14x04 - Dive Till You Drop

[bunniefuu]

[narrator]
this is nome, alaska,

home to the biggest
offshore gold deposit

in the world.

The worst winter
in a hundred years

has left the miners
little time

to get under the ice.

But now, a sudden break
in the weather

is providing the season's
first golden opportunity

and the fleet is ready
to take advantage.

Just look at them go.

But the question is

who will make the most of it?

Miners, get on that seafloor

and do what
you came here to do.

On your mark,

get set,

go.

[crowd cheering]

[foreboding music playing]

after yesterday's
*bleep* show,

it's, uh, important for me
to be getting out here

before zeke
every single morning,

prep everything

so that our operation

is substantially smoother
than that.

[narrator]
after yesterday's fiasco...

Somebody should've
*bleep* noticed

that the *bleep* generators
were in a puddle

like, seriously,
that's, like, the only thing

that's actually
really important.

[narrator] gabe tenhoff
gets an early start,

trying to prevent
any more snafus.

[suspenseful music playing]

[man speaking]

[gabe] hey.

How you feeling?

Great.

Got any lunch?

Oh, I thought you'd have
some hotdogs on the...

On the stove by now.

[gabe] yeah? Well, I thought
I would have some help

getting *bleep* ready.

Getting something to eat.

The loss of that generator
was mostly on gabe,

kind of a little bit on me
because I was up there, too.

But it's mostly on gabe.

This operation
is kind of a mess so far.

No gold, therefore,
no money for me.

This isn't a charity mission.

Man, I'm getting
a little antsy.

There's a lot to do
every morning

to get this operation
fired up.

Sometimes
when it's freezing out,

it's, kind of, difficult
to get motivated.

The air hurts your face.

You question
your life decisions.

You feel palpable regret
for not going to college.

Then you bury
all those emotions down

as deep as you possibly can

and you go along
with your day.

Come on, you *bleep*.

Yes!

We got hot water.

We want everything
running smooth.

Just going.
By the time the zeke goes up,

he can just slap on a wetsuit

and get right under
the water.

[upbeat music playing]

all right.

We're running.

Dude, I appreciate it so much,

you guys getting everything
running for me.

[gabe] I mean, it's just
wonderful to have people

that can get things going
for me.

Yesterday was just
a complete cluster.

I need at least 8 ounces

just to keep my operation
going for the summer

and right now we don't have
any gold at all.

Nothing.
It's completely unacceptable.

Okay, there we go.
Grab that pressure line.

The guys are giving it all
they got

and we finally have
good weather.

This is what
I've been waiting for.

I'm gonna do something
that I really hope

turns things around.

I'm gonna go
on a marathon dive.

This is something I can do

that's totally
under my control

that can get us back on track.

So I'm gonna suit up.

There's like a pile of rocks,

pretty dense cobbles.

It's pretty much kind of right
under where the dive hole is.

There's gold coming out of it.

So, I just wanna keep...

Just try to see if I can plow
through that pile of rocks.

I'm gonna reach down deep

and try to pull out
something extra.

If I don't do it now,

I don't know
if we're gonna be

able to keep
the operation going.

How's your air flow?

[gabe speaking]

it's time for us
to get some gold.

[suspenseful music playing]

harrowing day yesterday.

It's still dark and it's still
dangerous down there.

So how's all
the systems feeling?

Everything good?

[gabe speaking]

all right.

To painted sluice boxes
and maintenance-free guys.

Sun's shining,

we're gonna get six hours
on the box.

[narrator] 2 miles east...

[vernon] all right, gary,
how are you feeling?

I'm feeling plenty good enough
to get down there

-and get some gold.
-All right.

I mean, this is what you call
a stellar day in nome.

It doesn't get much better
than this.

By the end of the day,
we'll have gold in the box.

[narrator]
vernon's making the most

of the break in the weather

by unleashing
his secret weapon.

-Yeah.
-Let's get her done.

