13x15 - Swamped

[bunniefuu]

[Narrator] Tonight
on The Curse of Oak Island...

- [horn honking]
- [Marty] SBC and ROC are here.

We want something found today.

- Find some treasure, boys!
- [cheering]

- [grinding]
- That thing looks unstoppable.

- [rapid beeping]
- [Katya] Ooh!

- I think this is a key.
- A key?

Want to get this one to the lab.

- Hundred percent.
- [Craig] It's very interesting.

It's saying
super early time period.

-No way. -[Tom] We're
finally moving in a direction

that could give us some answers.

[Narrator] There is an island
in the North Atlantic

where people
have been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found
a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it,

man-made workings
that date to medieval times,

and a lead cross
whose origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have died

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

[horn honking]

A critical day has arrived
on Oak Island

for Rick and Marty Lagina,

Craig Tester, and their team...

- Yep!
- As a dig operation

that has been months
in the making

is about to begin
in the Money Pit area.

[Marty] Hey, guys.

SBC and ROC are here,
personnel and equipment.

They've been rolling in
pretty steady

and they brought all their toys.

[Craig] We've got some good
locations this year. And, uh,

we get down
to that solution channel,

hopefully we bring up
not only that one thing

- but-but all of it.
- [chuckling]

You mean actual treasure?

- Treasure. The T-word.
- [Rick] Yep.

[Narrator] This year,
the team has drilled

more than a dozen new boreholes
over 200 feet deep

into the solution channel,

where the legendary treasure
is believed to have fallen

after the collapse
of the original Money Pit.

After testing soil samples from
the bottom of the boreholes,

so far, two of them,
known as I-9.5 and K-9.5,

have yielded unusually high
traces of silver.

Now the team
will begin excavating

a seven-foot-diameter
steel shaft in this area

to find the source
of the silver.

It is a location the team
previously excavated in 2019

down to a depth
of some 150 feet,

which never reached
the solution channel

and was backfilled
with tons of loose gravel

known as surge rock.

[Marty] Of those 500 boreholes
we've drilled out here,

I'll bet you no more than five
percent of 'em went to the depth

that I now suspect
where the treasure lies.

We're going to have to
partially go over other caissons

that were pulled
and then filled with surge rock

to keep everything
from collapsing

and drill down deeper.
And that's what we plan to do.

[Narrator] It is their hope
that the high traces of silver

may be related
to a 14th-century silver coin

that was reportedly found
in the Money Pit back in 1849,

which is connected
to the Portuguese sect

of the Knights Templar.

- Hey, guys. -[Craig] Gentlemen.
- [Jared] How you doing?

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you, too.

[Rick] It's exciting, because

we've spent exhaustive hours

trying to come up with an area
of significant interest.

And we believe we have.

How does it feel
to be back on Oak Island?

- It's pretty nice.
- It feels great to be back.

- I love it here. -[chuckles]
- Perfect. I like that attitude.

[Rick] This mystery has resisted
solution for 230-plus years.

I want answers. We all do.

Definitely brought
some big toys this year.

We were told we got
to go pretty deep, so...

- That looks really serious.
- Yeah.

That's the new LB 45
we brought down.

The big torque
can run big depths,

and she'll be able to chew
through whatever we need to

and help us see
what's down there.

-Are you using just an auger to
drill through the rock? -Yeah.

We're gonna probably maybe break
a new record with this,

just from how fast these drills
come in and out of the hole

versus us grabbing. I know
grabbing's efficient as well,

but this is gonna be
a lot faster, material-wise.

[Marty]
I would think

- especially at depth, actually.
- Yeah.

Because the trip time
on a hammer grab is a long time.

-Yeah. Yeah. -This just
telescopes in and out, right?

And it'll be a lot quicker
coming in and out of the hole.

- Pretty exciting. -Yeah.
- It is. It's very interesting.

-That vault doesn't stand
a chance. -[chuckling]

[Narrator] In order to reach
the solution channel,

the teams from Soletanche Bachy
Canada and ROC Equipment

will mount
a seven-foot-diameter auger bit

onto a 135-ton
telescoping drill rig.

After placing the auger
inside massive steel caissons,

it will rapidly drive down
through soil,

hard clay, and other debris...

bringing spoils to the surface

while a steel shaft is installed
more than 200 feet deep.

