The Curse of Oak Island (2014) s03e04 Episode Script

1
Tonight on the curse of Oak Island isn't
that a Templar cross this cross is
Portuguese I do have evidence that puts
them at this location from 1500 to 1580
we want to get to the bottom of 10x
right now
this is not a routine dive
there's a wall here
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 bits of
gold chain a stone slab with strange
symbols carved into it even a 17th
century Spanish coin to date six men
have died trying to solve the mystery
and according to legend
one more, have to die
before the treasure can be found
looks like it's right here
there's a beam is that a wall that could
be the wall yeah
yep I think we found it brothers Rick
and Marty lagina may be on the verge of
one of the most important breakthroughs
in the 220 year old oak island mystery
while digging in the area where the
original money pit was discovered in
1795 they have just uncovered a section
of wall they believe is part of a 78
year old searcher tunnel called the
heavy shaft
constructed in 1937 by treasure hunter
Gilbert Hedden the 12 by 24 foot shaft
with 125 feet deep underground and was
believed to have intersected the
original money pit
finding the Hedden shaft could be the
key to determining the exact location of
the long-lost treasure site when Gilbert
Hedden dug that shaft he thought he was
digging in the money pit and he was that
much closer to history than we are so we
thought that by locating that accurately
digging down and finding the corners
it's another clue to pin down the money
pit
so yes it's gonna take a lot of bull
drop the bucket right here I'm standing
right here I'm gonna put it right on it
and then you just pull right there okay
but I have to stand here all right just
move back a bit please
I'm like a surgeon with this thing yeah
the surgeon was a bit of a stretch yes
searching that's not I'd still trusted
it put that with your head down I'll
flip it right on your head for you
I trust you in a lot of ways but not
that one
I was comfortable being in the hall when
he was operating I knew look we had the
same goal and I never worried not even
one single time
I don't like swinging this over your
head slow
Rick was perfectly calm he trusts me to
not hit him with that bucket forget hit
if you just touched somebody with that
thing have probably waited for tons or
something so that was trying to be very
careful
damn wrong
you think that is the wall Dan yeah that
looks like good wall down below there
comes on take a look for yourself you
know I was hoping you'd say anything but
that
finding a section of a wooden wall
offers proof that Rick Marty and Dan
have found the hidden shaft that Rick is
amazing you know that is solid we have
found it that is clearly the exterior
wall of the old head and chef uncovering
the head and shaft is a major discovery
finding it will now allow Rick and Marty
to pinpoint the exact location of the
original money pit it's a lot different
than we thought we thought it went off
that way but first they will need to
determine now which wall of the head and
shaft they found and where its corners
lie we at least have a bearing we don't
have a distance yet cuz they're not sure
the corner so when we find that corner
mm-hmm keep digging
I was astounded because we're gonna know
better than anyone on earth where the
original money pit was well that's a big
deal Marik I'm wondering if it's right
under this stuff right under your foot I
think it's right here well actually it
could be that's a piece of wood you're
splintering it it seems to be at a right
angle that's the right distance to be
the other wall yeah that piece looks
like pulled right out of there that's
the look at that that's the piece that
pulled out of there that's the corner
yeah tricky it was buried right in there
at a perfect right angle correct that's
the corner for sure we found the corners
of the head and shaft thus we can orient
it off them and thus we know roughly
where the money pit should be well look
we have one wall firmly established we
have the orientation firmly established
we've learned something because we
thought it went that way and it really
goes that way after digging for the
better part of a day Rick Marty and
their partners have excavated
approximately half of the 24 by 12 foot
head and shaft as a team I think we did
some nice work and we have accurately
located the head chef that is an
accomplishment okay well let's call it a
day let's declare victory partial
victory tonight crown time yeah
after a successful day of searching Rick
Marty dave blankenship Craig tester and
his stepson Jack Begley gather to
celebrate at a nearby pop so it wasn't a
bad day today because I think I
performed admirably on that excavator
what do you think kill me well are we
gonna keep digging
