07x17 - To Boulderly Go

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR:
Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

IAN:
There's no doubt at all

that somebody was digging here

‐a long time ago.
‐RICK: Wow.

Sir Francis Bacon did
experiments

in preserving documents
in mercury.

RICK:
We're gonna take this down
as deep as you can go.

TERRY:
See that, right there, Rick?

They're all hand‐hewn.

And that's 1769.

BILLY:
We struck something there,
Marty.

MARTY:
There's wood on the left

and it looks like a tunnel
going that way.

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,

mysterious fragments
of human bone,

and a lead cross
whose origin may stretch back

to the days
of the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

RICK:
Welcome back.

‐IAN: Good to be here.
‐Yeah.

Hopefully, you're about
to see something that you

not only are intrigued by
but can't explain. (chuckles)

NARRATOR:
It is a new morning
on Oak Island,

as the Laginas
and their partners are eager

to investigate
what they believe to be

another breakthrough discovery

in the mysterious
triangle‐shaped swamp.

Today they have
enlisted the help

of geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner,

whose previous efforts on
the island have convinced them

that the swamp is man‐made,

and was deliberately
constructed as far back

as eight centuries ago.

Hi, chaps.

Hey, Gary.

So, there's huge boulders
in here,

sitting on top
of what looks like

‐the so‐called paved area.
‐IAN: Right.

NARRATOR:
After draining
the area one week ago,

Rick and members of the team

along with fellow Oak Island
landowner Tom Nolan,

discovered a strange
circle of boulders

which had traces
of blue clay on them,

similar to that reportedly
found deep in the Money Pit

by searchers in 1804.

Even more intriguing
was the fact

that the largest of the stones

appears nearly identical
to the massive boulders

that make up the megalithic
formation on the island

known as Nolan's Cross.

I'm just gonna take a look down
there right now.

If we get anything,
it'd be in there.

And this is swamp mud.

We certainly have sticks.

You know what? I have to say,
it doesn't look much different.

‐What's that?
‐Doesn't look much different
than the paved area.

NARRATOR:
Over the past five weeks,

Rick, Marty and the team
have been gradually uncovering

a massive stone‐paved feature

beneath the muck and mud
of the swamp

that Dr. Spooner
has concluded was man‐made.

Could this formation
of boulders that the team

has discovered near
the so‐called Eye of the Swamp

also be part
of the stone‐paved area?

LAIRD:
Hey, guys.

Hello, mate.
Thanks for coming down.

‐What do we have?
‐IAN: You know,

I've seen boulder pavements,
but usually there's soil

or there's sediment
that's embedded

from 8,000 years of wind, and...

‐Yep. It's inevitable, right?
It has to...
‐Yeah.

‐Is that it?
‐T‐This was deposited

and then filled in by the swamp

‐relatively quickly.
‐Yeah, yeah.

RICK:
Wow, really?

LAIRD:
I know when I've examined

the filled‐in cellars,
it looks exactly like that.

It's very odd, and I can't find

a natural process that would
lead to this stratigraphy.

Yeah.

RICK:
So, some disruptive event
happened here?

IAN:
Yeah.

The level where there's going
to be activity evidence

‐is underneath this...
‐Yeah.

‐...this not yet
composted layer.
‐Yeah.

So, you can pull
that stuff back, right?

‐Yeah.
‐MARTY: Billy!

LAIRD:
We're talking about

‐taking this off.
‐RICK: Right.

BILLY:
Yeah.

Dr. Spooner made a‐a...

what I thought was an astounding
statement, and that is

that these stones
may have been placed there.

We're always looking
for corroborative evidence,

so hopefully it will render
some more information.

I just find it, incredibly‐‐
I hate to say it‐‐ weird.

Whatever the truths are

here in the swamp,
that's all that matters.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

NARRATOR: As Rick Lagina
and members of the team

continue their investigation
in the swamp...

some 1,000 miles west
of Oak Island,

at Mari Vineyards
in Traverse City, Michigan...

‐Hey, Mark. Good morning.
‐Morning, Marty. How are you?

NARRATOR:
...Marty Lagina has arranged

for an important telephone call
regarding the steel cofferdam

that currently surrounds
Smith's Cove

with Mark Monahan
of Irving Equipment Limited.

Thanks for taking the time,
because this is kind of just

a, uh, make sure we're on
the same page call, you know?

There's a lot of stuff
happening on the island,

‐as you know. (chuckles)
‐Absolutely.