Once the solution channel
is reached,

a giant dig bucket
will replace the auger bit

to safely remove
additional spoils

and the potential treasure.

We're looking at the location
right there, right?

- Yeah. Yeah.
- The orange dot?

During our sonic drill program
this spring,

we-we've been analyzing
our cores

and we've got silver
in the soils.

That's very interesting.

[Rick] And then, of course,
there's what we call

the Pitblado coin,

a Portuguese coin possibly found
in this general area.

- Wow. -Wow.
- If that's what's down there,

then your toys, as you describe
them, will find more of them.

- And that's the hope.
- Yeah.

[Marty] I try not to get
too excited about what-ifs.

But I can tell you this...

it could be hundreds of millions
or even billions of dollars.

That's exciting.

All right, I'm happy.
When are you gonna dig?

-Break ground tomorrow.
That's the plan. -Yeah.

I like that. The only thing

I'd like to have heard better
is "today."

-[laughter] -But tomorrow's
acceptable. -Yeah.

All right.

[Rick]
Thanks, guys.

[Narrator] As the teams
from ROC and SB Canada

prepare for the dig
in the Money Pit area...

All right, mate.

Getting stuck back in again.

Rick and Craig join
Gary Drayton and Tom Nolan

to continue searching
for clues on Tom's property

in the northern region
of the swamp.

[Gary] We've got
a lot of history

that's been uncovered recently.

The mystery vault.

We got a row of stakes

leading us to that vault
and we're digging

- right on the line.
- Yep.

[Narrator] They are following
a cobblestone path

that is lined with eight-sided
wooden survey stakes.

A path that, one year ago,

led them to a mysterious
but unfortunately empty vault

some 50 yards to the south.

Now they are eager to see

if more hidden structures
that contain valuables

are waiting to be found
in this area.

[Alan] That deep enough?

Yeah. That's good over there,
Al. Take another one here.

Whoa-h*!

Rick, I got a find here.

Look at that.

That's leather.

[Rick] Oh, yeah.

[Gary] That's a boot or a shoe.

-That's not a modern piece
of shoe. It's... -No.

More than likely, it's a sole.

And look
at all the little holes.

So you know it's not stitched.

Yeah, that's like
the old little hobnails.

-It's got an old feel
about it for sure. -Hmm.

-You start slipping,
you lose your shoe. -Mm.

Next thing you know,
you're losing your coins.

Aside from the bits of leather
we found in the Money Pit,

the majority of the finds
have been in the swamp.

That leather down there
in the southeast corner

was very, very old.

- Oh, yeah.
- You know what?

There might be more in here.

[Narrator] In 2023,

while searching for clues

near the possibly Portuguese
stone road

in the southeast corner
of the swamp...

[Rick] Check that out.

What the heck is that? Ooh!

Rick and Gary
found part of a boot,

which was of European origin

and could date back
to the 17th century.

Could Rick and Gary
have found a related clue?

And if so,
might it help identify

just who built the cobble road?

Mm.

Look at that, Gary.

[Gary] Oh-h*.

With big, uh,

- nail holes in it.
- Yeah. They're-they're hobnails.

- [Rick] That's not stitching.
- Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

That's not
a modern piece of shoe.

Hell of a great eyeball find,
Rick.

Leather is where you say
to yourself, "You know what,

- there's a real story here."
- Yeah.

If these pieces of leather
are from shoes or boots

from the people who did the
original work in this area...

- That'd be something.
- Yeah.

We have the lab here
on the island

to really... no pun intended...

-to nail down where that leather
came from. -Yeah.

This is how it's gonna go...

leather, coins, and champagne.

- There you go.
- Yeah.

[Rick] I think there's
a lot of information

that might reside
within this shoe leather.

The platforms, the paved area,

the suspected paths, roads,

all of the constructions
in the bog.

There's so much we don't know

about the reason
why it was constructed.

But everything you find could be
the clue you're looking for.

Probably get a scoop out
of there, Craig.

That's strange.

The excavator bucket
just went straight down.

Hmm.

There's some sort of void here.

Yep.

[Tom] As you can see,
the excavator bucket

went straight down.

- [Gary] Oh, yeah.
- You know, I'm gonna say

five feet into this void.

- Down she went.
- Mm.

[Narrator] In the northern
region of the Oak Island swamp,

the team has made what could be
an important discovery.

[Alan] It's solid

- all the way around it.
- Mm.

So somebody's dug it.