I'll go and get dressed.

[vernon] all right.

We're on super gold here on 56

and that's why I'm aiming
for 200 ounces this season.

That'll be a record for me

and that ain't pie in the sky

and I've got a plan
to pull it off.

I've got two a-list divers,
gary and gary.

And today, I'll be able
to send both of them down.

We're talking about a twofer,
a two-headed monster,

whatever you wanna call it,
we're got to get down there

and milk those hours

until we can't
milk them anymore.

All right, gary.

Be careful down there.

[suspenseful music playing]

[gary] [indistinct]

yes, we feel good down here.

All right.

[gary] all right.
Let's get busy.

[suspenseful music playing]

[gary] seeing little pieces
of gold right now.

Look at that.
Right off the bat.

He's already seeing gold.

That's what I'm talking about
right there.

Woo!

[gary] ah, yeah.

[vernon] all right, gary.

He's just happy as a lark.

[gary] oh. Woo!

The guy's orgasmic.

[gary] woo.

My goodness [indistinct]

come on, baby.

-Ah, I love it.
-[laughs]

[gary] ah.

I see gold coming
out of this *bleep*.

That's some good sections.

[gary] yeah.

Before it's over with,

gary will go down there
and suck it up.

And then hopefully,
we'll be doing this

for the rest of the season.

[gary]
look at it all *bleep* man.

[narrator] 10 miles west...

[shawn] headed back out
to the tomcod.

This has been probably
the worst weather we've had

for ice mining ever.

[narrator]
the window of calm weather

has given shawn pomrenke

a clean shot to track down
his golden jackpot.

[shawn] it's been
one nightmare after another

out here this year.

But at least the sun's up.

The bering sea doesn't give
you a lot of opportunities.

So when it does,
you got to run with it.

I'm on the cusp
of something great,

a huge pocket of gold,
a massive pile of gold.

So, I'm gonna use
a few new toys to stay down

as long as I can
to get on this sucker.

Last time we were out here,
the compressor was acting up,

giving us a hard time,

so I got a new one.

It's electric,

actually,
I picked up an extension

through the hose, too.

That'll keep us from having
a move so much.

We're gonna give it a try.

I got serious payments
coming up.

I got the tomcod,
the revamp of the myrtle,

and the inland mine.

I'm gonna need probably
120 ounces to cover it all.

So far, I'm on a good pace,

but I still got
80 ounces to go.

I gotta push it today.

Get in the water,
start diving.

We having fun yet?

[suspenseful music playing]

how's she looking?

I see you brought that
air compressor out today, huh?

[shawn] yeah,
I got the air compressors

on the tractor trailer
in the box there.

Oh, yeah.

[shawn]
plug it in, and try it out.

Hopefully, this new
air compressor

and the hose extension

allows me to stay down there
long enough

to map out this entire area.

Looks like this pay streak's
headed north.

Gold lives with the heavies,

so seeing a higher
concentration

of the black sands,
magnetite, and iron

means we're on
the right trail.

[compressor whirring]

it seems to be working.

Wanna let the air compressor
run a little bit.

Get suited up.
Get in the water.

Oh, we got hot water going,
air compressor's good,

we got water running
in the sluice box.

Only thing now is for me
to get down there

and suck up some gold.

[suspenseful music playing]

this is the best part
of the job.

All righty, bruh.
Get that gold.

[suspenseful music playing]

[shawn speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

it looks like the float bags
are working all right.

Before the hose went just
straight up and down like this

up to the sluice box,

I threw some float bags on it,

right near the bottom
and about halfway up,

stretches out the hose,
gives the gold

somewhere to lie down
before it hits the box,

instead of swirling up
the hose into the box.

How's that compressor?

[shawn speaking]

[man] ten-four.

[compressor whirring]

[shawn speaking]

hell yeah.

We're finding the heavies.

And now we just got to find
the gold.

[shawn speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

okay. Team meeting, everybody.

