The Curse of Oak Island (2014) s04e02 Episode Script

Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island
Have you ever seen
anything like this?
No.
That's very odd.
There's an opening
in the ground.
Is this the back door?
That's not natural.
We want to take a look
at the well.
Down to the water!
Might there be clues
down there?
What the hell's that?
Do you see that?
- Wow.
- Down slow.
This well may be
associated with the Templars.
- Whoa!
- What do you got, Tony?
Right here on these rocks,
I've got a triangle.
This thing's amazing.
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 will have to die
before the treasure
can be found.
Jack, why don't you hack
that tree out of the way.
Wow.
-That's my big discovery.
Well, honestly, David,
that is quite odd.
A few days ago,
during a meeting
in the war room,
Rick, Marty and members of the
Oak Island team were introduced
to New York based writer
and researcher Zena Halpern
by area historian Doug Crowell.
Hello?
-Hi, Zena, it's Doug.
I just gave everyone here
a little overview
on what your research involves,
and that you have some
pretty interesting documents.
During their meeting,
Halpern shared
with the team her discovery of
three ancient documents,
which she believes prove
a connection between
the Knights Templar
and activities on Oak Island
going back as far
as the 12th century.
We have a map
that shows Nova Scotia.
We have a map of Oak Island.
And then we have the cipher.
One of the maps, dated 1347,
showed various sites
and landmarks on Oak Island
that match several of
the places well known to Rick,
Marty and the team.
The hand-drawn map
is clearly Oak Island.
And then there are several
things, named in French,
which have been translated
for us.
One is called the basin.
Well, that clearly correlates
to the swamp.
And then there's something
on the map which points
right about to where
the Money Pit is.
And then we have
two or three things
that we don't know
anything about.
One's called "The Anchors,"
one's called "The Valve,"
and one's called "The Hatch."
When Oak Island
treasure hunter Jack Begley
later laid a copy of
Zena Halpern's map
over a satellite image
of the island
Look at the top of that.
It follows it perfectly.
the so-called "hatch"
matched the location of
what Dave Blankenship
remembered as the site
of a strange depression
near his property.
This hatch lands
kind of where David said
- The hole is.
- Yeah.
What would cause it
to sink in like this?
Something below.
Something gave way below.
If this is a hatch,
it would be a way in,
a vertical shaft
to enter something.
That's very, very odd.
It's hard to explain
what that is.
It's clearly, I think, a hole
that's been chiseled
into the bedrock by humans.
I don't see any other
explanation for it,
geologically.
All right, Jack,
if you don't mind,
shovel off that gunk down there,
and let's see
what's underneath there.
See that rock
directly ahead of you?
Does that look placed or is that
just part of the bedrock?
This looks like bedrock
for sure.
This isn't laid rock; it's been,
you know, chiseled away.
It sure looks like
it's been chopped away.
It was kind of
an "aha" moment, you know?
Here-here's an opening
in the ground.
Is this the back door?
That's pretty solid there.
It doesn't sound
like rock though.
No, it sounds
sandy or something.
That almost sounded hollow.
Almost sounds like wood.
Holy smokes.
A hollow wooden surface?
In a square hole
cut through bedrock?
Could Jack be standing
on a secret doorway,
perhaps one that leads
directly to the Money Pit?
Does it seem to be
solidifying at all?
Are you hitting a bottom
or is it just bottomless there?
I'm standing on something solid,
but I-I honestly can't tell
until we dig up the rest.
It's just mud in this top part,
and could be anything.
- Yeah, okay.
- Keep going, Jack.
As you look around the sides,
does it appear that
they're nice and solid anywhere?
Well, besides breaking off.
Besides knocking
the rock out.
But no, no large holes
or anything that you can see?
Yeah, that's solid.
Yeah, pretty much.
The middle part kind of
seems to go further.
It's too muddy to be able
to tell if this is the bottom.
It seems to be narrowing,
but at the same time,
I almost feel like it's slate
mixed with mud continuing on.
I don't know if we want to come
back with a different method,
'cause it-- this is, this is
gonna be real slow
from here on out.
The shape is strange;
I mean, that's a given.
Everything's strange about it.