- Yeah.
- [Rick] People were in here.

-People were in here
doing something. -Yeah.

[Narrator] A five-foot-deep
man-made hole?

Might it have been created
by someone connected

to the shoe leather
the team found nearby

and the sections
of the cobblestone path

that the team has uncovered
throughout the swamp?

-Okay, Al,
let's see what's there. -Okay.

[whirring]

[clanking]

Let's find some treasure, boys.

What we got here?

Another stake.

It came out of that last load,
wherever that last scoop

- came from.
- One, two, three.

Hey, Tom!

- Can you come over?
- Yep.

[turns off engine]

The stakes you found previously,
are they lining up here?

It looks like it may be
on one of the lines

projected from the stakes
we have found

-this year. -And think
of what was right over there.

And we've referenced it
many times, right?

The vault.

Because if those stakes
point to that,

it may point
to another one here.

Those stakes might have
something to tell us yet.

- To me, that's the puzzle here.
- Yeah.

[Rick] This stake
that comes out of the ground

might be delineating a path,

uh, from long ago.

Uh, Tom has iterated many times
his father did not use stakes.

Maybe these new finds
will tell us who did it,

when they did it,
why they did it.

But we live to fight
another day,

- so let's pack it up.
- Yes.

-Yep. -Let's bring
the things to the lab,

see what kind of results
we can get.

Okay. Sounds good.

Off we go.

[Narrator] Later
that afternoon...

Well, there she be, Corey.
Right there.

- Yeah.
- What do you think?

- That's a nice little rock.
- [chuckling]

[Laird] We're proud of it.

[Narrator] ...on Lot 8,

Rick has joined Marty
and other members of the team

to meet with crane operator
Corey Robart

at the massive boulder feature.

We're currently at a stage
where we're trying to find

where the-the original cuts were

-when they excavated down here,
whatever they did. -Okay. Okay.

[Fiona] Um, we don't know
how deep it goes down yet.

[Narrator] The team
began investigating this boulder

several weeks ago,

which sits above a ring
of evenly spaced stones

and covers a backfilled void.

-I'll show you. There's
a really good spot. -All right.

[Narrator] After feeding a snake
camera into a narrow space

that the team dug out
below the boulder...

they recorded images
of possible tools...

- It's gold-looking.
- [Doug] It certainly is.

And even
a gold-colored material.

And just one week ago,

soil testing on samples
taken from beneath the boulder

contained unnatural levels
of lead,

which the team believes

could be evidence of
a centuries-old mining tunnel.

Now archaeologist Laird Niven

has given the team permission
to remove the boulder

in order to find out just what
might be buried underneath it.

So, I'm gonna say
we'll put a chain around here.

We'll choke this
around the bottom.

We'll bring four legs down,

which will be chained.

And we'll put two pins

on this side and two pins
on the other side.

- Pins? Like, what do you mean?
- A one-inch bar.

- Steel? Mm-hmm.
- Drill a hole in. Yeah.

And then we'll bring
the slings down

and hook into that chain.

And then that'll hold this rock
on this side and that side,

squeeze it together
as it's coming up.

[Fiona] Does that mean we may
not necessarily have to dig

any area
that could possibly compromise

what we're looking at?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

-You know what, that's
very encouraging. -[Laird] Yeah.

Corey, how big of a crane
do you think you'll need?

I'm gonna bring 130-ton crane.

These two trees will go.

- I'm gonna set in here.
- [Craig] They need to clear

all around yet,
so that's gonna take a while.

Probably the biggest logistic,
uh, issue is bringing in

the crane itself, 'cause it's
a big... it's a big machine.

This week, Billy and his workers
will be working on the road

and-and the tree removal
that's required.

There's absolutely no way
to understand that boulder

without lifting it out
of the way.

I think
this is gonna go cleanly.

I-I really, really do.

I think we have the right
technology and the people

who know what they're doing.

The rest of us
can get back to it.

- [Billy] Yep.
- [Craig] Okay.

[Narrator] As a new day
breaks on Oak Island...

[cheering, applause]

- [Marty] All right! [chuckles]
- [whooping]

Well, thank you!

What are you all
standing around for?

[chuckling]

Rick, Marty, Craig,
and the rest of the team

gather in the Money Pit area.