No why not I think there are several
reasons Jack I mean first of all our
intent was to just locate it so that we
could then use it to locate the money
pit okay that'd be one to visit
dangerous damn dangerous we don't know
how it was filled the soils are so
inconsolable 50 feet of open hold on
they're just sand is bridged above it I
mean I was a little bit on pins and
needles all the time he's in there I've
waiting for him to kind of disappear you
know whoosh and we have the limit of the
equipment we have their two-year-olds 22
foot boom we don't bring in different
equipment Marty's decision to stop
digging at the money pit is a strategic
one rather than face bloodied or a
dangerous cave entry he and his brother
have decided to wait until they can get
scanning sonar into the hole that Craig
tester drilled last summer
the same hall where they found evidence
of a large wooden vault that was first
discovered by treasure hunter Frederick
Blair and drill operator William
Chappell back in 1897 definitely got
wood that's definitely cement concrete
and then wood that's the description
that's what they found in the top of the
vault what we're really after is
verifying what Craig found with borehole
valley 3 whether that's in the money pit
or not and I would say that you know
I'll quote the 8-ball signs point to yes
because that head and shaft at least
according to the Roper survey would
indicate that you drilled right on the
edge of the muddy pit which is exactly
what the bit said right so we're pretty
hopeful it's showing that the vault
Craig hit is probably the ball I think
that's a fair statement yeah
can't be done well is that the depth and
now we know it's the same fish in the
right spot yep well we had a good day
gentlemen got the head and shaft that'll
help us in our exploration in the money
pit so it was a good day we call it a
success
it'll be neat this actually see the
Overton stone we're gonna make it reveal
its secrets well I think it's a far
fetch but we'll see what happens
one day after locating both the head and
shaft and the money pit brothers Rick
and Marty lagina their partner Craig
tester and veteran treasure hunter Dave
Blankenship are traveling to the small
seaside town of Overton Nova Scotia
there they plan to meet with local
historian Terry Duvall and investigate
the stone carving that Oak Island
researcher Robert Markus believes was
pointed to in an antique treasure map
this is the starting point okay this is
called the boat stone a stone that was
found in Westford Massachusetts the boat
represents a coastal range followed the
coast the number 184 the unit of measure
back then was called a lead now 184
leagues north takes you to Overton Nova
Scotia
when you get to there you find the stone
within the stone right here you have a
depiction of the circle with the
Templars cross in it
now David if he connects your Templars
with Oak Island you'd be quite pleased
about that right yep
an open mind that's all I'm here
yes
just a guy we're supposed to meet let's
go hello Terry yeah Terry Deveau
breakfast - Terry Deveau is a historian
and researcher who has studied
petroglyphs rock carvings and stone
structures throughout Canada and the
United States he is also president of
the New England Antiquities Research
Association so is it this way pretty
much okay okay let's go let's go
Terry Devoe's research has led him to
make an incredible connection between
Nova Scotia's early history and Oak
Island a connection that could offer a
key piece of information in solving a
centuries-old mystery the rock here is
probably located on the highest point in
quite a distance around
so now you can see the carven quite
clearly here it's it's very beautiful
has four main elements across that's in
a circle an eagle feather
these two things behind the eagle
feathers that I interpret us tobacco
leaves and a moon crescent moon that is
quite remarkable
and isn't that a Templar cross a Templar
cross could the carving Terry Deveau has
brought the team out to see really be
hundreds of years old
we'll talk about that in a few minutes
but what I want to highlight is the fact
that there is a controversy as to
whether or not this is an old carving or
a recent carving right right that's
always that's always the issue and the
problem with saying that this is an old
carving is that it looks fairly fresh
that could be deceptive in this case
because this is a type of rock
geologically that appears to weather
very slowly because it was formed by
volcanic ash that fell in layers and
then got compacted and under the effect
of pressure over time formed this type
of rock and the patina which is the
outer crust of the weathering is fairly
thick right here but it's probably taken
15,000 years to to develop okay so if
you had to say most likely this old and
most likely this sort of thing what