Get a plan, quick two-minute
group meeting,

and then we all go
get back to work.

[narrator] after days
of storms and breakdowns,

kris kelly has exactly zero
ounces of gold to his name.

But with perfect
mining weather,

it's time to join
the marathon dive parade,

by any means necessary.

[kris]
the plan today is get gold.

We got a hose extension,

we're gonna add
another 25 feet.

We're gonna get down there
and we're gonna see

if there's anything underneath
that huge *bleep* overburden.

Okay. Well, everybody knows
their job.

-Come on. Let's do it.
-There you go.

[kris] so far, this winter's
been a disaster.

I got top of the line
equipment,

I really went for it
and it wasn't cheap.

After everything,
I just need 25 ounces

to make this winter
a success.

So far, I have nothing.

My dad broke off
so much of the hose

I couldn't even reach
the gold

when I went diving last time.

But today, I've got a plan

that should get us back
on track.

And with clear weather,
I'm gonna mine my a*s off.

Today, we're putting a hose
extension on the water.

We're getting everything
up and running

and I'm jumping in the water

and we're gonna
find out exactly

what's underneath my feet.

We're gonna plug
to the bottom of the hose

into the jet log and throw
the whole hose in the water.

Okay. Let's go.

Now, we have one
70-foot hose.

We're actually ready
to go right now.

Start them both.

[compressor revving]

we got it.

[kris] so look, I'm extra
stressed about the situation.

Not only can we go broke,

but I'm about to be
a new father.

I'm about to have
a little kelly of my own.

[baby cooing]

[kris] I'll have a family
of my own

that I'll have
to take care of.

So right now, my success
or failure

is taking on
huge consequences.

Okay. Let's do it.

Hook him up, bae.

-[kris] okay. Let's go.
-[man] go get them.

[kris] okay. Let's see
what we got going on here.

You got 125 pounds
of air pressure, okay?

[kris] everything's good.

Kenny, we are lucky the hose
coiled itself perfectly.

[kenny]
oh, no *bleep* [indistinct]

[kris] yup, I got lucky.

Then, maybe everything's
gonna go good from now on.

[kris] well, it should.

[kenny] just pick a spot
and start working it

and get it about 5 feet wide
and see how deep it goes.

[kris] okay.

[compressor whirring]

that's all she's got.

[kris]
they're rippin' suction.

How's the material looking?

[kris] uh, it's good,
I found a spot.

We get clay.

That might be gold.

[man] gold.

He found gold.

Don't say that
unless you're for sure.

[kris] I don't know for sure.

I can't really tell.

What I'm looking for
is little itty-bitty

flakes of gold
sliding across the clay.

[kenny] there's gotta be gold
under there.

Just keep working,
that's all that matters.

We need that gold
to pay off the equipment.

[kris] I know.

I'm not leaving without gold.

[clock ticking]

[narrator] 1 mile west...

Seeing some good stuff
down there?

[shawn speaking]

hell yeah.

[narrator] with added
time and added reach,

mr. Gold is making the most

of the season's
first storm-free day.

[shawn speaking]

[joe] all right.
Do you want me to pass

that extension down to you?

[shawn speaking]

[joe] all right. I'll, uh,
wrestle it over to the hole

and pass it down to you.

How is that compressor
keeping up?

[shawn speaking]

I'll take a look at it.

[shawn speaking]

dude *bleep*
always makes me nervous.

So I guess
he's still breathing.

[suspenseful music playing]

[shawn speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

[shawn speaking]

[joe] oh, yeah.

This will give him


to go out and poke through it.

[shawn speaking]

sounds like he's anticipating
finding something

pretty good out in front.

[kris] oh, oh, oh.

[joe] hell yeah.
Which direction are you in?

[kris speaking]

well, that matches right up
with our suspicions.

[kris speaking]

burning gas, hauling a*s.

Yeah.

Let me have a double shot
of red eye in a dirty glass.

