06x11 - Wharfs and All

[bunniefuu]

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

-MARTY: Lookee here, David.
The oscillator!
-DAVE: Yep.

-So, boys, we're here.
-Make some hole!

ROB H.:
There's some peculiar markings.

-It's a runic language.
-This is the Vikings.

RICK: We're finding
structure after structure

-in Smith's Cove.
-That's the end of it
right there!

There's another wall here.

Ooh! Check this out.

This could be a friend
of the cross.

Has that got...
It's got a design on it!

-MARTY: Okay, are we ready?
-The real treasure hunt

-actually begins again now.
-RICK: The hunt is on.

MARTY:
Here we go!

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.

♪ ♪

TERRY:
Try taking those boulders out.

I think it ends right here.

It seems to end. Yep.

NARRATOR: It is an exciting time
on Oak Island.

That's the end of it
right there!

...as Rick Lagina,
Craig Tester

and geologist Terry Matheson

continue to unearth

new and possibly important
wooden structures

at Smith's Cove,

structures that
might help them solve

a 223-year-old treasure mystery

once and for all.

-Think that's the bottom of it?
-TERRY: No.

This one here,
these ones go much deeper.

Do you see
how it's laid back up?

Yeah. It's all tilted this way.

DOUG:
Did you see that?

-Right there. See the opening?
-Yeah.

NARRATOR: Two days ago,
the team uncovered

what could be a piece
of a stone box drain,

one of five that are believed
to feed seawater

into the Money Pit,
thus protecting it

from would-be treasure hunters.

But today, while continuing

their careful excavation
of the area,

Rick and the team
were stunned to find

yet another
mysterious wooden structure.

TERRY: Looks like we have
something there, Rick.

-No idea how deep that is, huh?
-Got no feel for it yet.

RICK: I mean, you wouldn't think
it'd just be one single wall.

Either there's
another wall here,

or there's one over there.

It had a structure
like that, didn't it?

-Yeah, more like an "L."
-An "L," so...

-is that probably...
-This wall,

and then it headed straight
for the U-shaped structure.

-Yeah.
-This is the L-shaped
structure here?

Right like that.

NARRATOR:
The L-shaped structure?

In the early 1970s,
while conducting

his own extensive investigation
of Smith's Cove,

veteran treasure hunter
Dan Blankenship

built a 400-foot-wide cofferdam

made of earth
and large boulders.

After pumping the cove dry
and beginning to excavate it,

Dan uncovered

not only a massive
U-shaped wooden structure

but also a second formation
running parallel to it.

Made of wood and small stones,

the unusual
50-foot-long feature

appeared to be laid out
in the shape of an "L."

However, before Dan
could fully expose

the so-called
"L-shaped structure,"

a massive storm washed
the cofferdam away,

forcing the operation
to be halted indefinitely.

Could the wooden structure
the team has just unearthed

be connected to the L-shaped
structure in some way?

Does anybody have a clue
on the, uh,

use of the L-shaped structure
or what it might have been?

-No. Not-not at all.
-We're not sure?

Just another structure
we know nothing about.

-Yeah.
-RICK: Whoever did this

went to a lot of work.

I'm wondering,
as we expose it,

was it an abortive attempt?

Was it just too much work

for the result
that they were attaining?

This is gonna be
a very interesting enterprise,

trying to figure out what the
L-shaped structure represents.

TERRY:
Oh. Look at that.

Oh, looking like
it might be packed, doesn't it?

Lot of clay up against it,
it looks like.

It looks like
they might have packed clay.

Look at that.

It's not the good stuff, though.

(Terry groans)

-RICK: It's quite granular.
-Yeah.

Yeah, look, there's
a lot of rock in it, too.

They might have just used
what they had on hand.

CRAIG: I don't know
if they drove it into the sand

and then took rocks
up against it?

RICK: It sure seems that way,
because, I mean,

it's an inordinate
amount of rock.

Looks like they tried
to pack it.

Similar construction.

♪ ♪

-That is a lot of clay.
-Yeah.

It's-it's definitely
a clay-rich till.

CRAIG: You know,
if one of the searchers

felt they were outside
of the old cofferdam,

and it was mainly sand,

they drove it in the sand
a little bit, then start...

RICK:
But to what end, Craig?

It's an open-ended structure.

It's not connected to anything.

If this is some sort
of water-prevention system

or water-infiltration
prevention...

-Mm-hmm.
-(chuckles): ...then, like,

why couldn't the water have
just come around that end?

-Or this one?
-I don't know. I agree.

RICK:
The more work we put into this,

the more and more questions
there are.

-Yeah.
-U-shaped structure.

