12x04 - Shift Happens

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Now...

On "bering sea gold"...

Yeah!

I'm in debt
over a million dollars

after that business deal
fell apart,

but I'm gonna come back
stronger than ever.

And with this seafloor
moving around,

today I have a trick
up my sleeve

that will help me get there.

When the tide's out,
you move deeper.

Yeah!

Yee-haw.

Ken: The ocean floor
has shifted,

and I've found a new spot
from the air

that no one's ever mined.

I've got to keep pushing
the myrtle to the limit

so I can stay mr. Gold.

We've got a problem, houston.

[ groans ]

kris: To get enough gold
to buy the boat this season,

I'm taking a huge gamble

and I'm bringing
on another diver.

Today bree has to dive. She has
to prove she can get gold.

Good luck.

Vernon: The goldship can go
further out

than any other dredge,

so we'll be able
to tap into claims

that other people
only wish they could reach.

But being that far out,
we're further from help

if anything goes wrong.

[ thud ]

oh.
Finally!

Bam!
The old girl's got some power.

Shawn:
♪ where are you hiding? ♪

oh, yeah.

Kris:
What's the matter?

[ bree screams ]

--[font color="#ffff00"] captions by vitac[/font] --
[font color="#00ffff"] www.Vitac.Com[/font]

captions paid for by
discovery communications

ken: Yee-hoo.

This ocean floor
is shifting like crazy.

It's something you've just got
to work with and adapt to.

Having this plane gives me
a big edge over the competition.

Yee-haw.

I got to scope out
some pretty cool ground.

I was able to see
some nice trenches.

The way the seafloor
is changing,

it looked like from the air
it had never been touched.

I'm gonna move
the myrtle to find out,

and if I'm right,
it's gonna be harvest time.

Woo-hoo.

Hey!

Tie it off.

We're moving.

Alright, you weasels,
pull that spot.

Narrator:
Two miles east of nome...

Ken: Get that dog in
right now, get it.

Is it moving?

Man: Good to go.

...Ken kerr and the myrtle irene
are on the move...

Backing right
into our hole there,

going right where I want it
to go, just about.

...Looking to test
an ancient beach line

the captain
discovered from above.

Hopefully this new spot
I found from the air

is gonna keep me
right on top.

Good!

♪

time to go to work.

The old myrtle's
back at it again.

Let's move this baby
into some gold.

What we're looking for
is a sweet spot.

Black cobble,
hard as a rock.

It's like digging asphalt.

Narrator: Ken's attempting
to mine the most ounces

in a single summer
in nome's history.

But from this point on,

he'll need to kick it
into high gear to pull it off.

Ken: Look at that.

Look at that --
a lot of cobble.

Yeah, baby.

That's the money bucket.

That sun is bright.

There, that's better.
Whoo.

Today's all about mining,
dig, dig, dig.

We've got to make sure this
new spot is loaded with gold.

Deep water here.

The myrtle's like the goose
that laid the golden egg.

Got to love it.

Hold on, cowboy.

♪

I've got to look
in the sluice box.

Idler down.

Hopefully there's
some gold in this box.

Oh, yeah, perfect,
look there.

That's what we're talking about.

It's looking good
right in that corner.

Narrator: While the sluice box
is capturing gold

on the port side...

Well, this ain't good.

...Over on the starboard,
it's a different story.

I see nothing
in there.

It's almost like
we're leaning too far this way.

Like, if we were leaning that
way, it would be better off.

I can guarantee
we're losing some gold.

I wonder if we need
to pump that water

onto the other side.

This is our port forward
right here.

We're gonna pump
some water down in there

off our starboard bow,
into our port bow.

Get this barge lifting
towards the port side.

The port side's the left side
by the way.

Narrator: The myrtle irene
is listing and losing gold.

So the crew will pump water

from the ballast tank
on the starboard side

to the opposite tank
on the port side

to keep the myrtle
on the level.