I thought I'd drop in there

and I'll get
the juices flowing

and catch up on social media.

Delicious.

[narrator]
and now, another episode

of social hour with vernon.

Oh, let's see.

In dust we trust,

"I wanna be like vernon
when I get older,

drunk angry
and giving zero *bleep*."

I don't know about all that.

You haven't really
seen me drunk

and you don't wanna
see me drunk.

Give me a shot
of that jamesons.

This is spiritual.

That goes down
pretty damn smooth.

Next batter up,
from harmless potato,

"vernon, I saw an episode
where you were eating

what looked like
a burnt log."

what was it?

You know,
I have no memory of that.

That thing's burnt
to [indistinct]
but I bet it's good.

I deny eating
any burnt logs or anything

that looked like a burnt log.

They don't make them like this
in the restaurant.

I've eaten a lot of things

that I didn't remember
the next day but...

For the life of me.

I don't remember that one.

All right, potato.

Nice hearing from you.
Angel, thanks for the drink.

[narrator]
this has been another episode

of social hour with vernon.

[narrator] in nome,

it's the first calm weather
window of the season.

And every member of the fleet

is pushing to make
the most of it.

[rock music playing]

hey, so right now,
everything is running good.

How are you feeling?

I think everything's
going great.

Little pieces of gold
are flying through this hose

and into the sluice box.

I'm gonna pound it out
so hard you don't even know.

If I put in a lot of hours,

it will, like,
the math will work out.

[narrator] so far this winter,

zeke has yet to clean
an ounce of gold.

But thanks to today's
favorable conditions,

he's managed to put
in three hours

toward changing his fortune.

[zeke] yeah.
It's like this reef of rocks.

Yeah, there's some gold here.

I mean, definitely gold
in the area and...

[zeke speaking]

[sam] all right. Roger.

Chipping his way through
a big dense rock pile

that's right at the bottom
of the ice hole.

The ice hole right here,
like this hose is coming down,

like that and then there's
this big mound of rocks

going right there.

And it's very dense.

It's usually really hard
to chip your way through.

That's what he's working
through right now.

[zeke] I got a lot
of work to do.

I wanna dive over
just stupid amount of hours.

Time to get serious.

[sam] time to get serious.

Well, dude, I like that plan.

It's a good plan.

[sam] it's a dive boat.

Putting gold in the sluice
box and listening to motors.

It's tranquil.

Dialed in.

I love it.

[narrator] 2 miles east...

[upbeat music playing]

yeah. Hey, gary, it's going
good in the direction

you're stretched out in,
right?

[gary] yeah.
I can see pieces of gold

just falling out on the dirt.

I mean everywhere.

[vernon] well, yippee-ki-yay.

That's what I like
to hear, gary.

You're my favorite nozzleman.

[gary laughs]

[narrator] vernon adkison's
turning today's

golden sunshine
into gold in the box

as he finishes off
the first round

of his mining doubleheader.

It was a long time coming

but it seems like
we've got everything working

just the way it's supposed to.

Okay, gary,
you got your time in.

That's four hours
and that's it.

The other gary,
I wanna send old gary out.

Come on up.

[gary] roger that, vernon.

I'm on my way.

[vernon] that was in
good dive. Good dive.

Gary's just finished up
his shot.

He was moving a hell
of a lot of material.

And, uh, gary panos,
old gary, same deal.

Gary's got to get him
and hammer it, yet once again.

I think I've got a pretty
good damn team right now.

This will be gary panos's
first dive for the season.

He's one of the best divers
I've ever had.

So it's gonna be come
to gold daddy time

and, uh, we're gonna crush it.

[gary p] all right.

[vernon] you got about


[gary p] all right. Copy that.

[gary p speaking]

yeah, okay. Well, that's good
you seeing gold.

[gary p] yee-haw.

Yee-haw.

[gary p speaking]

that's good.

[gary p speaking]

because now, he's starting
to get the spirit.