-Yes.
-Billy's wall. Now we have this.

We were hoping
to get answers down here.

I was.

RICK: Welcome to Oak Island.
Let's keep digging.

NARRATOR: After a day
of promising new discoveries

at Smith's Cove,

Rick Lagina
and members of the team

gather in the w*r room
for what promises to be

-an exciting meeting.
-RICK: The thing
that I find exciting

about this stone is twofold.

One is the fact

that there are indeed carvings
on that stone,

but the other thing is,

it appears as though there's
another piece to this stone.

NARRATOR: Joining them is
gyro survey expert Tory Martin,

along with Rob Hyslop
and Ryan Levangie

of Azimuth Consulting, Limited.

-Okay, let's see this.
-It's just over here, guys.

NARRATOR:
Two days ago,

Tory Martin found
a strange stone lying

in the woods
near the Money Pit site.

That just doesn't
seem natural to me, anyway.

-No.
-Definitely not natural.

Look at that, Craig.

NARRATOR:
Upon closer inspection,

the team noticed
what appeared to be

an inscription carved
into the face of the rock.

It's not in a writing
that we would recognize.

NARRATOR: After performing
a specialized laser scan

of the rock's surface,

Rob and Ryan have returned
to present

an enhanced three-dimensional
computer analysis

to the Oak Island team.

Rob, enlighten us.
What are we looking at?

-Sure. So, I'll explain
what we did.
-Please.

So, we started
with three individual scans,

and then we unified those scans

into a model
of the entire stone.

So from there,
two things stood out.

The first thing is
this flat area.

It was an area that we did
a little bit of analysis on

and found that it was
perfectly flat.

Too straight to be natural.

Which leads us to believe
that potentially this was

carved out and cleaved
at one point.

We've done our best

to zoom in and create
some kind of a pattern

out of these marks that go
perpendicular to that flat area.

They have
a relatively linear spacing.

We didn't notice
any cross features

that would indicate
English letters,

but, um, there's definitely
some peculiar markings

along that face.

Doug, what do you think?

(clears throat)
Um...

a friend of mine introduced me
to, uh, futhark one time--

it's a runic language--
and that's what I kind of see

in what Rob and Ryan
have brought out on that,

is that type
of runic language, so...

NARRATOR:
Runic carvings on Oak Island?

Dating back as early
as the first century A.D.,

the runic language
known as "futhark"

was a primitive alphabet used
by the Germanic tribes

of northern Europe,

as well as
in ancient Scandinavia.

Consisting of etched characters
called "runes,"

the purpose
of these inscriptions

ranged from everyday uses

to religious
and superstitious reasons,

such as a prayer or curse.

Could the mysterious carvings
found near the Money Pit

on Lot 16 really be
a runic inscription,

one dating back
hundreds of years?

RICK:
The results are quite dramatic.

They do indeed appear to be
some sort of runes.

Runic symbolism, if you will.

The hope is that
we'll see these characters

in a new way
and hopefully enhance them

to the point where we can have

an expert look at them.

You know, they have a runic
stone in... in Yarmouth Museum.

It used to be in the library,
but now it's in the museum

-in Yarmouth.
-Have they come

to an understanding
of who might have done it?

Yeah. They-they said
the Vikings did it.

NARRATOR:
Vikings? Is it possible

that Vikings
could somehow be connected

to the Oak Island mystery?

From the eighth
to 11th century A.D.,

the seafaring warriors
known as the Vikings

were active throughout the seas
of medieval Europe.

Famed for their sailing
and navigation abilities,

there is evidence to suggest
their activities also spread

as far west as North America,

beginning with the Norse
explorer Leif Erikson,

who is believed
to have made landfall in Canada

sometime around 1000 A.D.

We know, because of the
archaeological community's work

in the maritimes, that...

there are Viking settlements
up and down

the length of Newfoundland
and even in Nova Scotia.

So the possibility
that Vikings were here,

it's not a stretch.

We've never seen another stone
like this on the island.

It opens now up the door
of possibility

to another entity
being involved here, you know?

Vikings, which we have
never really explored.

Anyway, Rob, Ryan,
we thank you very much,

and if you'd be kind enough
to leave us the information,

I think we'll follow up
in a multitude of ways.

Absolutely.
Yeah, I'd appreciate it

if this was sent to the experts
and we get

something valuable back
out of it.

Oh, you'll-you'll...
you'll have an answer.

-ROB H.: Very good.
-I guarantee you.

-ALEX: And a bunch
more questions.
-And a bunch

-more questions.
-(all laugh)

Ooh, that sounds good.

Ooh! Check this out.

Has that got...
It's got a design on it.