Ken: Looking good.

Alright, here we go.

Mining's constant adjustments,
constant fine tuning.

We learn as we go.

Narrator: While ken fights
to get back on track,



Shawn: Wah.

On the move.

Narrator: ...Ken's bering sea
rival is full steam ahead.

Shawn: When the tide's out,
you move deeper.

Narrator: After getting off
to a late start,

captain shawn pomrenke
is looking to capitalize

on a gift
from mother nature,

a swath of potentially
rich ground

uncovered by
the shifting seafloor...

Shawn: We're gonna go to ground
we can't usually reach.

Narrator: ...And now is suddenly
reachable at low tide.

Shawn: My main focus right now
is to get as much gold as I can,

keep this plant running.

Narrator: With a 2,000-ounce
goal to pay off his debts

and end the season
in the black,

he's still facing
an uphill battle.

Shawn: Come on, baby.

To get the debt paid off

and get back to work
on the mega dredge,

if I'm gonna make
any profit at all,

I've got to pull in over
$1.3 million this year.

♪

right now I'm seeing
what kind of reach I can get...

...And if the tide's out
far enough

to go out past where we've been.

Narrator:
The tide is on shawn's side.

The clock's ticking
as high waters will return

in less than six hours.

Shawn: Diggy-diggy.

♪

oh.

Now we're in nothing
but pure sand.

All of a sudden, you hear
the ground change.

I don't want to run dirt
without gold in it.

Let's take a test pan.


I dove on the tonka.

There's nobody else
in nome that knows that ground

better than I do.

But with everything changing,

it's like starting
all over again.

Sometimes it hides
in the gravel,

sometimes it hides on the clay.

Sometimes it's under the clay.

It's like a really fun game
of hide-and-seek.

♪

♪ where are you hiding? ♪

I was always good
at hide-and-seek.

I like to win.

Not a whole lot of heavies.

A couple of smalls, but you've
got to get a different sample,

maybe a little deeper.

Narrator: The perfect spot
is still eluding him.

If he can't zero in
on pay dirt soon,

shawn will be out of his depth.

Shawn: That stuff was a little
loose, a little light.

But 5 feet over this way
and 5 feet over that way,

we can be right next
to 1,000 ounces

and not even know it.

It's here somewhere.

We've just got to keep taking
big chunks of ground out.

♪

♪

it's getting better.

This is feeling like
a good sample here.

There should be
some gold in there.

But I've said that before.

And it has the smell.

It smells like money.

Yeah.

♪ where are you hiding? ♪

sometimes you've got to just
look for it a little bit harder.

Ooh, oh, I see you already.

There you go.

That's some
chunkier stuff there.

That's what I was looking for.

You're not that good
at hide-and-seek.

Let's fire it up.

Let's start
putting some dirt through it.

We're gonna dig
until the tide comes back in.

We'll show ken what's up.

Oh, yeah!

Narrator: Coming up...

I don't give a [bleep]
about safety right now.

I want to work.

Kris: Good luck.

You're breathing really hard.
Relax for a second.

What's the matter?

[ screaming ]

narrator:
In nome's small boat harbor...

Kris: Okay, away.

It's gonna be a great day.

We're gonna get out there

and we're gonna make some
easy gold.

Narrator:
...Captain kris kelly

is putting his biggest gamble
of the season into play...

Kris:
Are you ready, bree?

I am so [bleep] ready.

I've got all of my stuff.

I quadruple checked,
like, I got everything.

Narrator: ...Ready to finally
unleash rookie diver bree savage

and expand the tumultuous
kelly dive team.

Kris: Last time she forgot
her dive boots,

but you can't just
get rid of a person

because they have
one little problem.

I have my boots, I have my hood,
I have everything.

Andy: Today's the day.

Today she has to prove herself.

Andy's gonna be hard on her,

my dad's gonna be against her,

but she wants to do this.