NARRATOR:
Because the government permit
that allowed

the steel cofferdam
to be installed one year ago

is set to expire
in just one month,

the Oak Island team must
not only have it removed,

but in accordance with
environmental regulations,

they must also backfill
and restore the entire area

to its original condition.

Honestly, we would love

to keep the cofferdam
in place indefinitely.

‐Yep.
‐But we're running up against

that old enemy: time.

Our permit will expire
in about a month,

and the‐and the sheet piling,
the cofferdam has to come out.

‐Okay.
‐And so, can you do it?

Can you get that thing removed,

and what logistical issues
might we have, uh, to do that?

‐It's certainly
gonna be tight. Um...
‐Yeah.

We're gonna need, uh,
a good three weeks

to‐to get that, uh, that
cofferdam at a place off‐site,

loaded out.

Uh, we would take steps today

to‐to get moving,
to‐to mobilize the site,

to get set up so we can,
we can achieve that, uh,

‐that deadline.
‐Okay.

NARRATOR:
Because removing the cofferdam

will require Irving Equipment
Limited to stage a number

of massive cranes
and other heavy equipment

around the entire area
for several weeks,

Rick, Marty and their partners
will soon be forced to suspend

their search activities in the
Uplands and around Smith's Cove

for the remainder of the year.

Yeah, Mark, you know,
I'm pretty sure that all

of the Irving personnel
get invested in this.

This isn't just
the average job, is it?

You know, we're heavily,
heavily invested.

All right, well, then, I got
something to share with you.

As we came upland from the cove,
we dig one hole

with a long‐reach
excavator, okay,

and we get just an absolute
gushing flow of water.

‐Oh, really?
‐Yeah.

JACK:
Oh, yeah!

You can see it squirting up

‐like a geyser.
‐CRAIG: Oh, yeah.

JACK:
That's friggin' awesome!

NARRATOR:
One week ago, while excavating

in the area known
as the Uplands,

where recent seismic testing
had identified the presence

of a possible underground
tunnel, the hole the team was

digging suddenly filled with
water and began to cave in.

JACK:
Oh, wow, that whole edge
is about to go.

‐MARTY: Oh, man.
‐Yeah...

‐GARY: Yep, it's going.
‐MARTY: Yep.

NARRATOR:
Although the team's
excavation efforts

were temporarily halted,

they remain encouraged
that their discovery

may be evidence
that they did, at last,

locate the main flood tunnel.

MARTY:
The sheet piling
has to come out,

and it has to come out in an
environmentally‐prescribed way

so that we don't get silt
into the ocean.

We better find out what's
find out‐able

in Smith's Cove, because
we're running out of time.

It's gonna be
an interesting, uh,

dance of equipment
out there, but... (chuckles)

‐It's gonna be
a‐a busy site, so...
‐Yeah.

We got to meet that, Mark,
and I‐I appreciate

the can‐do attitude to do it.

We will. Absolutely.

Okay. Good deal, thanks.

All right.

‐Thanks, Marty.
‐MARTY: Cheers.

RICK:
Hey, Bill.

The plan is you're gonna take
this down as deep as you can go.

And then, if it's a tunnel,

‐that would be fantastic.
‐Yeah.

NARRATOR:
One day after learning

that their time to investigate
the Uplands of Smith's Cove

has nearly run out,

Rick Lagina and heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt

are now focusing their efforts
on attempting to pinpoint

and shut off the believed
man‐made flood tunnel

that feeds seawater
into the Money Pit.

RICK:
We've got a lot of work to do,

so you keep going,
I'll station myself over there.

Yep.

‐Okay. Thank you.
‐Try it out.

NARRATOR:
This year, as last year,

the Oak Island team
has found impressive evidence

of numerous wooden structures

at both the Uplands
and at Smith's Cove...

What is that, mate?
It looks like a tunnel.

NARRATOR:
...some of which appear
to be from mid‐19th century

searcher efforts to intercept
the main flood tunnel.

JACK:
Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR:
After finding coconut fiber

inside a wood structure
just two weeks ago...

MARTY:
Wow.

NARRATOR:
...the team now has
good reason to believe

they are close
to achieving their goal

of locating the main
flood tunnel, and shutting off

the legendary booby traps

that are believed
to guard the Money Pit.

RICK:
There might be
a shaft wall there.

I can't tell if it's the boards
imprinting on the clay,

‐or actual wall.
‐Yeah.

It would be nice
if you could define the shaft.

BILLY:
Yeah. We'll expand everything
out a little bit,

and then we'll keep
cleaning that out.

RICK:
Okay.