-We could be
onto something, mate.
-It could be significant.

TERRY:
Morning, Gary.

Morning, mate.

NARRATOR:
As a new day begins

on Oak Island...

-Any luck yet?
-No, nothing yet.

...metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

joins geologist Terry Matheson

and archaeologist Laird Niven

as they resume
their investigation

of the mysterious wooden
structures at Smith's Cove.

Well, those are more
than two by eight, aren't they?

TERRY: Yeah,
they're not quite as thick.

Interesting.

TERRY: Yeah. It's a little more
extensive than we thought.

At least a little.
Maybe a lot more extensive.

Well, as Craig pointed out,

it's kind of paralleling
the U-shaped structure, too.

-Yeah.
-I guess we'll just continue

to uncover it.

That seems to make sense.

NARRATOR:
As Terry and Laird work

to carefully expose more
of the mysterious structure,

Gary will scan a recently
excavated area nearby

in hopes of finding
important artifacts

-or possible treasure.
-(metal detector beeps)

It's a small iron.

Small iron. (sighs)

(metal detector beeping loudly)

Ooh, that sounds good.

Wow, nice bit of curved lead.

Laird!

Yep?

Check this out.

-Piece of lead.
-Really?

-Not a surprise
to find lead around here, but...
-GARY: No.

That really reminds me
of, like, a bracelet.

-Any ideas, Laird?
-No.

-No.
-It looks like it's worked.

It looks like it's got
sloped edges and a flat back,

-like it was made
on purpose like that.
-Yeah.

Has that got...
It's got a design on it.

-At the end there.
-Well, it certainly has

-the worked edges, right?
-Look, you see that?

-Yeah.
-It looks like a design,
unless I'm seeing things,

on the end there. Looks like
scrolling design down there.

-LAIRD: Yeah.
-I get excited
when I find lead around here

-'cause this is where
I found the cross.
-Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR: A lead bracelet?
And found in the same area

where Rick Lagina
and Gary Drayton

discovered a medieval cross
last year?

Is it possible
that these two artifacts

are somehow connected?

Yeah, it's nice.

-It's different, anyway.
It's an unusual find.
-Yeah, yeah.

-GARY: You know that this came
from deep down.
-Oh, yeah.

-Maybe this is the money area.
-Yeah.

GARY: Soon as I inspect
the piece of lead,

I can see it's in the shape
of a bracelet.

I don't know if this is
an "holy schmoly" find just yet,

but this could be a friend
of the cross.

So many decorate pieces of lead.

And that fact that it came out
of this area near the U-shaped

-and the L-shaped structure...
-That's right. Yeah.

We could be onto something,
mate.

It could be significant.

That's true.

GARY: I'll have
a little check around,

see if I can find
any more of it.

NARRATOR:
Later that same day...

-Hey, Craig.
-Morning, Craig.

-Morning.
-Morning.
-...Rick and Marty Lagina

gather with members
of their team in the w*r room.

In light
of their exciting discoveries

at Smith's Cove,
they are hoping

they will soon make
similar progress

at the Money Pit site.

So, as you know, you know,
the point of this discussion

is ultimately to make a decision
moving forward.

What are we gonna do
in the Money Pit?

Because,
to greater or lesser degrees,

we all know what has transpired

over the last several weeks.

TEDFORD: So, what's
the target depth on this one?

Go to at least 185
and maybe deeper.

NARRATOR: So far this year,
the Oak Island team

has conducted a series
of core drilling operations

at the site
in an effort to locate

the notorious Shaft Six,

a 19th-century searcher tunnel

that was dug in order
to provide a kind of back door

into the fabled treasure vault.

-Oh, whoa!
-CRAIG: Oh, that's...
th-that's a whole piece.

NARRATOR:
Six weeks ago, at a depth

of 109 feet,

Rick, Craig and the team

believed they found
their target.

CRAIG:
I think he hit the tunnel

from Shaft Six.

NARRATOR:
But finding Shaft Six

and pinpointing
the exact location

of the original Money Pit
are not the same thing.

The team will still need
to drill several holes

around the Shaft Six site

before they will be certain
they have finally found

the elusive treasure shaft.

RICK: What looms large
in the near future

is putting down a large can

and/or several small cans
to investigate

-these areas.
-Oh, absolutely.

RICK:
Craig, what would you do?

Would you target
one singular area,

or would you take a sh*t
at a couple three?

-I'd do multiple cans.
-Right.

I like the Shaft Six tunnel,

following that.

Finding Shaft Six
could really help us

-zero in on the Money Pit.
-MARTY: It could.