Vanessa, welcome back

- to Oak Island. -Hey.
- [Narrator] Now that the teams

from ROC and SB Canada

have finished setting up
their equipment...

it's finally time to begin
a dig that will go deeper

than any previous searcher
operation in Oak Island history.

That thing looks unstoppable.

- Quite impressive.
- Yeah.

[Rick] You know, when I'm
standing here in the Money Pit,

I-I always think
of 230-plus years of activity,



of commitment...

intellect, passion,

belief.

But this year,
it's about finding treasure.

And there are two people here

who are emblematic
of finding things,

especially the one thing.

So I would ask Gary
and Katya to come up

and get this kicked off.

Because you find things,

and we want something found
in this Money Pit today.

Do you accept that challenge?

-Challenge accepted!
Let's go, Katya. -[applause]

No pressure.

Be careful climbing
up the track there.

- How are you?
- Good.

- Wow.
- [Marty] Gary!

I've taken the liberty
of naming this hole.

Okay.

Top Pocket Find!

-[Alex] All right! -Yeah!
That's what we want it to be.

Good choice!

- TPF.
- TPF.

You getting in here, Katya?

[laughter]

All right. Start her up.

- Find some treasure, boys!
- [whoops]

- [chuckling]
- Whoa, baby.

- [applause]
- [Jack] Yeah!

[Rick] There's high hopes
and great anticipation.

It's been a long slog.

And it's, you know,


[Marty] You're not gonna get him
out of that seat.

No, you're not.

[Gary] Wow.

- I want one!
- [laughter]

[Rick] We are,
what Marty long ago called,

the Fellowship of the Dig. I am

incredibly grateful
for their presence,

for their contributions,
for their passion

to solve
this incredibly complex mystery.

I draw inspiration from them.

So let's find the treasure.

[Gary] What a thrill!

- Ha-hey!
- [chuckling]

Started drilling.

- Now let's find some gold.
- [Rick] Come on!

- Absolutely.
- Let's do it.

- Well done, Gary.
- That was awesome.

[Marty] There we go! We're
gonna find some treasure here!

Hey, team!
Thank you for being here.

I love you all.

Now get back to work, okay?

- [Gary] Yay!
- [cheering, applause]

[Alex] Dang. It's moving.

- [chuckles]
- [Peter] Holy crap is it moving.

[Narrator] As the excavation
of the TPF shaft

continues
in the Money Pit area...

- [Craig] Carmen. -[Katya] Hi.
- [Marty] Hey, Carmen.

- [Carmen] How you doing today?
- You're center stage, man.

- Welcome back.
- Wonderful.

Marty, Craig, and other
members of the team are meeting

in the Oak Island lab

with blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge.

-[Katya] I found this with Rick
on Lot 8. -[Carmen] Okay.

[Narrator] Six weeks ago,
while searching for clues

several yards south
of the boulder feature on Lot 8,

Rick and Katya found
a possible knife handle.

And, curiously, it was unearthed
in the same area

where the pieces of
potentially 16th-century chain

were also recently discovered.

[Katya] It immediately
looked to me

- like a knife handle.
- I'll have a look.

[Narrator] Now the team is eager

to get Carmen's assessment
on this find

to confirm just what it is and
when it may have been created.

Wow. This is certainly
an interesting piece.

It's not a knife, no.
It has

- a lot of features on it.
- [Emma] Yeah.

- [Marty] So what is it? [laughs]
- That's a good question.

I think it was a tool
that was either used like this,

to swing
in a certain notch or...

this way, you pick it up
to swing it over.

This is a tool
made for a specific part

of some larger tool that has
some sort of mechanism to it.

[Katya] Oh, yeah. Levers,

pulleys... could that possibly be

part of one of those systems?

That's what I'm seeing,
is, uh, some type

- of ratcheting tool.
- Mm.

It's not far
from the Lot 8 boulder,

so it's interesting.

[Narrator] A tool
that could have been part

of a pulley system?

Might it be related
to the heavy chain

that the team found
in this area?

And if so, could both
have been used

in order to lift
the massive boulder into place?

Or perhaps to lower something
in the ground beneath it?

[Marty] What about
the metallurgy?

What's that telling you?

[Emma] So, the metallurgy's
actually really...

It's a nice, clean iron.

It is more reminiscent of,
like, the European iron

that we commonly see
within the 1700s.

- Is it possible to be older?
- Yeah. It's possible.

[Jack] There's been a bunch

of different things on Lot 8

that we've dug up
over the years.