would your answer be well I think it's
clear that the carving is a genuine
historical artifact and quite old
possibly up to five hundred years old
five hundred years old could this stone
carving really date as far back as the
1500s what about the circle and the four
dots does that have any special meaning
to it that is something I'd like to
pursue so you have the cross with the
circle that obviously is a Christian
symbol right the eagle feather and
behind the eagle feather there are a
pair of tobacco leaves there you have
two of the most important symbols in the
mid ma belief system
the hypothesis that I'm suggesting is
that this whole carving was made by a
European to commemorate perhaps a
friendship treaty between Europeans and
nigma
so the question becomes which European
group would be represented by this cross
as the first known inhabitants of North
America's northeastern region the
Mi'kmaq people had their earliest
recorded contact with Europeans as far
back as the 15th century but there are
many in the Mi'kmaq community who
believed that that contact stretches
back even earlier back as far as the
1300s and the days of a Scottish Templar
night by the name of Henry Sinclair
could the Overtoun carbines be even
older than Terry Deveau believes
possibly dating this farm back is the
14th century you know we're up to our
eyeballs at all these various hypotheses
right and what you just said if the
timing were right would apply to this
legendary Henry Sinclair voyage
perfectly according to legend in 1398
Prince Henry Sinclair sailed across the
North Atlantic from Scotland to Oak
Island nearly 100 years before Columbus
there he is said to have buried a number
of sacred religious treasures that had
been rescued from the Holy Land during
the Crusades among the items were the
golden menorah of King Solomon's Temple
the Ark of the Covenant and even the
Holy Grail
according to some accounts while in the
new world Sinclair was worshipped as a
God by the nygma people who knew him
under the name clues cap in this
particular case it does to me suggests
that the economically legend I
understand what you're saying from my
point of view the question is what do
you take as evidence and the way to
interpret evidence is you try to let the
evidence lead you right right so in the
case of Sinclair I don't see that this
is diagnostic of Sinclair right
it may be compatible with Sinclair
that's all that's all right but that's
different than being diagnostic of it so
from my mind this is diagnostic of
Portuguese
from my mind this is
diagnostic of Portuguese
while examining a strange coffee in the
seaside town of Overton Nova Scotia Rick
Marty and their partners have just been
treated to another incredible theory one
that suggests that the origin of the Oak
Island mystery might not be connected to
the legend of Scottish Templar Henry
Sinclair but to Portuguese explorers who
visited the area
in the 1500s
interestingly this particular shape of
cross is not all that common that we
have the flaring outwards of the arms
you mainly see it in Portuguese crosses
it is widely believed that in addition
to the Knights Templar that operated in
England France and Scotland
there was a Portuguese branch that was
known under the name the Knights of
Christ could it be that it was they and
not Henry Sinclair who buried precious
religious artifacts on Oak Island and
then left behind various carvings as
clues to where it could be found
I do have evidence that puts the
Portuguese in Nova Scotia between 1500
and 1580 and you know they were here
then however there are a few records
that have survived in particular maps
Portuguese were great cartographers and
we've got a rich collection of maps
where they named all kinds of different
areas along the coast including this
area as well
although it is well known that
Portuguese settlers established fishing
outposts in Nova Scotia in the 16th
century there is also compelling
evidence that Portuguese explorer Vasco
theory L found what he called the new
land of the con fish in North America
as far back as 1473 nearly 20 years
before Christopher Columbus's Fame
journey could there be additional
evidence linking corte-real
and the Knights of Christ and also a
connection between his early journeys to
North America and Oak Island
this is very interesting yeah it is
they're interesting how Terry analyzed
it fits in with several theories I mean
it really does it fits in with the
Portuguese theory it fits in with
Templar theory I mean really well
he's a Templar cross the arms and stun
were the same way they had both coins
and they don't always flare out but
sometimes they do but that would vary a
lot I mean there were Templars in
England Templars in Germany Templars in
Portugal and Spain so they weren't all
identical could Rick Marty and their