Well, you'd at least know
the tunnel,

it has to be within that spot,
so I'm okay with that.

The way to uncorkscrew
the Money Pit

-is finding the Tunnel Six.
-Yep.

Everybody's on board with Rick
that we got to look for where

the tunnel from Shaft Six
entered the Money Pit.

RICK: So, we've done
as much as we can do

to come to a consensus

as to where to pin this tunnel,
this location.

It's time to dig.

-So, brother?
-Yeah.

Where are you going?

Well, you know
what I want to do.

-I want to dig right here.
-I know what you want.

(all laugh)

Well, I know you started

with very focused on H-8.

MARTY:
I want to have a re-go at H-8

and see if that stuff
we pushed away comes back in.

I don't know why it wouldn't.
It should.

And then we can try and find
the stuff we missed last time.

Yeah.

H-8 still remains
the-the primary, if you will.

I mean,
we just found too many things

to-to let that go.

NARRATOR: Last year, Rick, Marty
and the Oak Island team

made a number
of incredible discoveries

while searching
through the H-8 spoils,

including 18th-century pottery.

Oh, a bit of pottery. Look.

NARRATOR: They also unearthed
fragments of parchment,

leather bookbinding,

and even human bones,
which, when tested,

were identified
to be the 17th-century remains

of two different individuals,

one from Europe

and one from the Middle East.

We drilled the little H-8
and found all kinds of stuff.

I for sure think we're in the
original Money Pit with H-8.

And then we put in
the big canister

and didn't really get
much of anything.

So we think
we need to try and find

what was missing
from last year.

So that's mission number one.

We now have a battle plan,
surely,

or an outline
as to what we want to do.

Now we need to get back
to Irving and ROC

and see
if we can't make this happen.

-Yeah.
-MARTY: Okay, good.

Well, let's quit jawing
and start doing something.

DAVE: Get something done.
That's right. I'm with you.

-100%.
-Okay.

-RICK: Let's go.
-CHARLES: Let's go.

VANESSA:
Hey, boys, we're here.

What's the plan for this year?

RICK: It's all about finding
the one thing,

proving
the Oak Island story real.

You know,
I think we all want that.

All of us.

NARRATOR:
It is the start

of another exciting day
on Oak Island...

RICK:
Lookee here, David.

NARRATOR: ...as brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

welcome back representatives
from ROC Equipment,

the same company
that has been working with them

for the past two years.

-How you doing?
-DANNY: Good. How are you?

Good to see you. Hello, Vanessa.

(Dave laughs)

MARTY:
Hey, man. Welcome back.

-Thank you.
-Good to see you.
How do you do, sir?

-I'm Marty. Hi, John.
-John.

-Nice to meet you.
-How you been?

Bring that big oscillator thing?

-Yeah, we brought a parade.
-(all laugh)

I don't know
if you noticed this, but...

NARRATOR:
Today, in addition

to bringing their first load
of digging equipment,

the ROC team
has once again brought

their 50,000-pound rotating
oscillator to Oak Island.

Capable of applying some
three million pounds of torque,

this powerful machine
will allow the Oak Island team

to both drive down
and lift up the massive

50- and 60-inch-wide
steel drilling caissons.

MARTY:
ROC, R-O-C,

is bringing in the oscillator,
and that's exciting

because we've put a tremendous
amount of resources,

time, money, everything,

into gathering
all the data we can.

And now, using that data,
we know where to dig.

The treasure hunt resumes.

The hunt is on.

So, boys, we're here.

I'm about ready
to break my crew loose

to go get their safety gear on,
start unloading those trucks,

but what's the plan
for this year?

Let's go over there
and take a look.

You're gonna have to make the
decision where we start, really,

because, you know,
we all have interest in H-8.

We collectively were never able
to explain what happened there.

Yeah, that was, you know,
rather frustrating

-for us, as well, last year.
-That's it right there.

MARTY: We know
that the Money Pit collapsed.

So, this could be the vault.

NARRATOR: Last year,
in addition to finding

human bones in H-8,
the Oak Island team

located what
they believed to be

the legendary Chappell Vault,

the seven-foot-tall wooden box
first discovered

by treasure hunters
William Chappell

and Frederick Blair in 1897.

DANNY: We're 170 pipe
in the ground right now.

We are definitely sitting
on something

that we haven't cut before
since we've been on this job.

NARRATOR: Unfortunately, when
the team attempted to penetrate

the object with a 50-inch-wide
drilling caisson,

the elusive wooden chest
was pushed down deep

into what they believe to be
a mud-filled void,

located at a depth
of some 170 feet.

MARTY:
It's still in there, then.

-That what you're saying?
-CRAIG: Just pushed to the side.