It's almost like
bits and pieces were dropped

from a couple
different timelines,

but something happened on Lot 8.

[Marty] Lot 8 is...

giant in our minds right now

because of this big boulder
on it.

So, this tool, device,
is from the 1700s,

and is evidence somebody
was doing something on Lot 8.

It is kind of a "wow" thing.

So, in summation,
we have an enigmatic,

interesting,
perhaps one-of-a-kind tool...

more to the saga of all kinds
of stuff happening here

pre-1795.

I think, for sure,

someone was there doing some
sort of type of work. Yeah.

I think there's something
under this rock.

I think people
actually did something here.

So, could these dates

be representative
of those efforts?

It could be.

There's an air of excitement

to see what's underneath
that boulder.

Carmen, thank you very much.
A lot of information here.

-And everybody else, we can get
back to it, right? -Sounds good.

[Carmen] Thank you.

[Narrator] Later that day...

[Rick] We're getting to the end
of the north end

- of the bog.
- Yeah.

[Narrator] ...Rick, Tom
and other members of the team

continue the dig in
the northern region of the swamp

to track the projected direction
of the cobblestone pathway.

I'll start pulling down
some of these sides.

I can watch everything
that's coming out here.

- All right. Let's get going.
- Sounds good.

[Tom] Let's spark 'er up, Al.

[beeping]

[Rick] There's a significant
cobble road.

What story does that tell,

in terms of understanding
what the swamp work

might represent?

I think that the work
in the swamp,

as we currently understand it,

might have something to do with
the efforts in the Money Pit.

But given the extensive amount
of finds in the bog,

there's every hope
that something

of significant value
might be buried as well.

So, we need to make sure
we cover all the bases here.

- [Tom] Hey, Rick.
- Yeah?

We got some old boards down here

you might want
to have a look at.

Just came out of the bank.

[Rick] What have you got?

[Tom] It's a pretty heavy plank

that just came out of this,

after Al took
that last bucket out.

Three pieces here and it,

it's in good shape,
but it's old.

- You can tell it's old wood.
- [Rick] Yeah, it's thick. Yeah.

And there's a nail right there.

-[Rick] Can you tell? Round,
square? -It's hard to tell.

It's-it's thick plank.
Like, I think it's over

an inch thick, which...

Yeah, that would...
Not modern, right?

No. No. That's old.

They don't happen
to fit together, do they?

[Tom] We didn't really look.

Ah, you know what?

I think I do see how this
might have gone together.

- [Rick] Yeah, look at that.
- Yeah.

[Rick] That is a wide board.

You want to build
a chest out of that,

there's your side, guys.

- [Tom] Yeah.
- [Rick] But...

-I don't know, the key is
that nail you found. -Yeah.

If that's square,
it could be really, really old.

[Narrator] Could Rick be correct

that this thick wood planking

may have been part
of a structure in the swamp,

and perhaps a chest
of some kind?

If so, might it be related

to the empty
brick-and-slate vault

they found several yards
to the south one year ago?

Or could it be related
to another one in this area

that might still contain
something of value?

[Tom] I think we definitely want
to get this one back to the lab

- to have-have a look at that.
- Yep. Hundred percent.

-All right. -Well, let's hope
there's more in here.

- [Tom] Yeah.
- [Katya] Yeah. -Okay.

[Rick] The board
is 12-plus inches in width.

It also is over an inch thick,
which is not modern dimension.

So, could be very old.

With a nail in one of them,

it's a perfect candidate
to bring to Emma.

From a metallurgical
perspective,

she might be able to date them.

I hope it does have answers
for the bog.

[detector beeping]

Ooh.

Think we've got
something in there.

- Something there?
- [sustained beep]

- Right there?
- Right in there, yeah.

- [Tom] We got it.
- [Katya] There we go.

Let's see.

- [rapid beeping]
- [Tom] Ooh.

[sustained beep]

- [Katya] Ooh.
- Look at that.

That is...

It doesn't look like a nail.

- I think this is a key.
- What do you got?

[Katya] I think this is a key.

[Tom] A key?

Boy, I think you're right.

It certainly has
the shape for it.

[Narrator]
In the Oak Island swamp,

Katya Drayton has just made
a potentially important find.

[Tom] It's not a nail, a spike
or anything like that.

It's got the round head there.