partners have just seen evidence linking
the Oak Island mystery to português
treasure perhaps even treasure connected
to the Knights Templar after Terry
explained that this could be
commemorating a meeting of cultures I
said well why couldn't be Templars and
the native peoples he just didn't think
the carving was quite old enough for
that but it sure looked like and I still
think looks like a Templar cross we are
very grateful for you taking the time to
talk to us about it thank you as they
walk away from the Overtoun stone the
Oak Island team is more excited than
ever to return to the island and resume
their search finding the Hedden shaft
has allowed them to verify the exact
location of the money pit and seeing the
stone carvings has offered physical
evidence that the area was very likely
visited by Europeans as far back as the
16th century
could getting to the bottom of 10-x and
finding a shortcut into the money pit
really be the final key they'll need to
solve this 220 year old mystery
here's the divers right here
one day after his trip to Overton Rick
lagina and the Oak Island team have
arranged to meet with rob ritzy up RMI
marine a commercial diving company that
specializes in deep underwater surveying
construction and salvage operations so
guys this is the hole this is the
project 10x today's agenda really is
clear the floor hold the 27-inch there's
a section of the 27-inch casing about
six feet there David yeah and then we
got one riser still at home
yeah okay okay drop the sonar to the
pipe earlier this year sonar scans
conducted at the bottom of the 235-foot
deep borehole known as 10x revealed the
possibility of a large man-made chamber
posts tunnels wooden chests and even
human remains
now that most of the riser pipes and
other above water obstructions have been
removed ritzy and his team have been
hired to clear the corroded metal and
debris from the 181 foot level of 10x
once done the shaft should be safe
enough for another dive team to come in
and attempt an even deeper and more
dangerous dive below the 181 foot level
and through the 27-inch wide hole that
leads 44 feet down to the mysterious
underground chamber all right well let's
get geared up to go diving today
Jonathan Doyle's will be today's first
diver
he will be lowered into 10x by means of
a dive cage that Robert C has had
custom-made for today's operation good
thing we made a built round just like
10x it features a gate that will allow
the divers to get in and out of the cage
quickly without having to climb up and
over the sides okay but squinch over
just keep them from spinning anymore
Nick well it's not just myself I think
we're all anticipating this this is what
we're focused on this year we want to
get to the bottom of 10x and this is the
start of that journey
quite a remarkable achievement yeah yeah
that's it
sup malison
okay
coming down easy at borehole 10-x rick
lagina and the oak island team have
hired a commercial diving company rmi
marine to clear away rusted pipes and
other debris that have been blocking the
27-inch portion of the shaft for decades
it is a mission that is both complicated
and extremely dangerous
even with the four hundred gallon per
minute pump and nearby borehole to a1x
which keeps the water in the shaft down
approximately 40 feet below normal
levels diver Jonathan Moyles will still
need to make a descent in frigid water
for more than 100 feet
because of the enormous pressure he will
only be able to work in the shaft for
not longer than 30 minutes before
needing to slowly make his way back to
the surface when you're breathing
compressed air the nitrogen is also
compressed it goes into the solvency or
into your bloodstream and then you come
up but it comes out as bubbles homes
little nasty nitrogen bubbles and they
Lodge in your brain or your lung during
the dive nitrogen gas has become highly
compressed in the human body when the
diver is ready to surface he or she must
do so in short stages allowing their
body to decompress otherwise the
nitrogen accumulates and forms bubbles
in the bloodstream it is a condition
commonly referred to as the bends and
results in the diver experiencing joint
pain disorientation and in the worst
cases
there's no magic bullet for this
visibility issues are are a problem what
they're professionals and they're just
gonna have to deal with to secure large
debris and send it to the surface diver
Jonathan Niles will use a rope fling
known as an octopus for smaller objects
he will use a steel basket the same one
that was used by dan Blankenship when he
dug 10x more than 40 years ago
thank you all good start bringing up the
crane we're gonna start coming up easy
buddy coming to service
a little more cleared out there down
yeah keep coming to butts emptiness now
that most of the debris has been removed
from the 181 foot level of 10x hoping