So the hatch we dug through

-has been pushed to the side?
-Exactly.

MARTY:
H-8 was a big enigma last year.

We had some
peculiar things happen.

We think maybe the plug

that's supposed to come up
in the canister

got pushed away into a void.

So we're going to start
manipulating H-8 somewhat.

Pick it up,
maybe go back down, try and get

whatever got pushed away to
come back in so we can grab it.

Do you have a depth that
we're thinking of pulling up to?

I would first
hammer-grab inside it.

We don't know what
might have come in, right?

-I agree.
-So I'd first...

first hammer-grab it
right to bottom.

-Mm-hmm.
-Then I would pull it up...

eight feet, ten feet, maybe,

see what might
reverse in. Right?

-Okay.
-Because we lost,

we know we lost it.

We pushed the plug somewhere.

-Yeah.
-Yeah, the sort of image I have

-is it went like that.
-Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: In order to retrieve
any important clues

or possible treasure
they may have missed

during last year's
H-8 excavation,

the Oak Island team will raise
the 50-inch-wide H-8 caisson

up to a depth
of approximately 170 feet.

It is their hope
that this will create

a kind of underground vacuum,
which, if successful,

will cause whatever
might have been pushed aside

to fall back into the path
of the massive shaft.

MARTY:
So, I think the idea is to grab

whatever might come into
that pipe from the vicinity,

all up and down the hole,
without spending...

(chuckles):
the rest of the year here.

So, it's all about finding
the one thing,

proving
the Oak Island story real.

You know? I think
we all want that, all of us.

Let's get back to work, then.

LAIRD:
Hold up.

Whoa.

There's a timber right there.

There's another beam
right there.

I don't know.
That's very strange.

NARRATOR:
As the team from ROC Equipment

begins to set up
the massive oscillator

at the Money Pit site,

Alex Lagina
and researcher Paul Troutman

travel some 140 miles
southwest of Oak Island

to the town of Yarmouth,
Nova Scotia.

They have arranged a meeting
at the local museum

in an effort to find out more
about the mysterious stone,

which Paul believes contains
evidence of runic symbols.

PAUL: Apparently,
that runic stone is one

of three other stones
that have been found in the area

with runic inscriptions on them.

-Mm-hmm.
-But this is the
most famous one.

Cool. Great.

ALEX: Okay. Looks like
we have it here on the left.

ALEX: The potential rune stone
that we found on Oak Island

is not the first stone
with runes carved into it

that's been found
in Nova Scotia.

There's something called
the Yarmouth Runic Stone,

which Paul and I are
gonna go take a look at today.

If we can compare it
to the stone

that we found
and there's a similarity,

obviously that's
gonna really help us.

-Oh, wow.
-There it is.

Yeah.

That's pretty cool.

It's similar to what
we found on Oak Island.

PAUL:
Yeah. Wow, look at that.

That's cut really deep
into the rock there.

ALEX:
Right.

NARRATOR:
Discovered in 1812

by a local doctor,

the so-called
Yarmouth Runic Stone

has been the subject
of controversial speculation

for over two centuries.

Although experts have attempted
to translate the carvings

on the stone into
numerous ancient languages,

including Greek, Norse,
Basque and Japanese,

its meaning and true origin

remains a mystery.

It'll be interesting to find out

what type of language
that they think this is

compared to ours,
whether they're Basque

or futhark or another type

of runic language
that we're unaware of,

compared to ours.

-Right.
-NADINE: Hi.

-Hi.
-How are you?

Good, thanks. How are you?

-I'm Nadine.
-Oh. Nice to meet you, Nadine.

-I'm Paul.
-I'm director for the museum.

Welcome to
the Yarmouth County Museum.

So, you're interested
in the runic stone?

ALEX: Yes, we're
very interested. Yeah.

The reason we're
so interested in this,

um, on Oak Island we found

a somewhat similar stone,
actually.

-Okay.
-And it looks similar to this.

It's got a flat surface,

what may be an inscription here.

We actually put it
through some lidar software,

and we came up with something
that looks a lot like that.

-LISETTE; Hmm. Mm-hmm.
-NADINE: Very similar.

PAUL: We would like to hear
a little bit more

about the language
and the translation.

Is there at least
a few languages that it's

been narrowed down to
as possibilities for your stone?

-Norse.
-Yeah.

Norse is probably the...

the one that's the most common.

That's what we thought.

-Yeah, for sure.
-Yeah.

NADINE: Well, the translation,
I think, um,

at first was roughly
"Leif to Erik."

Erik the Red, of course.

So that would lead you
to the Vikings

and that they
had visited this area.