Definitely shaft wall.

There's certainly
an intact wall on that side.

BILLY:
Yeah.

RICK:
I mean, look at that.

I have a great suspicion
this is not a tunnel.

‐Oh, yeah.
‐Hello, gentlemen.

Hey, Terry. How are you?

Not too bad. What have we here?

BILLY:
Just below that clean stuff
was all wood.

TERRY:
And you encountered wood
at approximately what depth?

‐Six feet below this point.
‐Okay.

We got a lot
of activity in here.

Very important to now
take another look at that

‐with a little more information.
‐Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Although the team

is encouraged
by the discovery

of yet another wooden shaft,

they must carefully
expose more of it

in order to find out for sure
if it was built by the people

who may have buried treasure
on Oak Island long ago,

or by searchers who came there
trying to find it.

‐Just put your teeth on that,
and hold it over.
‐Yeah.

‐Dig that so Terry
can take a look.
‐Yep.

TERRY:
Let's have at her.

NARRATOR:
As Rick Lagina

and members of the team
continue their investigation

in the Uplands area...

ALEX:
All right, let's see
how they're doing.

NARRATOR: ...Alex Lagina and
Peter Fornetti arrive on Lot 21

to check on the progress
of archeologist Laird Niven

and conservator Kelly Bourassa

as they continue
to investigate the site

that was once the home
of Daniel McGinnis‐‐

one of the three young men
who first

discovered the original
Money Pit in 1795.

ALEX:
How's the dig going, guys?

Excellent, actually.

‐Are we okay, here?
‐Yeah.

‐Yeah, just step
in between them.
‐Cool.

It's time to dig.

NARRATOR:
After obtaining

a government permit
two weeks ago,

Laird, along with Marty Lagina
and members of the team,

began to systematically dig
in three‐foot grids

known as test pits.

They are carefully
and forensically looking

for any important
artifacts or clues

that could indicate what,
if anything,

McGinnis might have found
on the island

during his decades
of searching.

Most intriguing
is a possible sub‐basement

beneath the foundation,
which was identified

by recent ground‐penetrating
radar scans of the area.

This development gave
further credence

to the theory recently
presented to the team

by author James McQuiston,

who believes McGinnis
didn't just happen upon

the Money Pit in 1795,

but that he had prior knowledge
of its existence,

due to his association
with freemasonry.

We have a feature.

‐Oh, yeah?
‐Where's that?

This is a wall.

ALEX:
So, this would be the wall
to what, I mean?

Well, actually, if you pass me
that notebook, I can show you.

We're lucky, uh,

on this site

that we have
lots of photographs.

Oh, yeah.

So...

here's the wall, and if you
stand at that corner,

and look over here,

you'll see this building here,

‐which is what I think we have.
‐Mm‐hmm.

Yeah, you've got the‐the wall
without the window

‐on that building right now.
‐Yep, yep.

So, this kind of physical
evidence,

this structural evidence
for us, it's,

‐it's a, it's a key, right?
‐Right.

‐We'll get one side of
the story from this, right?
‐Yes.

‐Potentially.
‐It gives us a place
to start, right?

PETER:
Absolutely.

And, hopefully,
it's the beginning of us

telling the whole story
of the McGinnis family and

‐their time spent on this lot.
‐Cool.

We will keep
our fingers crossed.

‐Mm‐hmm.
‐Yeah, absolutely.

And we'll get our trowels
in the ground.

‐Sounds good.
‐Perfect.

‐All right?
‐Thanks, guys.

‐See you.
‐See you guys later.

NARRATOR:
Later that day...

as Laird Niven
and Kelly Bourassa

continue their investigation
of the McGinnis Foundation,

and while digging continues
in the Uplands area

near Smith's Cove...

RICK: We have some laser
ablation results

from UNB and Professor
Chris McFarlane.

NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina joins
Craig Tester and other members

of the team
in the w*r room to hear

an important scientific
report concerning the lead

artifact that he and Gary
Drayton discovered one week ago

on Lot 17
near the Money Pit area.

Doug, can you bring him up?

Certainly.

CRAIG:
Hey, Chris. How's it going?

‐Uh, hi, guys. It's going well.
‐Good.

NARRATOR: Joining the team
via video conference

is Dr. Chris McFarlane,
a professor of Geochemistry

at the University
of New Brunswick.

We've got a little bit
of everybody here today

to‐to hear the results

‐of this lead testing.
‐Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Using laser ablation testing,

a process which employs

a high‐powered laser
to take microscopic samples

of an object,
the chemical composition

of lead artifacts, as well
as their unique isotope values,

can be identified
to help pinpoint

their geographic origin.