It's not natural.
You know, even taking
an excavator in here,
it would be difficult because
that's been chiseled
down through.
You try and dig right there,
an excavator isn't
gonna pull that up.
It might break it up,
get underneath of it. It might.
- Well
-You can lose a tooth, too.
Not only lose a tooth,
but if it really is something,
do we really want
to go that route?
I honestly think we should have
that archaeologist guy
- look at it. Yeah, I mean
- Come look at it?
I don't know what that
is, but an archeologist might.
To me, that is
absolutely man-made
and, um, obviously old.
Yeah, I agree. I totally agree.
We should, we should
get an opinion.
Because this so-called "hatch"
could be
an important discovery,
Marty and Rick's
decision to bring in
an archaeologist to examine it
is a prudent one.
We're not done here;
we-we need to figure out
what's going on,
but, Jack, for right now,
you're done-- nice job.
Canada has certain requirements
for archaeological excavations.
This hatch could be
significant,
archaeologically, so we want to
follow the rules,
so we bring in an expert.
We're not sure
what this thing is.
So, that's one reason
to make sure
we're doing the proper thing.
And the other reason is to see
if he can explain it.
That was not a pleasant job
and you did a nice job.
I don't mind getting dirty,
Marty.
That is why I like
having young people around.
While the team
waits for the archaeologist
-to arrive
-Here they are right now.
Rick Lagina
and Jack Begley meet
with representatives from
Irving Equipment, Limited.
-How's it going?
-Lorne Flowers.
Lorne, nice to meet you.
Having already
removed all of the old casings
from this year's
two major target sites,
the Laginas and their partners
are now ready
to begin the next phase
of their operation:
the clearing and preparation
of the Money Pit area
for what promises to be
a massive excavation.
Okay, so, guys,
this is the Money Pit.
This is where the activity
is gonna start.
So why don't we get down
and you guys can do
what you need to do.
-You want to go first?
-We going down here?
There's large equipment
coming in.
Different types of equipment
need to be staged
in different areas.
There's a lot of things
to consider.
Because the Money Pit
is susceptible to flooding,
the Laginas and their partners
have decided to drill two
approximately 40-inch-wide
steel-reinforced holes
deep into
the most promising sites.
It is an ambitious
and risky strategy,
and one which will
cost the team
in excess of $2 million.
That angle of incline
getting down
into the Money Pit
I think has to be addressed.
And do we have
a large enough area here
for you to construct a crane?
- Like I say, you level that off
a little bit. -
Level that off there.
How far back do you think?
There's an old trail that comes
in up over the hill right there.
-If we come up
that hill there -Right.
that'd be just wonderful
for us. We could come up here
But we'd-we'd have to push
this bank out,
-wouldn't we? -Well, take this
stuff off the top,
the stuff that's no good, and
kind of push it to the corners.
Well, we got to set up
a 100-ton over there,
-and other stuff, too, so
-Yeah.
Okay, wait, I just--
hang on, then.
100 tons sitting where?
That could be a problem
for a 100-ton set up.
Because excavating
the Money Pit
will require the drill team
to bring in massive
100- and 300-ton cranes,
Rick Lagina is understandably
concerned about the stability
of the ground in the area.
Two years ago,
when trying to find
the location
of the original Money Pit,
Rick, Craig and the team
encountered serious problems
after a drill rig began sinking
into the marshy ground.
That ain't good.
What will further
complicate their efforts
is the fact that
the Money Pit area
has been dug up,
filled in and re-dug
for most of the last 220 years.
So there's a concern about
putting the 100-ton crane
over here, then.
- Absolutely.
- Yeah,
if we set the 300-ton
right where we're standing
and set the 100-ton
perpendicular to it,
they can work that hole
simultaneously.
You're gonna
need some surge rock,
and maybe even like a
a geogrid,
you know, to support
the weight of the crane
so it doesn't sink
into this stuff.
The enormity of
the task facing Rick Lagina
is beginning to sink in.
The ground around the Money Pit
will need to be leveled
and then reinforced
with layers of gravel.
A new access road leading
to and from the Money Pit
will also need
to be constructed.