-Have we just found the key
to the swamp? -Maybe you found

the key to the swamp.

[Rick] What did you find?

Now tell me
what you think of that.

- Oh.
- It rung like iron.

[Rick] Very heavy,
and it has a look about it.

[Katya] It is key-shaped.

- And it was deep.
- Mm-hmm. -[Rick] A key?

This part would be the key?

It depends on how much is rust

and how much
is the actual artifact.

You know how a key,
the old keys,

had the, at the very end...

- A spade-like end?
- Yeah.

I think this is the,
like you said,

the spade-like end of the key.

And then, right here,
that's where you would

unlock it and lock it.

[Rick] It's definitely unique.

[Katya] I want to see what

- the CT scan says about this.
- Yeah.

-Yeah, I'd like
to see that, too. -Mm-hmm.

You want to say it's a key.

That's as close
as I can come to something.

Well,

we may have a key here,

and we are not far

from the vault structure.

Well, you've got
a potential key,

you've got older wood,

you've got a reference
to the vault.

And I wish we could find
a piece of wood with a lock.

- Yeah.
- [Narrator] A possible iron key?

If so, could Katya be correct

that it may have been connected
to the brick-and-slate vault

that the team uncovered
some 50 yards away in 2024?

Or could it be a critical clue
that suggests

the cobblestone path
may be leading them

to another one
in this area of the swamp?

[Rick] The hope is that,

based on what
has been found before,

that they will find more
of the same types of structures.

You know, we talk about
the vault in the swamp.

The probability
of another one existing

in the near vicinity
is probably rather high.

So, there's
a lot of interest here,

and there's every hope
and evidence

because of the previous work
that we will find something.

We got to pay
closer attention now, right?

You find wood,
you find a potential key,

Lord knows what else is in here.

The first thing you conjure up
about a treasure hunt

is there's a box with something
inside with a key opening it up.

But the cautionary tale is,

you know, we don't want
to jump to conclusions.

-Yep. -But it's-it's
quite interesting.

- [Katya] Mm-hmm.
- Mm.

That's probably
the most unique find

in this end of the bog to date.

- [Tom] Yeah.
- Cool find. -[Katya] Right?

-Well, let's find the lock that
goes with it next. -Oh, yeah.

[Tom] Okay, Al, let's see
what else we can find in here.

[Narrator] As work
in the swamp continues...

later that day,

in the Money Pit area,

Gary Drayton and Peter Fornetti
are overseeing

the excavation of the TPF shaft.

- We need some spoils.
- Yeah.

[metal squeaking]

[metal grinding]

[Gary] That doesn't sound
very good.

I'm almost to my limit.

Come on.

It was coming down
and then it stopped dead on 'em.

- [Paul] Really?
- I'm digging about

a meter and then it's stopping
me and packing me in, but...

What are your thoughts?
Carry on? Keep pushing through?

[Josh] No, we're stuck.
I can't go any further.

[Peter] I think
it might be stopped.

You're right.
Nothing's happening.

Unfortunately, we've hit a snag.

Maybe we've hit a boulder
or an obstruction in the can.

- Hey, Adam.
- [Adam] Hey.

It looks like it's been
pretty stationary for a while.

- What's going on?
- Yeah, we're back

to the same kind
of layer we got into.

-Mm-hmm. -We're just
locked up. Not advancing.

[Adam] Right now, we're kind
of assessing what's going on.

We got to look into it.

Okay. I'll give my uncles a text
and bring them up to speed,

-and then we can
come up with a plan. -Yep.

- [Marty] Hello. All right.
- [Adam] Marty.

Talk to me. How's it going?

Uh, we're kind of
stalled right now.

Uh, hell.

[Narrator] In the Money Pit
area, Marty, Craig and Scott

arrive after getting word
that the excavation of TPF

has been halted
at a depth of just 20 feet

by backfilled gravel
from a previous dig operation.

[Adam] So, right now,
we're into that

big cobble backfill.

We've locked up
around the liner.

It's pretty tight.

So, that's where
we're at right now.

So, it's actually locked
right now? You can't turn it?

It locked up where we stopped.
We just don't want to get

into breaking anything
or overexerting anything.

Yeah.

[Rick] Every hole, every caisson

has been backfilled
with surge rock.

That has created a problem
for the-the SBC/ROC team.

My worry, of course,
is if they just simply

can't find the way
past this obstruction,

that we'll have
to call the hole.