Yeah, that's
a weird piece of lead.

(laughter)

The odd thing is that it...
it gave a big kick with

mercury and tin.

Wow.

What could make that happen?

Part of the ore body itself,
or has it been introduced?

Probably not from the ore body.

Mercury is one of
the most volatile elements,

so if you heat it up
to eight, 900 degrees

to smelt it,
that mercury would be gone.

So... that had to have
been introduced

by some other process.

I've never seen anything
like it, honestly.

NARRATOR:
Mercury?

Found on a lead artifact
in the Money Pit area?

We've had some theorists‐‐

specifically one,
Petter Amundsen‐‐

he talked about how

Francis Bacon had different

writings of preserving documents

in mercury.

Mm‐hmm.

NARRATOR:
Numerous researchers

and Oak Island theorists

believe that
Sir Francis Bacon‐‐

the English 17th century
scientist,

philosopher, and nobleman‐‐

was not only the leader
of a secret society

with ties
to the Knights Templar,

known as the Rosicrucians,

but that he may have
also orchestrated

the burial of priceless
treasures on Oak Island.

Perhaps even more incredible,

some believe that not only
was Sir Francis Bacon

the secret author of the works

attributed
to William Shakespeare,

but that the original
manuscripts,

which have been missing
for more than four centuries,

were also hidden on Oak Island.

Sealed in a vault
filled with mercury‐‐

a method
of protecting documents

that was detailed
in Bacon's scientific work,

Novum Organum.

Could the mercury
found on the lead artifact

be evidence to support
this audacious theory?

And might it also be related
to the pieces of parchment

and leather bookbinding
that the team has

discovered deep
in the Money Pit

over the past two years?

PAUL:
What about in document
preservation

with mercury,
uh, old documents?

CHRIS:
Uh, it'll certainly
prevent molds

and bacteria and any type
of, uh, organism

from attacking, uh...
pretty much anything.

DOUG:
I guess an obvious
question would be...

have you had a sense
of where this lead

came from in the world?

CHRIS:
That was, um...

Greek mainland,
Greek archipelago,

uh, Cyprus and Turkey.

Who do we know used to hang out
around those areas?

(laughter)

You're kind of saying
all the places

where the Templars have been.

JACK:
(chuckles) Yep.

It's friends of the cross,
in a sense.

This is unbelievable.

(laughter)

NARRATOR:
A lead artifact?

Scientifically traced
to Southeastern Europe

or the Middle East?

Could it be connected
in some way

to the 700‐year‐old lead cross
found two years ago

at Smith's Cove,

which was also proven
to have come from an area

in Southern France that
once served as a stronghold

for the Knights Templar?

RICK:
It's great if you're thinking

theory‐wise, I guess,
about Oak Island.

Those countries were

highly Templar‐influenced
regions.

I mean, we're both
big fans of history and...

it's a page of history
that we could help fill in.

Okay. Well, thank you very much.

And, we'll be talking
to you again soon.

All right, thank you, guys
and good luck.

RICK:
Thanks, Chris.

‐JACK: Bye, now.
‐RICK: Appreciate it.

NARRATOR: As a new day
begins on Oak Island,

and while the team rushes

to complete
their efforts to locate

the main flood tunnel
in the Uplands area,

before they are forced to
suspend their investigation...

Rick Lagina and Craig Tester
arrive on Lot 21

after being alerted by
archeologist Laird Niven

to a potentially
important discovery

near the foundation of the home

that once belonged
to Daniel McGinnis.

CRAIG:
Hey, Laird.

Hi, guys.

CRAIG:
What's happening?

Just working inside the...

be the second entrance to, uh...

to the root cellar.

You can see this is

the natural soils
coming up this way.

If they were digging a stair,
I think that would be gone.

‐Yeah.
‐So, I think

this is probably a trap door.

NARRATOR:
A trap door?

Possibly leading
to a secret basement

beneath
the McGinnis Foundation?

Could this trap door have
been a way for McGinnis

to hide something
of great value

that he discovered
in the Money Pit?

Well, here's the bottom
of the kind of the sill.

I mean, it was,
the cellar is quite...

You know,
was quite deep, really.

It wasn't‐wasn't
just a crawl space.

‐Mm‐hmm.
‐And it was just
loaded with rocks.

This is the first time
I've seen one with the...

you know, a trap door
kind of entrance.