The idea of bringing the road in
and coming in here,
that's probably the best plan
right now is,
this is all your-your heavy
lay down area.
So, this whole area here
is gonna be a parking lot.
I'd like to keep this
as less invasive as possible.
The troubling aspect,
for me, is:
they need a large footprint.
So, we want to make sure that
we do things expeditiously,
but also respectfully.
Look, we're not gonna
inhibit the process,
but I would ask you to be good
stewards of the history,
of the story, of the property.
-We'll keep the footprint
as small as possible -Yeah.
to do our work.
If you stripped all
the topsoil off here,
stockpiled it off to the side,
when they're done,
just pull it back
and replant it.
So it'll eventually
look like this again.
We don't want to repeat
the Dunfield escapade
and make a bombing area
out of this. We don't.
We want to be environmentally
sensitive, but
I'm ready to get into it.
We're gonna dig there.
I think we have
a general outline,
a general understanding
of what we need to accomplish.
- I think it's workable.
- Excellent.
It sure is gonna
look different, I'll say that.
Okay, guys, today really
is the extension of the trip
we took earlier to New Ross.
I mean, we're all excited
about the well.
When you put the camera down,
I didn't see much in terms of
the sides of the well,
but the floor, to me,
looked very interesting.
While waiting for
the team at Irving Equipment
to begin prepping the Money Pit
area for excavation,
Rick Lagina, Charles Barkhouse
and area researcher
Doug Crowell
are traveling, once again,
to the town of New Ross,
approximately 20 miles north
of Oak Island.
I definitely saw what I thought
was a-a straight line,
and it almost looked like
it was engraved,
-you know what I mean?
-Yes.
Last week,
based on information
provided by Zena Halpern,
Rick, Charles and Doug
visited a site
believed to contain the ruins
of an ancient Templar Castle.
At the site, they found
what appeared to be
a weathered carving of a cross.
On the face of the stone,
you can see a very faint
outline of a cross.
No ordinary cross, but the cross
of the Knights Templar.
And when they put a camera
down an ancient stone well
on the property
That look like flagstone floor?
they found possible evidence
that could link New Ross
to the Oak Island mystery.
Now, didn't they find flagstone
-at the Money Pit? -Yeah,
they did, at two feet down,
they did find flagstones, yes.
Maybe it's a ceiling
and there's another chamber
beneath?
Might there be a false bottom?
Might there be a carving
in that flagstone, if you will.
Very, very much looking forward
to Tony's Tony's dive today.
Now, here they are,
all set to go.
To further
investigate the well,
Rick has enlisted the help
of professional diver
Tony Sampson
and his support team.
If there's information
down there,
this is the guy
and the crew to take care of it.
Well, we're curious if the well
has something
that's not visible--
just like the Money Pit
had things underneath that were
not visible on the surface.
If something is
indeed hidden here,
the well could be one way
to-to reach it.
Okay, in my perfect world,
I would fall into the chamber
below it-- full of gold.
- Okay?
Why don't we head up there
and take a look.
Yeah, let's get started.
Although proof
of Knights Templar activity
in North America
has never been established,
there are many who believe that
not only was there activity,
but that there is evidence
that the Templars might have
visited the New World
as far back as
the 12th century,
more than 300 years
before the journey
of Christopher Columbus
in 1492.
In Scotland's Rosslyn Chapel--
which was built by the grandson
of suspected Templar Knight
Henry Sinclair in 1486--
the walls are illustrated
with images of corn,
along with representations
of a plant known as trillium,
both unique to North America.
But even more curious
are the testimonies
of the First Nations people
of Nova Scotia,
the Mi'kmaq.
Their legends tell stories
of a mysterious stranger
known as Glooscap,
who many believe to be
Henry Sinclair himself.
But perhaps
even more astounding
is the eerie similarity
between the Mi'kmaq flag
and the battle flag of
the Knights Templar.
They are nearly one
and the same.
- So, Tony, we'll probably have
to remove this lid. -
And the water level looks a
little lower than it was before.
Awesome.
Can you see the cut marks
on the stones on the bottom?
My impression was there was
a couple stones down there,
and it almost looked like
a-a milled edge
that sat really tightly
together,
and maybe was indented
along the seam.