And I really think she's gonna
surprise my dad and brother.

Narrator: They're after
a 100-ounce season

to purchase a ship of their own
and run with the big dogs.

And to pull it off,
the kellys are betting

on the jumbled seafloor
at fort davis.

Drop it.

Go get changed.

We're ready to make some money.

Andy: All the blue dots
are everywhere

I've worked out here.

Now, this spot over here,
I got an ounce an hour.

These three points right here,
I did half ounce an hour.

I got good gold here.

Kris:
Okay, we'll have you lead off,

find the gold,
put it in your ship.

Then I'm gonna have
bree come down.

♪

♪

brad: Yee-haw,
make some money, honey.

What's the visibility
looking like?

Andy:
Got 5 inches off the side.



I'm just putting my arms down
with the hose

and letting it go for it.

Narrator:
The shifting ocean floor

has uncovered gold
at fort davis,

but it's also
tanking visibility.

How's it going, andy?

Yeah, it's picking up
a little bit.

The wind
changed direction.

♪

a roller coaster down there
with no visibility.

Do you want to go
for a fun ride today?

You might not come back.

Probably not.

♪

brad: There's too many divers
on this ship.

Kris: I don't think

you're getting
under the water today.

Kris:
Right now, my dad and brother

think I'm a moron
for hiring another diver.

And they're kind of right.

This is the second day in a row

I've brought bree
on the boat for nothing.

Bree:
You know, like, he's right,

but I don't give a [bleep]
about safety right now.

I want to work.

I want to [bleep] be
under the water.

Kris:
Hopefully today will get better,

we'll just hang out
for a little while.

Narrator: 15 miles west...

When we get out there, we get
you suited up and away we go.

Narrator:
...Skipper vernon adkison,

along with captain-in-training
daughter elaine,

are venturing farther
than any other dredge in nome.

Vernon:
We've got everything we need.

Now it's time to go get some
gold to pay for all this stuff.

Narrator: Hopefully the honey
hole they uncovered

to start the season
will be rich enough

to pay for their quarter
million dollar goldship,

and then some.

Vernon: How about it, brian?

Yeah, I'm ready.

I promised him
I'd give him a shot at diving.

Narrator:
To help him cash in,

vernon's auditioning
diver brian donham.

If he can't cut the mustard,

then he is not long
for the program.

We will be cutting him loose.

Alright, here we go.

Elaine: We're good.

Okay.

♪

-elaine?
-Yeah.

[ thud ]

oh [bleep]

the crane's noise...

-Oh, we lost the pulley?
-Yeah.

Vernon: We've got a pulley
that drives the air compressor,

and, uh, it went in the water.

Narrator: No compressor means
no air for the divers.

Vernon: Ahh.

Man,
I'd hate to go back in.

-Go for it.
-Go for it, man.

Alright, yeah,
jump on in.

Narrator:
Brian volunteers to free dive,

unconnected to the ship by air,

hot water,
or even communication.

Vernon: We'll let him take a dip
and see if he can find it.

Chances of that happening
are slim to none,

but we'll give him
a few minutes

and we'll see how he likes
this bering seawater.

A little fly wheel
came off our compressor

and we don't got
one on board,

so I'm gonna
take a quick look.

Maybe it's right
where we dropped it.

♪

vernon: Brian, hang on
just a minute.

Look,
if you get swept away,

try to make it
for the beach.

Brian: Okay.
And we'll pick you up.

Alright.

Bad things can happen,
I mean, this is insane.

I've never...

♪

♪

vernon: Really, truly, I think
it's an exercise in futility.

A pulley about like this
in this big ocean...

♪

♪

I don't think
he can see the bottom.

Gary: I don't either.

So we're down a compressor.

Elaine: Are you kidding me?

We are wasting
so much time and money.

This is beyond frustrating.

[ sighs ]

♪

let's call it.

We got to pull up
and go to town.

Brian: Hey!

