleanup

and start running it.

[narrator] Emily's
apprentice, Jane Kilcher,

is about to experience
the golden rewards.

[Emily] Jane flew in and she got
right into the gold gig right away.

Like, wasted no time.

Just basically like
stepped off the plane

and onto the boat and now
we're doing a cleanup today.

So she's getting the full
gold miner experience.

Every little speck matters, so.

[Jane] Apparently.

[Emily] Yeah, we just like clean
it as best as possible as we can.

I have shown Jane every
step of the cleanup process,

we take the screens
out, we rinse the screens.

[Rick] That's the
shiniest part there.

It's what we call
it the yum yums.

[Emily] That's just nice pile

and then we take
the carpet out, rinse it.

[Jane] How does this look?

[Rick] It looks pretty clean.

Okay.

Yeah, we like scraped the
dirt from the corners of the box.

There's little specks in
there, and they add up fast.

Leave no gold behind.

[Emily speaking]

[Emily] Yeah. This part
of the cleanup is over.

[Jane] Total mancave in here.

All that glitters is not gold.

I'm going to classify
the concentrates

and then run it through our
gold cube and then after that,

we've got to pan our pants
off. Dry it and weight it.

I am overwhelmed
with excitement.

God, it's like gold
in every scoop.

Jane is a gold cube
expert over here.

[Jane] Very rewarding.
It can go a little late.

We have panned this gold out

and it is ready to be
dried and weighed.

It's going to go on the scale

and then we're either
going to cry or celebrate.

Maybe a little bit of both.

[Jane] It's really cool
to see all this gold.

I mean, this is
what it's all for.

People go crazy over this stuff.

And now we're gonna
go weigh the gold.

That's the final step.

The gold is cooked, it's dry.

Now it's time to show
Jane the really fun part.

Alright everybody.

We are weighing some gold.

One, two...

[Jane] It's so pretty.

Three...

Six, seven.

Oh, over ten, 11, 15, 16...

[Jane] Almost 20 ounces though.

[Emily] Almost 20.

[narrator] 19.1 ounces.

It's worth over $34,000.

Hey, that's pretty good.

We were just moving
into better stuff

when the weather got bad so...

and I'm happy we
got this clean up in

and as soon as the Bering Sea
decides to calm down and take a nap,

we'll be ready to hit it again.

But thanks for being here Jane.

[Jane] Oh, it's awesome.

Summer just continues
to go really well.

Even though we got
kicked off for weather,

we still have a good number.

I'm feeling really good
about where we are.

I've got my buddy
to help manage,

full slate of divers and so
we'll be running a big team

and we should see a
big uptick in numbers.

All right. Well, awesome.

Let's get out of here.
Go get some food.

Few things I learned so far is that
nothing has changed in 100 years.

And everybody that's
out here mining is crazy.

[laughs]

Not the good kind of
crazy like the crazy, crazy.

[narrator] Three miles north.

You guys got that
gold cleaned yet.

[laughter]

You can see, we got good gold.

Nice job, guys.

Kicking a*s. Doing
well. Doing well.

[narrator] After the night crew

added to Mr. Gold's
tally in the box,

it's time to put it on the scale

and see if big waves
provided big dividends.

You need a little
morale booster.

Inland mines go on strong, but the
gold on the water just hasn't been there.

Starting to get
a little nervous.

Dave Young, it's a
big investment for him.

He's nervous too.

He's starting to
breathe down my neck.

Hopefully, with this opportunity
to get to deeper ground,

we're gonna drive right
towards our goal of 3,000 ounces.

Here we go. Let's
see what we got.

Had a good day of mining.

Everything was working.

Come on, let's
hit triple digits,



Come on.

Oh, man,



Man, I was hoping
to hit triple digits.

[narrator] 85.5 ounces
is worth over 150 grand,

but Shawn is still facing a
long road to get to 3,000 ounces.

Eight five ounces
should have been 160.

Is this a good cleanup?

Yeah, but at this
point, is it what I need?

No, it ain't going to cut it.

We lost a bunch of time mining.

With the soft start and
the days off the water,

we got to have bofu
numbers from here on out.

Get back out on the
water. Get back to mining.

[narrator] Back in town.

[Andy] So, how's it
looking at cleanup.

You know, there's
not a lot of hours.

So there really wasn't a
lot of material to even run it.

So I don't expect to see
a lot of gold, but right now,

a nice paycheck would be great.

[narrator] After a day
filled with struggles,

Kris Kelly is hoping for a
pleasant surprise on the scales.

Please let there
be a lot of gold.

Oh, we've got some
nice little pickers going on.

I know it looks like a
lot of gold, but it's not.

I don't want to start thinking
that I made a bad investment,

but it's excavator problems.

We're not having a
problem with gold recovery.

Everything's working
good, it's [bleep] excavators.

So at least I'm getting gold.

And I'm not mad.

At least everybody's
getting a paycheck.

But I would like a lot of
gold. I'm not gonna lie to you.

I would like so
much [bleep] gold.

[Kris] I don't know what
to do with all my gold.

This is maddening. I
have a huge payment due.

I know where the gold is,

but getting it is
becoming a huge problem.

It could be better, let me tell
you. It could be a lot better.

I wish I could just go down
there and get it myself.

But it doesn't work that way.

[man] Come on.

So I got a skeleton crew
working on the new excavator,

trying to get it up and running

ASAP while we weigh
what we got, ASAFP.

[man speaking]

[Andy] Five,

[bleep] 6.29.

[narrator] 6.29 ounces
is worth over $11,000,

but with the bills piling up,
it's far from what Kris needs.

Right now the Mistress is
not doing as good as it should.