I'm gonna have a hard time
pulling him up.

[gary p] this looks great.

[vernon] all right. All right.

[narrator] 10 miles west...

[kris] [indistinct] pictures
of cobble.

We get clay
two and a half feet.

-Get any gold there?
-Yeah. Any gold on it?

[kris] hold on.
Just give me a second.

Oh, we're definitely on gold.

[narrator] after hours
of scouring the seafloor,

kris kelly, may finally be
digging out of debt.

[shawn] how much?

[kris] I can't really see
how much gold

I'm on right now but I...

I'm k*lling it.

Oh, *bleep* you know what?

[kris speaking]

[shawn speaking]

so, we got a gold
painted nozzle.

So that could be
the paint chipping off

and kris is sucking that up
and seeing that.

[kris] let's do a test.

See the black *bleep* you
don't see any gold, right?

That's paint on the rock.

I think the powder coating
of the nozzle

is definitely coming off.

[kris speaking]

[kris] *bleep*.

[man speaking]

[shawn] I say we move.

[shawn speaking]

[kris] well, I'm telling you
the *bleep* nozzle is gold.

Kris's guide to mining.

First of all,
you better be able to tell

the different gold and paint.

[kris] I think
we should move out of here.

I don't like this.

[shawn] okay, kris, we got
five hours, come on up.

[kris] okay. I'm coming.

What a waste of time.

The *bleep* nozzle's
powder coated in gold.

-So like...
-Think the hot water line
[indistinct]

...When I was dragging
the nozzle

and moving it around,
you can see that gold

from the nozzle.

It was just
gold-colored paint.

So right now, I'm pissed.

I've been on gold,
what I thought was gold,

and it turns out to be paint.

Am I a *bleep* idiot?

I can't have this
happen right now.

We need to get gold.

Sucking up paint chips, man?

That's that weird kid
at school.

I hope that's not
gonna be my kid.

So bottom line,
this spot sucks.

We've got no gold
and we're running out of time.

Holy *bleep* there's a pile
of sand underneath us.

It feels like
I'm on the beach.

So what's the plan
for tomorrow, captain?

Plan for tomorrow,

we're gonna move west
one more.

I just hope to god
there's gold.

There better be.

Let's go.

[engine revving]

[kris]
nothing worked for me today.

Everything's going
to *bleep*.

[shawn speaking]

[rock music playing]

[shawn speaking]

oh, good.

[shawn speaking]

[joe speaking]

[narrator] stretched out
farther from the dive hole

that he's been all season,

shawn pomrenke is sneaking
to the front of the pack

in today's marathon dive.

[shawn speaking]

[joe] so you've about eaten up
all the ground,

you can reach
with that extension?

[shawn speaking]

-that was a good dive.
-[joe] hell yeah.

I love it.

The box is looking good.

-Box is looking good.
-Mmm-hmm.

Compresser worked, hot water,

heaters working,
pumps running.

Hell, life's good.

Hey. Hell yeah.

[shawn]
it was a k*ller day today.

It was just what I needed.

We got lots of hours
in the box

and I got to follow
the pay streak

out away from the hole
and it's loaded out there.

I'm on it.

There's no stopping us now.

I got out as far as I could.

We see a good gold so joe
threw down the extension,

we hooked it up,
got out to the end,

it was well worth it.

But I've had a long day.

It's cold out here.

I'm ready to go home.

[engine revving]

[shawn]
we're back in business.

[narrator] 8 miles east...

[zeke] yeah. I'm out of shape.

My arms need to get stronger.

[sam] you okay?

[zeke] yeah.

[indistinct] I think
it's time to call it a day.

I think I'm gonna come on up.

Yeah, you got us there, man.

I'm stoked.

[narrator] after a season
of dives cut short,

zeke tenhoff notches
seven long hours on the box.

That was smooth.

Maintenance-free.

Yeah. It was a good,
solid dive.

It was a nice long one.