-Alright, yeah!
-Woo-hoo!

[ brian cheering ]

-brian.
-Yeah.

I can't believe it, man!

Alright.
Alright.

You might just have
yourself a future

in the gold-mining
business.

If you can find
that damn thing

on the bottom
of the bering sea,

you could probably
find gold, too.

Yeah.

Oh, good job, man!

Narrator: Coming up...

Shawn: Yeah!

Boulder after boulder.

Oh [bleep]

whoa, whoa.

Narrator:


Shawn: Coming in hot.

Yeah!

Oh.

Narrator: Captain shawn pomrenke
is digging in deep ground

opened up by low tide,

racing to seize gold
before high tide

slams the door shut
in less than an hour.

Shawn:
We went from soft and sand

to boulder after boulder
after boulder.

Love it.

Narrator:
A quarry of boulders

is a notorious hiding spot
for gold.

Shawn: They work just like
ripples in the sluice box.

You have the wave actions
taking the water and the gold

and picking it up
and throwing it.

And then as it washes back
and the tide recedes,

it hides, and it comes in

and gets stuck
in all these big rocks.

And right underneath
those boulders

is really
good-looking material.

I love digging
in the big boulders

because there's always
a lot of gold.

Holy [bleep]

but you put too big of a boulder
through that wash plant,

it will destroy that thing.

Narrator:
Clearing the massive rocks

takes time shawn doesn't have.

But there's no choice

if he wants to reach the gold
beneath

before the rising tide
closes in.

Shawn: That's why there's
gold still here.

It is hard digging.

♪

oh, is that it?

That's what I was looking for.

I just found some really
nice gravel.

It's hot.

I've gone from diving
to digging with an excavator

and now I'm going
to build the machine

I need to build to come out here
and mop all this gold up.

We're gonna come around
and kick ken's a*s in a hurry.

♪

yeah!

[ rattling ]

♪

that's what money
sounds like right there.

It kind of looks like
the tide's coming back in.

Son of a b*tch.

Alright.

Too deep.

That's it for today.

Narrator: The arrival of high
tide shuts down mining.

Shawn: We're gonna check
the test mat.

Hopefully a big pay day.

Narrator: So the limited time
he got in needs to pay off big

to make it all worth it.

Shawn: Oh, oh!

Oh, yeah!

See a good solid gold
all across here.

That's what I'm talking about!

Maybe we will pull
this season off.

Oh, yeah!

Narrator:


Kris: How's the current?

Andy: The current's
actually laying down.

Narrator: ...Captain kris kelly
and the reaper crew

are four hours into a dive
in rough waters,

keeping rookie diver bree savage
sitting on the sidelines.

Do you think she'll be able
to make it down there

and be safe?

I don't see why not.

Kris: Andy says

that the visibility's
getting a lot better

and the current's
slowing down.

Here's your chance.

Okay.

Narrator:
But with visibility clearing up,

bree is finally ready to take
the plunge for team kelly.

Kris: Bree's getting suited up
to go down,

so hopefully she can make it.

If she doesn't,

then she will be
on the greyhound bus tonight.

There's too many divers
on this ship.

Brad: Drum roll please.

Here she is.

♪ da, da, da!
Da, da, da! ♪

I've been ready.
Let's [bleep] do this!

Finally I'm in a wetsuit.

Andy: You ready?

Kris: Do your best
not to hurt yourself,

try to make it
as long as you can.

Don't worry about anything,
don't be stressed.

Take your time,
make this work.

Okay, good luck.

Let's ask right now for god
for her protection,

to make sure nothing bad
happens to her.

♪

♪

is everything okay?

So far so good.

Tell me
when you hit the bottom.

It might be better.

Bree: I am at the bottom.

♪

oh, she's breathing hard.

I'm gonna play
the theme from "jaws."

no, no, no, no.

♪

calm down.
You're breathing really hard.

Relax for a second.

You said there was
good visibility.