I have put a lot of money
into it and it's real stressful

and everything going [bleep]

If I have that [bleep] excavator
running, I'd be making a lot of money

because this isn't [bleep],

you know, we should be getting
three times that on the Reaper.

This is a sad amount of gold,
but it's proof we're on the gold.

We're just not getting
it and further proof,

we just need the new excavator
ready to go, like, immediately.

I want to see that
doubled next time.

[Vernon] Damn, well, it's
kind of spongy down here.

Damn right, because you got
a sponge diver standing here.

[Vernon] Sponge Dave.

You got the only sponge diver on the
West Coast standing on this guy's boat.

I guarantee nobody else.

It's probably the western part of
the United States does what I do.

So, that's why it tends to
stay with me wherever I go.

[Vernon] They've got a
pet name for you, right?

What do they call you?

They call me the
naked sponge diver.

[applause]

Yeah, actually, truth
is, I don't actually dive

for sponge naked, but
as soon as I come up

because I work alone...

As soon as I come
up above the waterline,

as soon as I get
back on my boat,

every stitch of
clothes comes off

except a pair of boots,
a bandana and a hat.

And I got the tunes going,
so I can't hear [bleep].

I used to run downstairs and
put clothes on, not anymore.

I don't dive naked.

I'm not that kind of an idiot.

There is a thread of
reasoning involved in this.

- I mean...
- [Dave] Yeah.

You know, you stay
down there long enough

with all your
assets hanging out,

something bound
over a period of years,

something's bound
to take a nibble.

[Dave] Yes sir or take it
right off, one or the other.

Yes, sir.

[narrator] As dawn
breaks on the Bering Sea.

[Vernon] Dave, thanks
for coming out with us.

Thank you for
letting me get out.

After I left y'all, I
thought about this

and thought about
this and I decided

there's no point in me staying.

All I'm gonna do is
hemorrhage money.

That's why I went online
and got the cheapest ticket

I could find, which is today.

That was the cheapest
one I could find.

[narrator] Oh, Dave,
we hardly knew you,

but like any good hurricane,
you blew yourself out.

You know, I cannot stay
here without a paycheck.

The only reason I didn't leave
was because you graciously,

out of the kindness
of your heart,

allowed me to stay on your boat.

Dave came here with
no leads, no housing plan,

just a bag and a dream.

Pretty ballsy, actually.

So I let him stay in an
old boat on the property.

Hell, there was literally

no other option
than Nome last night.

It wasn't exactly the Ritz,

I'd rate it slightly primitive.

I hadn't had a shower
since I got here.

Hadn't brushed my
teeth since I got here.

No shower.

I had to... I'm not
even gonna go...

I'm not even gonna go into
where I had to go to the bathroom.

I'm not gonna even go there.

I literally had to [bleep]
plastic bag this morning.

I couldn't make
it to the outhouse.

I stood in your cabin
with a plastic bag

underneath my
a*s taking a [bleep]

and the only reason
that I had toilet paper

was because you
left a roll there.

Vernon, I don't live like that.

I'm not gonna live like that.

I don't want you
disappointed in me,

but there's nothing I can do.

I appreciate you coming
up here and checking it out,

but you haven't really
given it enough time

to get a fair assessment
of what's going on.

I do not need any
more time to determine

it's not going to happen.

It wouldn't have mattered if
I had stayed another week.

The situation was
not going to change.

The circumstances of
me being able to generate

a paycheck in two weeks
is not going to change.

It's not going to
happen and I can't stay.

[Vernon] I understand,
but here's what it's all about.

That's about an
ounce, that's g-o-l-d.

Nine years and
thousands of dollars

and I finally get to
hold gold in my hand.

How about that?

I couldn't let Dave leave without
setting his eyes on some gold.

It's the first time
he's ever seen some

from the Bering Sea.

The guy instantly
turned into Gollum.

Yeah. [laughs]

Yeah.

It was like he was
hanging on to his precious,

the one ring to rule them all.

Gold can have that
effect on people.

Anyway, about time to
get you to the airport, Dave.

All right, boss.

I had a hell of a good time.

The only way I'm ever
gonna make it here

is because I'm in
command of my own boat.

I may as well go home, regroup,
and set up for coming back next year,

but under different
circumstances.

So it's back home to Florida.

Back home to my sponge boat.

Back home to sponging.

Oh, my God.

I'm heading out to the
beach one more time.

I swear to God, I think we
still have a future together.

I just don't know.

I just can't stay here
and [bleep] around.

I've got to be
allowed to go to work.

I'm gonna miss this place.

Oh my God, I can't believe it.

Nine years it took
me to get back.

You know, I got to go home.

It's okay. It's okay.

I knew I was gonna
get emotional.

I knew that was gonna happen.

[Gary] Later man, take it easy.

- [Dave] Take care of yourself.
- [Gary] Yeah, yeah. I'll see you next time.

[Dave crying]

[Dave] Okay.

All right, we need
to make tracks.

Okay, buddy.

[Dave] I am gonna talk
to you again in summer.

We'll stay in touch.

- Okay, Dave.
- Thank you so much.

Yeah. You just have
a good trip home.

Thank you so very much.

I just hope I can figure out
how to make this happen.

- I got to go.
- [Vernon] All right.

Yeah. Go check in.

[Dave] Yep. Yep. Yep.

He blew in and he blew out.

Call up down to Florida and tell
them Hurricane Dave is on the way.

Don't get down there
and get all those sponges.

So, sponges beware.

Adios, Hurricane Dave.

We've survived that hurricane.

Don't let it be said that
he mellowed with age.

He's the same Dave.