That was my impression of
what was down there.
So, it looked like
two fitted stones,
with a crease quite a ways
down the middle of it.
I mean, look,
there's not a lot of space
down there, so
how are you gonna
orient yourself
to take a look-see?
What we're gonna do, Rick,
is we're gonna
set a frame up here
and we're gonna have a beam
across the top,
and we're gonna set up
a Bosun's chair.
So, I've pretty much got my ass
on the chair, going down.
I'm gonna video 360,
going down the whole way.
Okay, what say you?
Let's make this happen.
Okay.
To safely descend
down the stone well,
Tony and his team
are constructing what is known
as a Bosun's chair.
Attached to a pulley system,
the chair is manually
controlled to stop,
raise and lower Tony,
as needed.
It will also enable him
to rotate 360 degrees,
allowing for
a complete inspection
of the well's interior.
So, Tony, what's-what's
the rig set up here?
It-it kind of looks similar
to what Dan went down in--
in 10-X.
-Fill me in here. What's
Okay, so what we're gonna do is
I'm gonna go down there,
- have a 360 around, just
doing a chair check -
before I get the hard hat on
and suited up.
Checking out to see if there's
any foreign objects,
debris that might come down
on top of me.
And then, once-once
I've checked her out,
top of the water level, um
then I'll, come back up
and get suited up.
-Okay. Jump on.
-Fantastic. Okay.
-Cool, buddy.
Let's give it a go. -Yeah.
Okay, up.
Okay. Lower down.
- Down slow.
-That's good now, yeah.
Down four.
Slower four.
What do you got there, Tony?
Loose one?
Yeah, I've got a loose rock
here, mate.
I want to take that out,
um, before we go any further.
It'sif that comes down,
it's, it's bad news, man.
Got it.
That could make a good day
go bad really fast.
Okay, I'll take
that hard hat back.
-Here you go.
-Thanks, Mike.
Take me down
probably another two feet, Mike.
Roger.
Okay, hold fast there.
All stop.
Well, that's kind of weird.
What did you find down there,
Tony?
These, right here
on these rocks here
Geez.
Rick?
-I've got, um
what could be a triangle.
It's got a line
across the bottom,
pointing straight up at you
from here.
It's got some little pattern
in the middle.
- You got that light, Nick?
- All right, here you go.
This thing's amazing.
Some 20 miles
from Oak Island,
in the town of New Ross,
diver Tony Sampson
has just found
a mysterious triangle
carved inside
an old stone well.
Let's get a picture. Let's get
a real clear photograph of it.
It is located on a property
believed to have been inhabited
by members
of the Knights Templar,
more than five centuries ago.
Whoa, beautiful.
Okay, camera up, buddy.
There's something there.
You don't put a mark
on a stone, you know,
halfway down a well.
why in a well?
-Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
-Right? -TIM: Right.
Okay, Mike.
Bring us up, buddy.
Up slow.
Wow.
Rick, take a look at this.
-Look at that.
-What?
-No way.
-That's carved, without a doubt.
Yeah, I would say so.
That's
doesn't look natural to me.
There's no doubt in my mind
that that's etched in there.
It certainly has the appearance
of being cut into the stone.
Yeah, it does.
Well, what is that in there?
Like a little dot?
-Yeah.
It's like it's got an eye
in the middle.
My God, yeah, I can see it.
A carved triangle?
With an eye in the center?
There are lots of
triangular shapes
associated with Oak Island.
The triangle shape meant
something to the Templars.
Is that a connection? Perhaps.
The symbol of a triangle--
or pyramid-- with an eye
depicted in the center
is known as
"The Eye of Providence,"
or the "all-seeing eye."
It was adopted by
the Freemasons
in the late 18th century,
although there are many
who believe that it dates back
much earlier to the days
of the Knights Templar.
In 1935,
U.S. President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
a Freemason who had actually
searched for treasure
on Oak Island as a young man,
instructed that the all-seeing
eye be added to the design
of the one-dollar bill.
It is also the shape
of a triangle that appears
in the carvings on
the mysterious 90 Foot Stone,
and which can be
seen in the dimensions
of the Oak Island swamp,
which many believe
to have been man-made.