But one thing
we found way down here

was this, uh,

bone‐handled Kn*fe.

Which is

probably the oldest
artifact we‐we have

from here.

I don't know if you can see.

These‐these are
bone‐bone scales

on the Kn*fe.

And, the tang would have
come down like this,

and the Kn*fe would have been
you know, probably that long.

And the‐the scales are riveted.

You know, fairly
elaborately decorated.

RICK:
So, what is the year of that?

LAIRD:
It's probably, you know, 1750s

to the end of the 1700s.

Oh, wow.

NARRATOR:
A bone‐handled Kn*fe?

Could it be something

Daniel McGinnis
brought with him to the island?

Or did he find it here?

So this is kind of like,

not an a‐ha moment,
but it was...

this is completely different

‐from what we're finding
in general.
‐Mm‐hm.

LAIRD:
I was really very excited
to find this.

Anyway, yeah, so
we're just finishing up here,

but the final part
turned out to be

‐one of the more
interesting ones.
‐RICK: Hmm.

LAIRD:
Yeah.

It's fascinating the more time
you spend in here.

RICK:
The most significant find
was the extent

of the size of the residence,
or the home.

The home is much larger
and the artifacts

are a bit older than Laird
had anticipated they would be.

NARRATOR:
Although Laird has found
a potential clue

that something of great value
might still lie hidden

beneath the McGinnis
foundation...

because it is
a protected heritage site,

the permit
he was able to obtain

from the provincial government

will not allow
a more aggressive excavation.

To do so will require him
to apply for an expanded permit

based on the evidence
he has collected,

which could take weeks,
if not months, to secure.

‐Any human activity,
it's all about the why.
‐LAIRD: Mm‐hmm.

It's part of the overall
Oak Island story,

and‐and, you know, we want to

‐make sure that
every page is written.
‐LAIRD: Yep.

This is one of those pages.

Yep. And this is someone,
you know,

directly connected
to the story, as well.

Mm‐hmm.

RICK: All very interesting.
‐Yeah.

RICK:
Anyway, good find.

‐LAIRD: All right.
‐Thanks, Laird.

LAIRD:
All right.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon...

TERRY: Down we go.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina, along
with geologist Terry Matheson,

arrive at the Uplands area
near Smith's Cove,

where heavy equipment operator
Billy Gerhardt

continues to excavate
the mysterious wooden shaft

that they hope to be connected
to the main flood tunnel

leading to the Money Pit.

‐You can see the wall.
Can you see that?
‐I can see a wall, yeah.

I can see a wall.

‐RICK: It's well‐defined.
‐Yeah.

RICK:
So, Bill, if I direct you,
can you come across the top

of that wall or shaft wall
and dig into that bank,

and then we might
get a better idea

of how far that may go there.

Yeah.

TERRY:
That was
a pretty substantial beam

brought up directly
from the bottom.

See that, right there, Rick?

They're all hand‐hewn.
That's hit with an a*.

You see that a lot
in the, uh, U‐shaped structure.

And that's drilled
in the same fashion

and they're both
the same diameter

as those oak pegs
we, uh, saw down

‐in the U‐shaped structure.
‐Yeah.

It may be the same technology,
the same group.

1769.

NARRATOR:
a*‐cut wood?
And similar to that found

as part of the massive
U‐shaped structure

the team discovered buried
beneath Smith's Cove last year?

A structure which was
scientifically determined

to have been built
more than 25 years

prior to the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795?

Could that mean that the team
is once again

on the verge of intercepting
the legendary flood tunnel?

RICK:
Okay, let's get this done.
Drop the bucket.

You're gonna have
to bring me over,

center me on the hole,
I'll take a look.

TERRY:
Softly, gently.

Further back, Billy.

RICK:
Right there. Stop!

Can you just go down
just a‐just a little bit more?

I want‐I just want to see
if it's wood or not.

TERRY:
That's getting to be
pretty nearly enough, Rick.

That stuff could cave
right in on you,

‐almost from there.
‐RICK: I can't tell

if it's wood or just clay.

You'd have to go
right to the bottom to tell.

TERRY:
Getting awful close.

There's something starting
to cave away!

There's something there.

‐TERRY: You're coming up, Rick.
‐Okay.

TERRY:
Right, Billy? Up. Up.

RICK:
When you're down there,
eyes and boots,

when you're in the moment,

you get a little different feel
for things.

Is there really a tunnel?

It certainly looks like it.

That'd be huge.

Look, any original tunnel
on Oak Island,

is probably the a‐ha moment
of the day.