Time is running away from us,

and, uh, we want
to get down to depth.

Right now, we're gonna rejig,

hopefully get the oscillator
up there to help us

lift up a little bit
and loosen up.

Yeah. Okay.

I guess, what I'd like
to know is, the mission,

you know,
is the mission stalled?

We-we had high hopes
just yesterday.

Is this gonna be
a fixable issue?

- Because we want to dig that.
- Yep.

[Adam] I'm confident that

we can go through there.

And you're gonna have
to put your machine on, Vanessa.

It-It's sounding like that.

- [Adam] Yeah. -Yeah.
- The oscillator is here.

[Marty] With that, you have
a lot more lifting power,

- so that's the big difference.
- Yeah.

We're just waiting
for reduction inserts.

- Reduction inserts. Yeah.
- Yeah.

[Narrator] One possible solution

for grinding the TPF-1 caissons

down through
the gravel-filled ground

is to rotate them
using ROC Equipment's

massive hydraulic oscillator.

However,
in order for the oscillator

to hold the eight-and-a-half-
foot canisters in place,

it will require
specialized braces

known as reduction inserts.

[Craig] When's it look like
those parts

are gonna arrive?

[Adam] We have a bit
of logistics issues

with some parts,
so we're waiting on those.

-Okay. -[Vanessa] So,
the reduction inserts,

the trucker broke down
and it's on a different truck.

I think it will be here
tomorrow night, late.

All right, so,

a two-day delay, right?

- Yes.
- [Craig] Can you put

the oscillator on
and then wait for those parts?

Or do those parts
have to be assembled

before you can put
the oscillator on?

No, I can't.

They do have to go in
the oscillator.

What if you put your oscillator
on and it still doesn't work?

I'm still confident between
the equipment we have here

that we can get this done.

Well, I mean, to me,
I mean, depending on how long

it would take,
one possibility would be

just move over
to the second location.

Because there's no cobble there.

I don't have the same concerns
going to where

we're not so much into that big,
the big cobble that locks up.

- Hmm.
- [Narrator] Rather than waiting

at least two days
for the oscillator parts

to arrive on the island,

an immediate
alternative strategy

would be for the team to pick

a second target location
in this area

and begin excavating a new shaft

in the hopes that SB Canada's
presently available equipment

won't encounter gravel backfill
from a previous excavation.

I was in the drilling business
for many years

and you have setbacks.

Things happen. Particularly,

uh, on a complex job like this
with all the unknowns.

I know we'll get past it,

but the bigger problem is time.

That is precious.

At this point,
we're making zero progress

at the Money Pit
with all this equipment,

so we have to make a decision.

Really, when we're done here,
it's a simple summary, right?

-We're looking at a delay,
for sure. -Yeah.

[Craig] Can you check in
on the status

- for those parts?
- Yep.

Well, Oak Island strikes again,
bottom line.

Okay.

- You guys do your thing.
- [Adam] Okay.

- Okay. -Thank you.
- [Craig] Thanks, guys.

[Narrator] While the team
awaits an update

from ROC Equipment
and SB Canada...

[Rick] In front of us, we have

leather finds,
and I actually found one myself.

[Narrator] ...Rick, Marty, Craig
and other members of the team

gather in the w*r room
to receive

a preliminary scientific report

on the leather shoe pieces
found in the swamp.

These are, you felt,
when you looked at them,

they're bits of shoe
or boot leather, right?

[Gary] Yeah.

Uh, it looked to me
like an old design.

And one piece,
it was really elongated,

and I know
that's an older style.

And if you remember
when we found these, Rick,

they were in
the deeper material,

the black stuff, the peat.

- So, they were way down there.
- Mm-hmm.

[Marty] Okay, let's do this.
Let's see what the science says,

because we did run C-14 on it,
correct, Craig?

And you have the results.
So, let's see what that says.

[Craig] Yep. Sure do.

Um, it's very interesting.

It's saying "super early."

The biggest time period
which is 1148 to 1216.

- Oh, geez. -No way.
- There you go, Rick!

Yep.

[Marty] Wow.

[Craig] The biggest, uh,
time period

- is 1148 to 1216.
- [Marty] Oh, geez.

- No way.
- There you go, Rick.

-Yep. -[Doug] Wouldn't that
be amazing?