Okay, yep, she's good, buddy.
So, next step,
you're gonna get geared up?
-Yep.
-Perfect.
Comms check,
one, two, three, four, five.
Loud and clear
on this end, Tony.
Roger that, buddy.
Let us know what you need.
Assisting Tony
at the surface is safety diver
and communications supervisor
Mike Huntley.
If Tony encounters
any kind of danger,
or needs assistance underwater,
Mike will descend the well
to help him.
You got to plant your ass
on that board.
Okay. Roger that.
Down slow.
Roger, down to water.
Down to the water!
Yeah, roger, we have visual
on the camera here.
Lower Tony down.
Down two more feet!
Diver's in the water.
- All stop.
- All stop.
Actually, visibility's great.
Lower Tony down!
Lowering down.
As I'm sitting there
watching the monitor,
you know,
you're always hopeful.
No matter where
the search takes you,
you want so desperately to see
something that answers
a question.
Just give us a clue.
Just one clue.
Where is he
in relation to the bottom?
Are his feet on the bottom?
Are you touching bottom yet?
Roger, on bottom.
Is the bottom rough, smooth?
Hey, Tony, can you feel
with your feet at all
whether or not the bottom is
smooth or rough?
Roger that.
How deep?
Can you tell how deep it is?
Okay, roger. Two feet.
Okay, roger.
Visibility's not that great.
It that the same down there?
He lost visibility
because he's stirring it up.
Clouded up just like 10X.
We lost all visibility.
When the well got murky,
it was more a sense
of "not again."
Another dive where
we can't see anything.
Because I was absolutely
convinced that
it had been
a fitted stone bottom.
Up five feet!
All stop!
Diver Tony Sampson
has just found
another possible clue
in an old stone well,
which some researchers believe
to have been built
by members
of the Knights Templar.
That's a Broad Arrow!
I see something.
Do you guys
not see that in there?
Show show me
show me what you're seeing.
Right there.
But when he comes
at a different angle
Okay, okay, there I see it.
-Yep. You see it now?
-Yeah, yeah.
I see it there.
Right here, here and there.
You got her.
When it came to me,
then I could see it.
The left side of the point,
if you will,
saw that well-defined.
Saw the-the stem, if you will,
or the shaft of the arrow.
And you think that's
the King's Mark?
-Yeah.
-What they call the King's Mark?
Yeah, no mistake.
The Broad Arrow,
also known as
"The King's Mark,"
was first used
in the early 14th century
by King Edward III of England.
It was later adopted
by the British government
and used to mark
government property.
But why would
a Broad Arrow carving appear
at a site believed
to have been established
by members
of the Knights Templar?
Roger that.
Up slow on turnbuckle.
All the way up.
Okay. All stop.
If it's a King's Mark,
legitimately,
then I think where I would go
at this point would be:
is that symbol in any way
associated with the Templars?
And that demands
further research.
- Welcome to the surface.
-Thanks, guys.
So you saw the feed on
from the camera up there?
-Yeah.
-We did.
But I need a firsthand
account here.
What'd you see?
She's definitely, um
That's not a flat bottom
down there.
There is hard, large rocks
on the bottom.
And I'm guessing
-Not flat though?
-No, no, not flat.
But there is a lot of debris
down there.
-Sure.
-Most interesting thing probably
was, um, what appeared to be
that broad head arrow mark.
But it's one of those
universal characters
-that, you know, it stands for
the King's Mark. -Yeah, exactly.
What else can it stand for?
A directional symbol?
It may be an arrow that was
used for a different purpose.
Exactly, yeah.
I mean that's
All that is, is my take on it.
That's my part of history
that I-I know.
But, I mean, symbolically,
is that symbol used
by other people?
I don't know.
Well, it's a symbol
on the 90 Foot Stone.
-Is that right?
-Yeah.
A triangle is
on the 90 Foot Stone,
an arrow symbol
is on the 90 Foot Stone.
Is it possible
that what appears to be
a carving of a Broad Arrow,
or the King's Mark,
is something quite different?
Could it be,
as Doug Crowell insists,
another important clue--
one linking the carvings
found at New Ross
to the 90 Foot Stone
found buried
in the Oak Island Money Pit?