Right.

NARRATOR:
Although little is known

about the possible activities
of Vikings in North America,

historians and scholars
now believe

they visited the continent

sometime during
the early 11th century.

But if the Yarmouth Runic Stone

offers evidence that Vikings
once visited this area

of Nova Scotia...

could the stone that the team
found near the Money Pit

similarly suggest that
they also visited Oak Island?

We're looking
at Basque and futhark

as being a possible
interpretation of it.

But it seems to be
slightly different

from the one that's
actually on your stone,

which is a little bit
more curvaceous

than the ones
that are on our stone.

ALEX: Looking
at the Yarmouth Runic Stone,

there are some similarities to
the stone that we found, but...

the characters on
the Yarmouth Runic Stone are...

a lot more complex.

They seem to kind of be
much more angular.

So it is kind of
frustrating to...

to have what could be
a really exciting find

in front of you and not
really be able to prove it

or get any answers out of it.

ALEX:
All right.

Well, this has been
really helpful.

Thank you for your help.
Thanks for letting us

-come down here and take
a look at the stone.
-You're very welcome.

-Best of luck.
-Thank you very much.

-Nice to meet you.
-PAUL: Thank you so much.

(wind whistling)

NARRATOR:
Following his visit

to the Yarmouth County
Museum...

-How you doing?
-Good. Good to see you again.

...Alex Lagina joins
his father Marty

at the Money Pit area
to greet representatives

from Irving Equipment, Limited.

ALEX: Is that the same crane
as last year, too,

-or we got a different one?
-No, it's a different crane.

It's a Liebherr 895.

-Mm-hmm.
-220-ton.

This is a service crane.
Is that the word?

-Yes. Yeah.
-Duty cycle crane.

ALEX:
Cool. So this means we're...

-on the verge of getting started
down here, right?
-We are.

NARRATOR: Once the 170-ton crane
is assembled,

it will be used to lower
a three-ton digging tool,

known as a "hammer grab,"
down the H-8 shaft

to retrieve any spoils and,
hopefully, treasure

trapped inside
the 50-inch hole.

Between what we got last year

and then a whole bunch
of research

and a bunch more data.

'Cause at least
from Rick's standpoint,

he thinks he's zeroed in on it.

Very, very good.

MARTY:
I am fairly convinced...

more than fairly convinced...

Um, I was gonna say
more than "fairly."

Yeah, quite convinced, yes--
quite convinced that H-8

is the original Money Pit area.

You know, where
the original digs, uh, occurred.

So we are very eager

to start
hammer-grabbing in H-8.

-MARTY: All right, see you guys.
-All right.

NARRATOR: As the team
from Irving Equipment, Limited,

begins building
the massive 170-ton crane

at the Money Pit site...

Get the pump started down here
and get it dewatered.

Looks like they
might be already going.

...Alex Lagina joins
his Uncle Rick at Smith's Cove,

where efforts to expose

the newly discovered
L-shaped structure

-are well underway.
-RICK: As we proceed,

uh, to uncovering
the L-shaped structure,

we're hopeful that
we'll come to an understanding

of what it represents,
why it was put in place.

But right now
we know nothing about it.

The U-shaped structure,
I still...

I still have cofferdam
in my mind.

-Cofferdam.
-Yeah.

What about the question of age?

I mean, is there anything
other than, you know...

Obviously, we can do
a couple things

-with the wood.
-Yes.

Is there any other way to figure
out how old this thing is?

LAIRD: You know,
this construction technique

is unique.

You know, the use of pegs,
perhaps that...

-Uh-huh.
-...gives us a clue.

You know, the lack
of iron fasteners is...

-It's weird.
-It's really weird.

Gary and I were talking
about that, too.

(laughs): I would have thought
they'd be all over this.

ALEX: So, this, I mean, really
what you're saying, though,

is that this is unique,
this is not something

-you'd find anywhere else.
-Oh, yeah. Yeah.

No, archaeologically,

I don't think anyone
in Nova Scotia's seen this. No.

RICK: You know, we're finding
structure after structure

in Smith's Cove
of archaeological significance.

I was very glad
to hear Laird say

that this one appears
to have, you know,

some uniqueness about it.

Could be significant.
Could be highly significant.

So we need to investigate.

And that's exactly
what we're doing.

If it's original--
and I don't think you're...

You're not at that point, right?

You don't think
this is original.

You know, I thought,
based on the U-shaped structure,

it was probably searcher...

until we hit the L-shaped
structure or expanded

the L-shaped structure.

And now I'm on the fence.

-Really?
-Yeah.

RICK: We're gonna let him
just kind of peel this away.