Look, whoever this was,

if this is searcher
or original depositors,

they were highly motivated.

I‐I can't imagine digging,
timbering at those depths

‐with that material.
‐TERRY: No, no.

I was hoping we would get
to the bottom of that structure.

You know, we all want
easy answers.

‐There's not too many
easy answers on this island.
‐No.

‐But those answers
will wait for tomorrow, so...
‐TERRY: That's right.

NARRATOR:
Although Rick, Billy and Terry
have made great progress

in their attempt
to find the flood tunnel

connected to the Money Pit,

they are rapidly
running out of daylight.

They will have to wait
until morning

to continue their efforts.

RICK:
Oak Island is full
of little successes,

‐and we had some today.
‐TERRY: Absolutely.

NARRATOR:
As a new day begins
on Oak Island...

MARTY:
Whoa! You guys have been busy.

NARRATOR: ...Marty Lagina
and Craig Tester

join Rick and other members
of the team

as they continue their efforts
to intercept and shut off

the main flood tunnel,
believed to feed ocean water

into the Money Pit.

That looks like a big hole.
(chuckles) Geez.

NARRATOR:
Unfortunately, today
is the team's final opportunity

to make what would be
a historic breakthrough,

as tomorrow,
all search activities

in the area must end,
in order to allow

for the removal
of the massive steel cofferdam

surrounding Smith's Cove.

‐MARTY (chuckling):
What do you got there, Rick?
‐RICK: Look.

This came up about ten feet
above where we currently are.

‐This is cut.
‐MARTY: Oh, yeah.

RICK:
And then this is saddle
notched in a weird way.

MARTY:
Well, I'll tell you what,

in my opinion, that's old.

This is how you made stuff
a long time ago.

I'd say that's either
the turn of the century,

or else that's original,
because I don't know of anything

that was dug here
that is this old.

No workings this deep.

MARTY: Obviously,
we need to do analysis.

I mean, we're wondering
whether this might be original,

we can find out, we think,
with dendro.

‐Yeah.
‐That's a pretty unique piece,
right there.

‐RICK: They all are.
‐MARTY: Are there a lot
like this?

There are lot of logs.
Lots of them.

There's some
anomalous wood, very deep,

looks very old.

It looks like
the U‐shaped structure.

That's the positive stuff.
That's really exciting.

The U‐shaped structure
dated to 1769,

so prior to the Money Pit.

Could it be the flood tunnel?
Is that what we're seeing?

You know, it just makes you
want to dig.

Billy, are you sure
that you've gone deep enough

that there's no more wood
below that?

Certainly, with some eyes,
we could take, you know,

two or three more buckets,

and that would probably
tell the tale, really.

MARTY:
Well, we might as well do that.

‐Move on.
‐BILLY: Okay.

MARTY:
It's time to dig.

RICK:
I suspect that there are
structures in there

that we have not found.

(thuds)

BILLY:
We struck something
there, Marty.

That's it?

BILLY:
Yeah.

I'd like to know
if it's a rock or...

big wood in this corner. I think
it's a rock at the bottom.

Well, one of us should lean over
and take a look.

We need a harness, yes.

So, this harness
I'm gonna put on you

‐is a full arrest, right?
‐Yeah.

RICK:
I think we're all quite excited
that it could be

the so‐called flood tunnel
booby trap system.

Of course,
we're going to investigate.

We have to see
what it looks like.

MARTY:
That's amazing.

Two things. I'm gonna look,

but he's done.
He's undermining right there.

There's hardly anything left.

Aw, (bleep).

That's not good.

Where's your rock‐‐
over in that corner?

No, it was right... it was...

MARTY:
It was right here, right?

‐I heard you hitting on it.
‐BILLY: Yeah.

‐I'm pretty sure it was a rock.
‐I'll look.

Well, you basically
got a slit down below.

There's wood on the left.
Your left.

And it looks like
a tunnel, to me,

going that way.

But it's probably

15 feet off bottom, at least.

NARRATOR:
Has the Oak Island team
finally found

the main flood tunnel,
the one which searchers

have been trying to locate
and shut off

for more than two centuries?

MARTY:
This is obviously
not very stable.

BILLY:
Yep.

MARTY:
I don't like the looks of it.

All right, well...

maybe we should try
mounting the camera

on the side of the bucket
right now.

I think that's a great idea.

‐Can you rig that up, Scott?
‐Yeah.

The problem with doing this
the simple way, which‐‐

with a long reach excavator‐‐

is that we do not have
a stable hole.