I was in the zone.

We just need to have
a lot more of those.

Oh, we're gonna have
another one of them tomorrow.

Yeah? Do it.

This season
has been super rough

with all these blizzards
that we've been getting

and all the problems
that are attached to that

but today, I was able to do
what I set out to do,

which was put out tons
of hours on the box

and I've definitely
got some gold.

We needed this bad.

[zeke speaking]

[narrator] 2 miles east...

[gary p] that was chunky
right there.

See this little area
right here?

The whole piece's coming out.

That one's about
four or five pieces
under that one little.

There's another one.

Oh, yeah. And another.
And another.

Right there's a piece.
Another piece.

Another piece
lodged right there.

Yeah. That's a little puddle.

It looks good.

[gary p speaking]

[vernon] all right, gary.

[narrator]
vernon adkison's double dive

has outlasted any team
in the fleet

as his two star divers
clock in

over eight hours
of dredging duty.

[vernon] we're gonna go ahead
and call it.

We're good.

Why don't you come on out
and we'll put it to bed

and hit it
first thing in the morning?

[gary p] yeah, we have a copy.

[vernon]
the doubleheader dive was
twice as nice as I expected.

We cleaned up.

We've mopped it up.

Well, that was
a damn good day.

I know damn well there's
a good gold in that box.

World's super gold.

I think this clean-out's
gonna make me

light up
like a christmas tree.

That 200 ounce gold
is in sight.

We got enough time
to measure with a bang.

[dramatic music playing]

[holiday music playing]

I'm already tired
and I'm hungry

and I'm ready for dinner.

Why not have a barbecue?

Yeah. It's *bleep*
einstein right there.

-Let's go.
-[indistinct] you gonna wait?

[james] it's probably not
the brightest thing, uh,

to barbecue on top
of the sluice box

when you got all the grease
from the meats

just dripping down
and start dropping

into the sluice box
and it's gonna be

a little dead spot
where it's just

gonna pull his gold away.

Yeah. I know.

Oh, man, there's a lot.

That's a burn victim
right there.

Oh, well.

Hot dog was good.

You don't want a bun?

No, I'm good.

Straight up savages
around here.

When you see a grill
on top of your sluice box,

you know this is a failure.

The barbecue
is going all right.

[chris] there's no mining
whatsoever is gonna be done?

Do they really know what
the *bleep* they're doing?

Did you eat enough hotdogs?

[james speaking]

that's a yes.

[kris] I personally think

it's the best part
of working for us.

[upbeat music playing]

first clean-out
of the ice season.

[zeke]
oh, I don't have any idea
how much it's gonna be.

[narrator] after pushing
for seven grueling hours,

zeke tenhoff
is about to do something

he hasn't done all winter.

He's about to weigh
some gold.

I'm seeing more gold.

The nibbles are
starting to turn yellow.

I feel like the winds...
The winds are in my favor.

We finally have some gold.

I mean, I don't know
how much but hallelujah.

It's a huge weight
off my shoulders.

I'm sure there's gonna be
a big reality check

when we weigh it out,
but at the very least,

we're all gonna get
a little gold in our pockets.

That's pretty good.

There's obviously gold there.

[laughs]

there's no question.

Yeah.

This gold is validation that

what we're doing
can and will pay off.

Gotta dry out the gold.

I'll do a marathon dive

every single day
to feel like this.

What is it?

It always looks like more
when it's in that big pan.

Got a whole ounce here.

Now we're talking.

[metal clanking]

yeah.

-All right.
-[steve] how heavy
that sucker is, man.

[sam] dude, 2.1 ounce.

[narrator] 2.1 ounces

is worth over $3,900.

And while not exactly
breaking the bank,

the mad scientist is finally
on the scoreboard.

Yeah, that's good stuff.

Seeing this gold on the scale
pushes back any doubts

that I ever had
about being a miner.

Gold mining is my path.