-Mm-hmm.
-And then we'll...

hopefully, expose it

to some... degree.

LAIRD:
Pull up.

Billy.

There's a timber right there.

MARTY:
Okay, are we ready?

We're ready.

MARTY:
The real treasure hunt,

the search
for the subsurface treasure,

actually begins again... now.

LAIRD:
There's a timber right there.

NARRATOR:
While continuing to unearth

the mysterious L-shaped
structure at Smith's Cove...

ALEX:
Wow!

NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina,
his nephew Alex

and other members
of the Oak Island team

have just made
another incredible discovery.

RICK: You want to dig that down
a little bit, then, Bill?

There's another beam
right there.

-Right here?
-Yup.

-ALEX: That-that's odd.
-LAIRD: There's another piece.

-ALEX: There is
another piece there?
-Yeah.

-These are notched.
-Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Notched beams?

Have Rick and the team
just found another,

possibly ancient,
man-made formation

buried beneath Smith's Cove?

RICK:
Look at all of those logs.

LAIRD:
This is quite different

from what
we've encountered down there.

Well, the logs are basically
rollers, if you will.

It's like a slipway.

That kind of signifies
there's quite a load.

Or quite a load expected.

This could be the Hedden Wharf.

NARRATOR:
In 1936,

Oak Island treasure hunter
Gilbert Hedden constructed

a wharf at Smith's Cove
in anticipation

of the massive excavation
he would soon begin

at the Money Pit.

Because the causeway
that connects Oak Island

to the mainland
had not yet been built,

Hedden needed a place for boats

to safely dock
and off-load their cargo.

While working at low-tide,
Hedden and his team

were shocked
to discover two large timbers

protruding from the rocks, held
together by large wooden pegs.

Upon closer inspection,
he also noticed

what appeared to be
strange markings on the logs,

leading Hedden to conclude

that the structure
had once been used

as an ancient boat slip.

Unfortunately, because
Hedden lacked the resources

to dig below the low-tide mark,

he was forced
to abandon his investigation.

As a result,
the so-called "slipway"

hasn't been seen since.

RICK:
Look at that thing!

-It's huge.
-LAIRD: Oh, yeah.

That's quite intriguing.

ALEX:
Well, according to Laird,

construction technique is our
best sh*t at dating this, right?

RICK: I don't know.
That's very strange.

No fasteners. I suppose
they may have rotted away.

There's a break right here,

and then it picks up again
right there.

ALEX:
That seems deliberate.

When Hedden put his wharf in,
he obviously found something.

LAIRD:
He did.

RICK:
Historically, Hedden built

his wharf on top of something
that he found.

-And this is where that was?
-Yes,

but he never, uh, sought
to determine what that...

what he was building on.

So, are we standing
on his construct,

something he built on?

From that perspective,

-we know very little.
-Yeah.

NARRATOR: Could the team have
just found the slipway

first reported
by Gilbert Hedden in 1936?

And, if so,
who might have built it?

And for what purpose?

RICK: You know,
we're confused again because

there are no fasteners
associated

with the horizontal members
of the slipway,

and, uh, it's the same thing
with the U-shaped structure--

no metal fasteners.

The slipway,
at this point, becomes

an area
of significant interest.

But this is kind of right
where the L-shaped structure

should continue to, right?

So, aren't we on path at least
to intercept it?

Again, we don't know
where it comes in.

I mean, I would say
we probably call the engineers

and see if we can't dig this

right to the sheet pile
to see where this goes.

And as this goes,

see if we intercept
the L-shaped structure.

You know, if this is
at the same elevation as

the U-shaped structure,
wouldn't that imply

they were built
contemporaneously?

It would certainly build a
strong argument for that, yeah.

ALEX: But they're both
on the... the sea horizon.

That, to me, implies
the same time, as well.

RICK: So, then, all
we're left with is... (laughs)

...when was that built?

RICK:
This structure is heavy.

It's well-built, uh,

built
with large-dimension lumber,

and, uh, surely meant
for a specific purpose.

What that is, we don't have an
understanding of that as of yet.

There may still be crosspieces
that he's sitting on,

-so...
-Right.

RICK: Well,
you have no choice but to keep

-peeling this off.
-BILLY: Yeah, we'll just take,

like, an inch at a time,
and do it again.

NARRATOR: For brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina...

-Hello!
-Hey, Vanessa.

NARRATOR: ...today marks the
start of the Oak Island team's

most ambitious effort ever
to locate and excavate

the original Money Pit.

MARTY:
Okay, are we ready?

We're ready.