[Narrator]
In the Oak Island w*r room,

Craig has just shared

an astonishing
preliminary scientific report

which indicates
the pieces of a leather shoe

found in the swamp could be
more than 800 years old.

All the other ones are earlier,

going back to maybe
even, uh, 1047.

So, showing very,
very early here.

Darn it, I've got to get
a medieval shoe dance now.

[laughter]

What's that top date?
What was that bracket?



[Marty] Holy smokes. I mean,

for what it's worth, that's
the Gaspani era, isn't it?

- Yeah, it is. Absolutely is.
- It really is.

[Rick] They align
perfectly with what

Professor Gaspani
has articulated to us.

That the construction
of Nolan's Cross

- happened in the 13th century.
- Yeah.

[Narrator] In 2023,

Italian archeoastronomy
professor Adriano Gaspani

presented peer-reviewed research

about the megalithic formation
of boulders

known as Nolan's Cross.

According to the boulders'
historical alignments

with certain stars
in the night sky,

Professor Gaspani calculated
that the formation

was likely created
in the early 13th century

by members
of the Knights Templar.

Remember, one of the first
things we ever found

-in the swamp was the paved
area. -[Rick] Mm-hmm.

I mean, that date
is almost perfect. 1200s.

-[Rick] Mm-hmm. -And so,
we're starting to accumulate

dates in the swamp.

[Doug] You can't ignore
the growing data points

- that are in the 13th century.
- [Marty] Yeah. -[Rick] Mm-hmm.

We're definitely looking
at a time period in which

-the Templars were at the height
of their power. -Yeah.

[Narrator] Based on this
preliminary carbon-14 report,

could the team have found a clue
that may help identify

just who created Nolan's Cross,

as well as the vast paved area
in the swamp,

which was uncovered in 2019,

and also scientifically dated
to approximately 1200 AD?

[Rick] There seems to be
a growing body of evidence

that the large work effort

was initiated

roughly at the beginning
of the 13th century.

Now we have artifacts

that reference
that timeline as well.

And that might have been
the point of beginning of some

large-scale, long-term effort to
do something here on Oak Island.

Once we found this early date,

uh, we've notified
Beta Analytical.

They're gonna run, uh,
extra cleaning methods,

um, and once that process
is done, then they'll go ahead

- and retest it again.
- [Gary] Oh, yeah.

[Alex] Yeah,
it's an incredible date,

so I think we would want to
confirm that by any way we can.

- Yeah.
- [Rick] We have to,

as your father said,
duplicate the results.

As Craig has said, let's make
sure that the data is correct.

But right now, as I sit here,

I couldn't be happier
about those dates.

Yeah, based on
what we're seeing here,

we're finally moving
in a direction

that could give us some answers.

So, it sure seems like
we're on the right track.

I never argue
with a reason to dig.

Ever. Let's dig.

We have the machinery,
we have the time.

And a treasure's
never gonna find itself.

So, let's dig. We got the guy
who can go through the soils.

We got everything we need.
Let's dig.

Let's use your theories and dig.
Let's use this data and dig more

- in the swamp.
- I think we're all in.

[Marty] It sounds like
we're doing the right thing,

and I hope we get good news
in the Money Pit.

[Rick] Yeah.
And get back on track.

- On that.
- Let's go.

- Let's go.
- Okay.

[Narrator] Just like
the devoted searchers

who came before them,

Rick, Marty, Craig and the team

must deal with
another frustrating setback

in the Money Pit area.

However, as they uncover new,

surprising clues
across the island

and explore for answers,

no matter what obstructions
stand in their way,

the Fellowship of the Dig

will never be deterred
by any challenge they face.

Because what they may soon find,
whether deep below

or much closer to the surface,
could forever change

the history of North America.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

-[Charles] I'd say we're getting
started. -[Peter] Oh, yeah,

- we're spinning off.
- We're due

- for a little good karma.
- We are.

We just have to find
that one thing.

- [Gary] We got a signal.
- [Alex] Hey-hey.

[Gary] I should be able to
pinpoint it. Ooh, look at that.

- See if you recognize this.
- [Marty] Wow.

That might have been an
individual with Masonic ties.

[Marty] Yes. Well, that is

extraordinarily cool.

All right, here we go.
It's time to lift that rock.

- [whooping, laughter]
- Absolutely. -There it goes.

- [Rick] Wow.
- [Marty] Look at that.

- Yeah!
- [chuckles]