This certainly
was not fort knox,

but it's validation that
what I'm doing is right,

I'm on the right track.

And this motivation
will keep carrying me

through the rest
of the season.

What do you think?
A third ounce of gold,

-will that do you
for this one?
-Third?

Yeah, that'll be fine.

[zeke] I have to give steve
some gold for his services.

He's been a huge help to us.

[steve] cool.

[zeke] all right, third ounce.

There's been some tough times

and he's pulled through for us

-and he deserves it.
-[steve] it's the only way

I can pay
my hotel bill tonight,

is with this gold.

[zeke] there's a lot more
where that came from.

We just need to keep at it.

Dude, on to the next hole.

It's yours, something to eat.

This is good for your joints.

[laughter]

[steve] finger licking good.

[laughter]

[narrator] across town...

[upbeat music playing]

[shawn]
we're close to something big.

We're definitely on the trail.

It's always nice having that

little extra extension
out there

so you can kind of tell
which way the gold's going.

A little dangerous
but definitely makes it
interesting, doesn't it?

[narrator] shawn pomrenke

may not have hit
the golden jackpot

but good weather
and a hose extension

were a winning combination
that kept him on the trail.

[shawn] magnetite black sand,
it's there.

It's just we got to,
just sniffin' it out.

I've been doing this
a lot of years

and seeing all these
heavy materials,

it's like a bat signal.

Let's dry this stuff out
and, uh, weigh it up.

It's not a question of
if we find the jackpot,

it's a matter of when.

See what we got.

Four, five, six.

Ooh, seven, eight, nine,

ten, eleven, twelve.

This is looking good.



[erick] oh, yeah.

Hell, yeah, it's in there.

-Getting better.
-[erick] yeah, I know.

[shawn] things are picking up.

-[erick] yup.
-[shawn] not bad.

Oh, I'll take it.

[narrator] 15.5 ounce
is worth over $29,000,

just a taste of the payday
that mr. Gold believes

is right around the corner
as he creeps ever closer

to the 120 ounce he needs.

We're on the trail now.

This winter just keeps
getting better.

I'm gonna be able to
make all my payments

and I'm gonna find that
jackpot, mark my word.

We're gonna hit some bigger
gold here sooner or later.

We need to keep it up, joe.

[narrator] across town...

[vernon] we have gold.

[gary] oh, yeah, look at that.

All right, gary.
Let's weigh this one up.

See how we did.

[narrator]
after a double dive with
double the time on the box,

vernon adkison's hoping

for double the gold
on the scales.

What I was seeing
in the camera, that ground

looked to me
like it's untouched.

Yeah.

Well, let's see what we got.

Two, four, ten,

sixteen, seventeen,

eighteen, nineteen, and 20.52.

I'll take it.

[narrator]
20.52 ounce is worth
a little north of $38,000.

That's the best clean-out
we've had in a while.

Yeah, that's good right there.

That's a nice one right there.

I feel like there's
been a sea change
since bought '56.

We're operating on an entirely
different level now.

We keep getting gold
like we have been,

this might be a record
breaking season for me.

Well, hey, I'm happy.

Let's go get some chow.

-I'll buy you a beer.
-All right. All right.

[narrator]
the break in the weather
has rallied the fleet

as shawn and vernon
keep flying high.

While zeke finally lands
on the scoreboard

and the kellys continue
to stumble.

Next time on
bering sea gold...

[sam speaking]

[kris] so we're gonna put up
the irish flag.

This is gonna change our luck.

[shawn] today's the day.

We're gonna find
something big.

*bleep* we got some kind of
short here, guys.

[man speaking]

they have to send
the helicopter out

to rescue him.

He stretched all the way out.

[zeke speaking]

-are you okay?
-Yeah.

Yeah. Your life
could turn around

in a matter of an hour.

Oh, baby.

Oh, wow.

-There's a pile of gold.
-Yeah.

[man] I haven't ever
seen anything like it.

[zeke speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]