NARRATOR:
To aid them in their search,

they are using a 50-inch-wide
drilling caisson

to excavate the site where,
nearly one year ago,

they discovered
ancient pottery,

17th-century human bones,

and possible evidence of
the legendary Chappell Vault--

the seven-foot-high
wooden structure

that is thought to contain
the Oak Island treasure.

RICK: You have any serious
concerns about that can

being in the ground for a year?

-(laughing): Yes, I do.
♪-(Rick laughs)

-Okay.
-Serious concerns,
but I'm confident.

It's gonna be slow at first
'cause we're gonna be twisting

right at the top of the can,
and that's gonna take a while

to get it translated
to the bottom of the can.

So, it's gonna be short,
short strokes.

Probably up-heave
up and down a little bit

to try to break that suction,
and then just keep

-dancing it out of there.
-Piece of cake.

-Piece of cake.
-You run a tape in there

-to see where bottom was?
-MIKE JARDINE: Yup.

-183.
-183?
-183?

That's quite a bit higher, eh?

-Yup.
-What... where were we, and...?

You have about a 33-foot plug.

So, 33 feet of material
up in the can.

Last year, when we left it,
we left 15 feet of material

-in the can.
-Something came in there.

-Yeah. It was sealed up
pretty good, though...
-Yeah, but

-where'd it come from, then?
-Well, it was below grade level,

so a lot of rainwater

and muck and stuff
could have gone in there.

-Well, let's try and empty it.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
Before their excavation efforts

can fully begin,

the team must first remove
over 30 feet of silt and debris

that,
over the long winter months,

has settled and solidified
at the bottom of the H-8 shaft.

Once cleared of debris,

the massive steel caisson
will be lifted

to a depth
of approximately 170 feet

so that the three-ton
hammer-grab tool can be used

to recover any important
artifacts or possible treasure

that may have been pushed off
to the side

during last year's excavation.

RICK:
The real hunt begins in H-8.

H-8 was quite an enigma.

It was the emotional
roller coaster of Oak Island.

You know,
the disappearance of the plug,

the possibility
that there's a void

and/or some sort of cave,
cavern,

tunnel associated
with the drop of the plug.

It's imperative
that we... that we do this work

and retrieve
whatever it is down below

in its entirety.

It's the silt, eh?

-MARTY: A lot of clay in it.
-CRAIG: Yup.

That doesn't look like
it came in from the top.

CRAIG: Yeah, the top
would have everything in it.

Mm.

That, don't you think, would
have to come from the bottom?

Yeah. I don't think
that poured in from the top.

Well, maybe not.

CRAIG:
Squishing it through the bottom

is the only thing I can think.

MARTY: Coming through
a little cr*ck in the bottom?

Just a tiny, tiny cr*ck
and pushing all the way up

-through, so...
-MARTY: We built a giant

clay-purifying apparatus
inadvertently.

Treasure of a different sort.

MARTY:
It'd be really nice

if we get
what we missed last year.

That's the whole purpose here,
right, gentlemen?

It's not just what we missed.
It's what we found.

What we missed
from the first hole.

Oh, yeah.

-From the six-inch hole.
-MARTY: Yeah.

We were hoping we'd get this,
that and the other.

All we got was a mystery.

So, the idea is
to find it this year.

MARTY:
In a very real sense,

the treasure hunt has been
in advance here on Oak Island

for a good part of this summer.

We've been doing
the data search

and the information hunt.

Are we closer to maybe
figuring out what happened here

because of our efforts
this year?

Yes, very much.

RICK: All we need to do
is find one thing.

CRAIG:
Yeah.

MARTY:
Come on, baby!

NARRATOR: After a week
that saw the discovery

of new and mysterious
structures at Smith's Cove,

the Laginas and their partners
are more convinced than ever

that a 223-year-old mystery
may soon be solved.

But as they now begin a new
exploration in the Money Pit,

what will they find?

A fortune in pirate gold?

Priceless religious relics

hidden away
by the Knights Templar?

Or could it be evidence

of a vast underground structure

built by ancient Vikings?

One thing is certain.

Rick, Marty and their partners

have found too much evidence

to walk away... empty-handed.

Next time
on The Curse of Oak Island...

GARY:
Ooh! Look at that tip!

-This is almost w*apon-like.
-RICK: Wow!

-DANNY SMITH: Going down!
-MARTY: We have to have a look

at H-8, so we're going
to run sonar down.

See that now?
That is a clear,

-right angle.
-MARTY: Is it possible

that you're at the side
of a rather large cavity?

Yeah.

It's a coin!
It's no design I've ever seen.

RICK:
It could be incredibly old.

-LAIRD: It's concrete.
-The Romans had concrete.