Tim, you've taken the first step
on a longer journey.
-Yes.
-Congratulations.
Welcome to Oak Island.
Okay, let's gear up
and go home.
One day after
the team's productive
investigation at New Ross,
Rick, Marty and members
of the Oak Island team
meet with archaeologist
Laird Niven.
-Hello.
-Hello.
They've invited him
to investigate the strange
square-shaped hole found near
Dave Blankenship's property.
Okay. Laird, we got
something we think
-really peculiar.
-Excellent.
A theorist named Zena sent us
an old French map
that has a bunch of locations
that correspond to the island,
-that are known.
-Okay.
And one of them that's unknown
is a hatch.
The map is a very
rudimentary sketch,
if you will, of the island.
You know, I mean, are we hoping
that it's a trap door?
- Absolutely.
But perhaps you have
an explanation of it.
And, really, the only way to do
it is to set eyes on it, so
Yeah.
Why don't
why don't we take a look.
Could the so-called hatch
really be evidence
of an underground tunnel
on Oak Island?
Perhaps one that leads
directly to the Money Pit?
It'd be incredibly
intriguing if he says,
"You guys really are
onto something here.
"It's a possibility
that it's a shaft, a tunnel,
a man-made opening to the area
below Oak Island."
I don't know what he's gonna
say, but perhaps he can
give us some insight.
Just a hole in the ground.
It's odd.
Has it collapsed in,
did you say?
- Some.
- Here's the thing.
This is all flat,
then sometime later,
-all this earth goes somewhere.
-Yeah.
That's what puzzles us.
It's just not
a natural phenomena.
-Yeah.
-I don't believe it.
-Definitely.
-Not-not in slate.
I definitely agree
with that, yeah.
So, it could have been
a lot deeper.
Maybe there was a wood hatch,
and then it rotted away,
and that's what made it slump
all of a sudden.
Jack, we can "what if"
till the cows come home.
Exactly.
Have you ever seen
anything like this?
-That's exactly what
I was gonna ask. -No. No.
that's strange.
Yes, it is strange.
On the western side
of the island,
Rick, Marty
and members of the team
have invited area archaeologist
Laird Niven
to help in their investigation
of a strange,
square-shaped hatch.
If the hatch can be
identified as man-made,
and of ancient origin,
then the brothers may have
found another important clue
to help them solve
the Oak Island mystery.
It does seem like
rocks have been removed.
That's been cut.
That's not natural, and this
this is pretty loose fill.
It keeps going
for a bit, you can see.
You so, you think
it goes off to the side?
At least for a little bit.
The thing we obviously
want it to be
is the entrance to a tunnel.
And there were
some evidence of that.
He thought three of the sides
were solid,
but on at least on one side,
he thought it might
go off, somewhat.
It warrants
further investigation.
So, where should we go?
Who should we notify?
How do we do this?
Well, if I was to investigate it
as an archaeologist,
I'd get a permit,
probably remove
-some of these small trees.
-Right.
Is there any prohibition
against if you're just digging
it out with a hand shovel?
I mean, we just don't want
-to get afoul with the rules,
you know. -Right.
-I couldn't do it
without a permit. -Right.
I think this is
a disclosure deal, then.
We just tell whoever
in the government.
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
We're gonna go ahead
and disclose it
to the authorities,
so we have
some permitting issues
to work our way through
before we dig over there.
Rick and Marty's decision
to involve
the Canadian government
will cost them time,
but will be beneficial to
the process in the long run.
There are many who believe
that Oak Island
is a national treasure,
and quite possibly
a sacred archaeological site.
Although two centuries
of treasure hunting
have seen the island dug up,
bulldozed and even detonated,
the Laginas and their partners
have been determined
to take a more responsible
and scientific approach.
All right, I think we've done
what we need to do here.
Well, we have a you know,
-a logical way to pursue it.
-Right.
-Thank you very much.
-All right, no problem at all.
We got
the three engineers here.
So, there are some logistical
issues, I think, with
you know, boring down
into the Money Pit.
-You know, we have the targets,
right? -Yeah.