At the bottom.
She is at the bottom.

Yeah, well, go tell her
walk her fat a*s

around where there's...
Calm down.

...There's visibility.

♪

[ yelps ]

what's the matter?

[bleep]
pull her in.

Pull her in, pull her in.
Get out of my...

[ yelling ]

♪

♪

[ screaming ]

narrator:


Pull her in.
Pull her in, pull her in.

...On the reaper...

[ bree screams ]

pull her up!

[ screaming ]

there you go.

Calm down.
Are you okay?

♪

what happened?

♪

kris: Panic is gonna
get you k*lled.

I need another diver,
but she's not the one.

You know, I'm just glad
she didn't die on my boat.

Are you okay?

You scared
the hell out of me.

It was literally like a fish
or something that hit my mask.

That's why
I started freaking out.

It took five years
maybe off my life.

Let's just put andy
back down there

and let's make
some money.

Narrator:
Andy, ever the bigger man...

I had a two-cigarette break.

I'm good to go again.

Narrator: ...Stands by,
ready to pick up the slack.

Kris: Well, I'm glad
I have you.

[ both laughing ]

come on.

Put your mask on,
let's go.

Is that too tight?

♪

good for you.
Andy: Yeah.

Andy's a pain in the a*s,
but he's a good diver.

Narrator: 2 miles west...

Ken: Just keep digging up
the good stuff.

There's always room
for improvement.

The myrtle's
just like a marriage,

you've always got
to work on it.

Narrator: ...Captain ken kerr
has reconciled his differences

with the myrtle irene,
leveling the ballast tanks

to ensure the sluice box
stays flat,

and the captured gold
stays right where it should.

Ken: We've got to get
the water working right,

material flowing right,
make adjustments.

It's the first year we've had
this thing working this long.

Hopefully this keeps up.

There's still
a lot of season left.

I hope we just get
to keep grinding.

♪

when it's that hard, you know
nobody's been in it,

virgin ground.

Yeah, baby.

Look there.

Big mama-jama.



Whoo. Look at that.

Probably a big nugget

laying right next to
that monster boulder.

Wow.

Oh, I hope it goes
through the wash plant.

[ rattling ]

you can hear that boulder
rolling in there.

It's gonna hit
that chute hard.

♪

bam! [ laughs ]

oh, that was a big one.

The dredges can't
touch that big stuff.

The old girl's got some power.

Ooh! [ chuckling ]

[ metal creaking ]

oh, sh**t.

We've got a problem, houston.

Narrator: Prying 2-ton boulders
from the seafloor

exerts a massive amount
of stress on the myrtle irene.

The cylinder on the stick,
the bushing's out of it.

It's shot.

Narrator:
Ken's over-confidence

may have cooked
his golden goose.

[ groans ]

man, I can't keep
running that.

Shut her down.

I may have to go in.

♪

narrator: 14 miles west...

...On the 60-foot goldship...

You found that thing,
so I tell you what,

you get the first dive today.
Brian: Alright.

...Captain vernon adkison's
mining day is saved,

thanks to a free-dive
by a new recruit, brian donham.

Except this time, we'll
give you air and warm water.

So vernon's sending brian
down again,

this time to see
if his new bloodhound

is just as talented
at sniffing out pay dirt.

Go to that black rope,
follow it straight down.

It's good.

Alright, good luck,
get out there.

Vernon: This is brian's
first dive with us.

He's not afraid of the water,
that's for damn sure.

He jumped in without
any air or hot water

and found the pulley off
our compressor.

If he hadn't done that,

we wouldn't be
doing this right now,

we've be beating it back to town
to get another damn pulley.

You've still got 3
to 5 feet of bed.

Brian: Yeah.

Elaine:
You can tell right off the bat

if someone's not comfortable

and they get frantic.

I'm glad that he's
comfortable down there.

Yeah, you want to make sure
you get about an inch

into that stuff.