I mean, if we had dug a big pit
with stable sides,

then we could go down
and look at it.

But it's not safe to do that.

So we're gonna lower a camera
on the excavator arm itself.

The object is to find out
what's going on here.

BILLY:
Tell me which way
you want to go.

MARTY:
Billy... in a little,
towards you.

Yeah. Now down.

Still on the wall.
He's got to go lower.

Okay, down.

RICK:
Look at that.

MARTY:
There's all kinds of wood
everywhere.

There is definitely structure
on the left wall.

RICK:
Yep.

He's got to go this way.

Stop!

MARTY:
Doesn't that look

like it's a hole?

RICK:
It's a hole, but is it a tunnel?

MARTY:
Well, it looks like it's
braced with wood to me.

RICK:
If it's a tunnel, it'd be great.

MARTY:
Well, I think it is.

Man, it doesn't look good
under there.

Let's get out of here.

I think we got
what we need to get, Billy.

Come on up.

MARTY:
All right, Rick,
we got the data.

We need to put
our heads together

and see what the heck
this means.

MARTY:
Let's convene in the w*r room
and discuss all this.

RICK:
Okay, pretty cool.

MARTY:
Real cool.

MARTY:
Gents, we're here
to talk about the Uplands.

And, uh, what we've done,
what it means,

where we go from here.

So I think we're gonna
start out with that

video that we took.

STEVE G.:
Here we go.

BILLY:
This is down 30 feet.

STEVE G.:
There's a lot of rock
in between those.

Yeah.

Let's pause that.

MARTY:
Okay, so, what are we
looking at?

What is that?

Is it a tunnel that's
been filled with rock?

PAUL:
Could've been a collapsed
tunnel or shaft.

That's what it looks like to me.

That's wood on either side,

and you have this,
this piece right here.

That looks like a beam.

I mean, you can see the wood
at the bottom coming out, so...

I'd say it's probably
a shaft or a tunnel.

MARTY:
Wow.

RICK:
You see the‐‐ that...

‐You can see the double
layer there, Rick.
‐The double wall.

MARTY:
That looks like a tunnel to me.

I mean, it goes in there.

It seemed like you followed
wood the whole way down.

How thick are those boards‐‐
two inches, plus?

RICK:
Yep. The ones on the right were.

The ones on the left were
a little bit narrower.

The ones on the right
were much more substantial.

‐Which one? This one?
‐RICK: No. To your upper right.

‐Keep going, yeah...
‐This, this one right there?

What I've got tagged this year,
we've got this little‐‐

you can see up on the screen.

Right here.

You can see it lines up.

Calculated by Craig.

CRAIG:
Purely going off
the U‐shaped structure,

assuming that
the U‐shaped structure

was put in there
with a specific purpose.

It looks more tunnel‐like
than shaft‐like.

Yeah, 'cause, like,
it's hard to picture that

being a searcher effort,
isn't it?

What I'm getting at is the 1769,

which means that if it comes
back old, it almost has to be

original works.

That's right.

The dendrochronology,
if it puts that...

wood that we got, if it says

that's, you know...

pre‐Money Pit discovery,
then, yeah,

then you pretty much have
to say it, geez.

Very good chance it's
part of the flood tunnel.

If that data comes back old,
we're right back at this thing.

RICK:
That's where
the bad news comes in.

We have to pull the sheet pile.

We have a timeline for that,

a very specific timeline.

But there's still great hope
for Smith's Cove.

I don't think we can put
an "X" through it.

So, you know,
Smith's Cove isn't done.

NARRATOR:
Although the team has
found promising evidence

of the main flood tunnel,
they are faced

with a disappointing
and unfortunate reality.

In less than 24 hours,

representatives
from Irving Equipment Limited

are set to arrive
and begin staging

heavy equipment
at the Smith's Cove area

in order to remove
the massive steel cofferdam.

Because this operation
will take several weeks

and will make working
at Smith's Cove

and the nearby Uplands
virtually impossible,

Rick, Marty, and the team
will now have to suspend

their search activities in the
area for the rest of the year.

Look... you know,
it's obvious, isn't it?

If‐if you have, uh,
undisturbed soil,

and then a bunch of wood,
and then undisturbed soil,

that sure sounds
like a tunnel to me.

It's about where the so‐called
flood tunnel needs to be.

We aren't going to give up
on something like that.

But having said all that,
our permits aren't gonna

allow us to do any more
excavation this year.

We're done.

Okay, guys, well,
here's what I heard.

Lots of interesting stuff,

but the key piece of data
is yet to come.