for a little more sediment the team
still needs to remove one more obstacle
a six foot long piece of metal casing
that lines the upper portion of the
27-inch hole what I'm hoping for is one
simple statement is the casing above the
anhydrate or is it big low the integrity
because then at that point we can
develop a protocol if you will or a
procedure how are we gonna latch on to
it and pull it off it to bother you
right away but what's your thoughts how
much of the steel is above the anhydrite
on one side it's probably put that fire
in a heaven hey there hydrate you think
we should try pulling now yeah the
thought now is to use these clamps which
bite as you exert pressure on the
upstroke so they'll clamp on and we'll
pull from there
so basically Rick got just cams open
like that see it's cantilever yeah it's
got all the edges on it it just comes on
it's not gonna grab that well clamp
lock it up so you're gonna put tension
on this yes where you clamp it off yes
are you soaked Dave uh-huh yeah
no no yeah diver Dave cousins will now
descend 10x in an attempt to attach the
steel clamps to the 27-inch casing
once the diver attaches the clamps which
have jagged ridges that allow for a firm
hold the boom crane will lift upwards
pulling the casing from the 27-inch hole
and out of the shaft
all right it's coming down now on a rope
should be right to the ground if we can
fall of 27 inches pretty good day got
another 10 minutes what would normally
be an easy operation for Dave cousins
has suddenly become extremely difficult
not only is he trying to attach the
steel clamps to the casing in virtual
darkness but the steel casing is heavily
corroded and slick with decades of mud
and sludge to make matters worse he is
almost out of time
we got two more minutes
we need to come up on the crane Dave
Cousins has finally gotten the clamps
attached now the boom crane will attempt
to pull the casing out of the hole
Oh stop
rick lagina's mission to remove six feet
of steel casing from the 27-inch portion
of 10x has just been put in serious
jeopardy as the boom cable began lifting
on the clamps attached to the rim one of
them came loose
leaving the casing stuck in the hole all
right I'm gonna get your umbilical and
we're gonna start coming up on you
unfortunately diver Dave Cousins
has no time left to make a second
attempt the six feet of steel casing
will have to remain in the hole
you take a negative and you try to see a
positive in it we now know something we
didn't know yesterday we got some
information learns where we need to go
from here because at the end of the day
given all the difficulties I am more
firmly committed than ever to accomplish
the goal the goal being get a diver into
the cavity at to the floor at 235 thank
you for all your efforts welcome just
want to go thank the guys Dave thank you
thank you
okay well here's the thing
typical Kyle and we want to feel this
time we kinda lost the war you know what
we lived we lived to fight another day
let's let's go home
after the dive team has completed
clearing most of the obstructions from
10x okay so this is 10x phase one
completed really Marty and Rick lagina
returned to the site to review the
team's progress divers have been written
whole this is nice in my opinion it was
marginal results they were intrepid they
were fearless like they went down hole
they couldn't see the hand in front of
their face I think we have to adjust
show me what you got on a little
okay so here's the ten inch we gotta
hunt 141 plus or minus there's a voice
drill that's the limited amount of
garbage they wear but we'll pull off
that's it I think you did great
personally these guys did a lot of work
a lot of work it's not easy for that
pipe to be pulled and laid down and cut
in pieces and I think Rick feels they
didn't make much progress but I think
they made a lot of progress I take it
this is the one we dropped that's the
one we dropped let's plug in the bottom
well you don't want write effectively
what we did record it yeah record it
look at the impact forces you know what
it would take to curl the end of that
steel like that a lot
problem is this right here I'm thinking
maybe this is grown-up anhydrate or at
least partially I know in the subsurface
this is how it cuts it's really really
gummy it drills great because it's soft
but then also in it quits the drilling
because it's just it gums everything up
it's bullshit exactly that gets on top
the bit then you pull up into it you
just don't love your stuck button that's
what I'm kind of worried about well you
know then then that begs the option of
you know do we find a diver to dive the
27-inch and leave the 32 option off the
table if that could be done safely Rick
I you know I yeah that would be great
cuz once we go in and widen that hole
you destabilize things I guess a little