Yeah, that's the stuff
we're looking for.

Here we go.

Have you seen
any gold yet?

Alright, idle up.

I like him.

Oh, yeah.

I've seen divers not even
make it halfway down the hose

and try to venture, so...

But our new diver,
he's doing a good job.

Narrator: Coming up...

Boom, here we go.
Let's see what we got.

Ooh.

Late start, but it's gonna be
easy to pass that thing up.

Shut down,
excavators in the dirt.

Either something broke or
they're taking a coffee break.

I'm gonna probably say
that something broke.

What did you
break now, kenny?

Better get that thing up
and running,

because christine rose
is coming for you.

♪

kris: I'm really sorry

it didn't work out
with everything.

Narrator: Captain kris kelly's
new diving recruit, bree savage,

is washing out
of the reaper crew.

You know what?

I hate to scare you away
from mining, you know.

It was just
a bad, bad time.

I don't know what people
are meant to do,

but not a lot of people
are meant to be miners.

Yeah, I mean, thanks for
giving me the opportunity.

Yeah, I know
you're gonna do good

at, um...

Something else, you know.

Yeah.

Okay.
I'll see you later.

See you, yeah.
Have a good one.

Kris: Nome's not meant
for everybody, you know.

I just need you to get
underneath the water

and move that hose
and find gold.

But you've got to make it
to the hose

before you can find gold
and that's the truth.

Nothing seems to be
really working for me.

I need to get 100 ounces
this season,

and I need it right now.

It just makes you appreciate
andy some days.

Not very often,
but some days I appreciate him.

I'm gonna hear about this
for the rest of my life,

you know, from andy.

It's like,
"hey, remember that diver?"

narrator: Across the harbor...

Ken: I'm gonna look for a pin
and bushing

and see if we've got
one in stock.

Narrator: ...The myrtle irene
is docked for repair...

I don't think we've got one.

I'm a little bit worried.

Narrator: ...And captain
ken kerr's prognosis

is not encouraging.

This is a german-made machine

and parts are hard to get.

It's 8 to 10 weeks
to get a bushing,

so we'll have to make one.

Good news is the spot
that I saw from the air

is definitely a winner.

Bad news,
I can't dig up the spot

until I fix the myrtle's
broken wings.

Narrator:
On the outskirts of nome...

Shawn: Ocean kind of threw us
a curveball there.

Narrator:
...At the pomrenke compound...

Shawn: Went under the deep sand,
got in the big boulder,

boulder after boulder
after boulder.

Hopefully there's some
big gold under there.

Narrator: ...Shawn dug deep
while the tide lay low,

perusing a pay streak among
a pit of ancient boulders.

Now he's ready to see
if it rocked.

Shawn: We had to chase it down
a little bit,

but now I think
we're on the right track.

Get it clean.

♪

boom, here we go.
Let's see what we got.

♪





Ooh, 90...



...127.5.

Feeling good,

like I'm ready to rumble
with the bering sea!

Narrator: 127 ounces
is worth over $190,000.

Right around 250 ounces in the
last couple of weeks of mining.

Not bad.
Life's good.

This gives me hope
that I'll kick ken's a*s

and reclaim the crown.

We need to claw
our way back to the top.

Bada boom, bada bing.

Coming for you, ken.

A little bit every day.

Narrator:
On ken kerr's heels,

shawn pulls closer
to regaining the top spot.

♪

shawn: We're playing
catch up right now.

Hopefully we can salvage
what's left of the season.

Time to get to digging
on this ancient river of gold.

We found an ancient riverbed.

We're gonna go
try to get on it and dig it up.

Kris: We're passing up
for-sure gold

to go on a wild goose chase
with captain brad.

Emily: Dude, they're absolutely
claim-jumping right now.

Here she comes.
You're gonna have to move.

La, la, la, la.

Oh, yeah.
We're in the gold now.

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Good-looking stuff.

Off to the races we go.

♪