We're all keenly interested
in the dendro results

on the question mark shaft.

And, that could lead us,
well, it could lead us

just about anywhere,
but in the meantime,

I know, Billy, you got
a lot of work to do,

because that sheet pile
has to come out.

So, back at it.

Good meeting.

NARRATOR:
As another day
dawns on Oak Island,

one of Rick, Marty, Craig,
and the team's most extensive,

as well as historic,

investigations is,
for now, coming to an end.

RICK:
According to our permit,

uh, we have to remove
all the sheet, and

without the sheet pile
system in, um...

at least for now,
all of the work associated

with Smith's Cove
has to be terminated.

Well, guys,
he's made it in time.

Are you ready to pull?

JARDINE:
Yeah, that's the first one

coming out there now, so...

So, Mike, what's
the process here?

Are you gonna pull
from here all the way around?

JARDINE:
Yeah, we'll start here,

and we'll pull up to pretty much

where the power pack is because

the dirt from the pad is being
supported from the wall.

And then we're gonna go on

all the way around
over to that far corner.

RICK:
You know, as I stand here,
it's somewhat bittersweet.

Right? We're glad
that this project

is coming to an end.

It was a lot of work.

We found a lot of things, but...

there's that
little question mark,

as there is with everything
about Oak Island.

Did we go out far enough?

Did we find everything
there was to find?

And that's what keeps
drawing you back, right?

RICK:
Here we go.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Although the removal of the
600‐foot‐long steel cofferdam

will allow for Smith's Cove
to once again be restored

to its natural setting,

it is nevertheless
a solemn moment

for Rick and Marty Lagina,

as it also marks the end

of a two‐year operation

that produced some
of the greatest discoveries

in the 225‐year
Oak Island mystery.

MARTY:
You find any Roman numerals
on that, Craig?

Yep.

CHARLES:
Yeah, there's the four
right there!

This is awesome!

NARRATOR:
From numerous wooden
structures...

RICK:
The slipway
at this point becomes

an area
of significant interest.

NARRATOR:
...one of which dated back

more than half a century before

the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795.

CRAIG:
That sample came out
to be 1741.

Whoa, what the hell
does that fit with?

NARRATOR:
A concrete wall...

RICK:
It's very strange.

This is totally undiscovered.

NARRATOR:
...one of the five legendary
stone box drains...

‐Whoa!
‐MARTY: You hit a gusher.

NARRATOR:
...as well as evidence further
inland of the main

flood tunnel connected
to the original

Money Pit treasure shaft.

‐(beeping)
‐Another one here, Rick.

NARRATOR:
And, of course,
the find made two years ago

by Rick Lagina
and Gary Drayton that inspired

the entire operation.

Holy...

Holy schmoly, all right!

RICK:
It's a cross.

GARY:
That's a cross.

NARRATOR:
A lead cross

scientifically verified

to be more than 600 years old

and from a region of Southern
France that once served

as a stronghold
for the Knights Templar.

At considerable
expense and effort,

we revealed what was revealable.

That's‐that's
a successful operation.

I find it significant, I do.

RICK:
Hopefully, with all the work

that was uncovered,
we can make sense of it.

I think the Smith's Cove work,

certainly for now, is

maybe not at an end,
but we certainly

‐gave it everything we had.
‐Yeah.

NARRATOR:
For Rick, Marty,

and their Oak Island team,

a mystery that began
225 years ago

with the discovery
of the Money Pit

has proven to be much bigger,

more complex,
and more expensive

than they could ever
have imagined.

And with each new,
exciting clue

the brothers find,
comes yet another in a series

of new and equally
puzzling questions.

Just what was it
that was so precious,

so significant, or so dangerous

that it had to be
so elaborately

and ingeniously hidden

more than 100 feet deep
underground?

And guarded by
a deadly curse that warns

that seven must die
before its secret

can at last be revealed?

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

RICK:
Now, we've got

the largest can possible.

VANESSA:
So, it's a little bit
bigger this year.

‐Yeah, much bigger, wow.
‐IAN: The cores show

high lead and mercury
at the base.

The eye was excavated
to extract clay.

WATSON:
We have two anomalies here.

It's like treasure chest
anomaly.

We got five different experts
saying this is man‐made.

‐Wow!
‐VANESSA:
We're gonna start slamming can.

‐MARTY: It's time to dig!
‐Here we go.

RICK:
Does this one come
with a guarantee?

Oh, 100% treasure
guaranteed, yep.

‐Okay!
‐(laughs)