Rick Marty and the Oak Island team are
now faced with a grim reality the
inability to remove the six foot long
metal sleeve coupled with the
instability of the anhydride layer has
ruled out the possibility of widening
the narrow 27-inch portion of 10x at the
end of the day this is results-oriented
and I don't believe we were as
successful as we should have been in
order to continue that process we have
to change the directions they will now
need to find a diver skilled enough and
brave enough to risk their life in order
to find out once and for all what if
anything lies at the bottom we know we
can get a man down the existing 27-inch
hole dan Blankenship did it a dozen
times so there may be other divers who
are willing to do that this is a tougher
nut than I realized
gentlemen we're here to talk about
diving today and how on earth we can get
to the bottom of that 10x into that
cavity safely with a diver after
spending the last several days clearing
out corroded riser pipes and other
debris
Rick and Marty lagina must now find an
experienced diver who will attempt one
of the most dangerous dives in the world
to descend 181 feet through the 8 foot
wide steel and cement lined casing and
then down an additional 44 feet through
a narrow 27-inch wide hole all the way
to what appears to be a mysterious
underground chamber
we've got John tapper here he is an
expert he's gonna tell us about the
technical issues with regards to getting
a person into the chamber at 10x a
professional diver John tapper was
brought in last year to help the team
during their previous though
unsuccessful attempt to reach what dan
Blankenship the man who dug 10x 40 years
ago described as a 10 foot tall man-made
treasure vault
why don't I sketch out the parameters
and then you can tell me the challenges
the cavity is roughly 10 feet by 12 feet
irregular shape visibility is awful and
in there there are some things that we
want to find out what they are there's a
potentiality of a post there is some
indication there's a chest and then Dan
said this years ago but it's been Rivera
fiying that there could be a body in
there of uncertain
origin and age do you think he's dead
Marty if he's not dead I'm out of here
well regards to getting someone down
there the depth is a problem after you
pass 100 feet on air you're starting a
look at nitrogen narcosis
nitrogen narcosis presents a very real
threat to divers who descend to depths
greater than 100 feet it occurs as a
result of breathing air under higher
than atmospheric pressure and can make
divers feel as though they are
intoxicated so we're doubling that depth
where people generally start to feel the
effect so at 200 feet you're drunk
basically basically yes you really can't
be 100% sure of what you're seeing
people have seen a lot of a lot of crazy
stuff underwater
plus if anything does happen you don't
have the mental capacity to deal with it
why don't you talk about the gases well
if we switch over to the trimix knife
with nitrogen and oxygen for your
decompression gas if you're down there
you're feeling much better and able to
respond to what you need to do the
trimix breathing system blends oxygen
and nitrogen with helium as one of the
only gases not affected by depth helium
helps minimize the possibility of
narcosis and allows for a safer and more
successful dive operation
not new this died without doing it on a
trimix we still need a diver who's
qualified with nitrox and makes gases
yes and that's a significant step up in
terms of qualification of the diver yes
that's going from one end of the scale
to the other it's finding someone
skilled enough and physically qualified
enough to do the dive yes John is making
it clear that this is not a routine dive
this is gonna take a fully accredited
kind of a specialty diver person and
that is going to be a small amount of
people so it's gonna be a small pool to
choose from we'll find someone there's
always somebody somewhere who can do
anything it's just a matter of reaching
out to the right person we'll find them
well let's let's get on that too I think
we're all done here we got a lot to do
let's go do it
agreed Rick Marty and their partners
leave the war room more determined than
ever to hire a diver we'll be able to
get to the bottom of 10x
fool they find
we'll have the experience and the
courage to perform one of the most
difficult and dangerous underwater dives
ever attempted
and once down there
what will they find next time on the
curse of Oak Island someone used this to
bury extremely high-value cargo this
will be the first remote operated
vehicle in the cavern we have
expectations that we're gonna see men
made objects
we're in the cavern now there's
something every square that's gray
square I mean what is that if there
wouldn't that's irrefutable proof that
changes everything