In the War Room,
Marty Lagina, his partner
Craig Tester and Marty's son
Alex have gathered
to discuss the next phase
in their exploration of
the Oak Island Money Pit.
So,
once we get close
to the target zones, I mean,
they're gonna be bringing up
a lot of material
that we're gonna
have to get a
at least a real quick
look at right away.
Yeah, I could calculate that.
Have you calculated
-how many yards per foot?
-I have not.
Let's do that.
We've got the resources,
we've got the ability,
and we have the drive.
We really hope
this is the year.
We want to get
to the bottom of this.
So
if you're interested from say
115 to 135?
-Hey, Rick. 'Sup?
-Hey, guys. -RICK: Hey.
We're just going over,
casing logistics.
So it's about
yeah, about a yard
every three feet.
So, 30 feet would be ten yards.
It's not that bad.
I mean, it's a lot of material.
It's not if you're looking
at for a chest.
Yeah, that's the key.
Now, a different sized casing
down hole will have
a bit of a gap between,
but that's where I'm starting
to get concerned
is that we're just
gonna get too close.
What's up with you guys?
It'sit's sad news.
You know
I just got an e-mail
from Tom Nolan and
Fred Nolan has passed away.
The sudden news
that 89-year-old landowner
and fellow treasure hunter
Fred Nolan
has died sends shock waves
through the Oak Island team,
especially in light of the fact
that they had hoped
to work more closely
with him this year.
- How do you feel
about that? - I'm sad.
You know, I'm deeply
affected by it, by the news.
I
You know, we came here--
all of us--
came here with this sense of
putting a stamp to the story.
Then, I think,
you and I specifically,
we came here with the quest.
Part of the quest,
if you will, was
to give the aging lions--
your father and Fred--
a sense of completion, a sense
of: here's the proof for,
between them,
110 years of search,
legitimate, hard-won,
hard-fought search.
A land surveyor by trade,
Fred Nolan spent
more than six decades
looking for treasure
on Oak Island.
It was Fred
who first discovered
the mysterious
collection of boulders
known as Nolan's Cross.
He did extensive explorations
of the island's
strange triangle-shaped swamp.
And he also measured
and analyzed
numerous carvings,
artifacts and other anomalies
that he collected
over the years.
- I've been at it for
so long now -
that if I didn't relate
this kind of stuff,
- who'd put it together again?
- Exactly.
You know, I'm not sure how
your father is gonna take it.
Speaking of which, does he know?
Not yet.
I think we should go tell Dan.
I'd like to.
Let's do that, guys.
Hey, Daniel.
Hey, Marty!
How are you, partner?
-Good.
So, Dan
I have some, um
some what I consider to be
sad news.
Fred Nolan has passed away.
For most of their time
on Oak Island, Dan Blankenship
and Fred Nolan were engaged
-in an intense rivalry.
- Sit down.
One which only seemed
to grow even more bitter
with the passage of time.
I mean, it was like
the Hatfields and McCoys
out here, so now, regretfully,
Fred's passed on,
and it will bring change.
I mean, this has always been
the Fred Nolan
and Dan Blankenship story
for 60 odd years
and now it won't be anymore.
Do you remember
when you first met Fred?
Yeah.
I came up here in '65.
Fred had been
on the island several years
earlier than I was.
I had quite a few
conversations with him
over the period of time.
He's like
I guess like all
treasure hunters, I mean,
a little bit on
the secretive side, you know.
You know,
I don't know how Dan
really sees Fred's passing.
But, look, they both persevered
in the face
of all kinds of adversity.
They risked, they sweated,
they worked, they labored
towards the common goal.
You don't get any closer
than that.
So, to that end, I guess,
they were closer
than they thought.
You know, whenever Rick
would talk about this place,
it was always about, well,
Blankenship's doing this
and Nolan's doing that.
But we always thought,
or it was our hope,
- that we could work together.
- Yeah.
- It was my belief that we could.
- Well, we did.
We did work together.
Sounds like, to me,
that you see it,
and I think we all do really,
we see Oak Island
as a big giant puzzle.
I know that Fred told me once
that that's how he saw it,
-a big giant puzzle.
-That's why they call it
- the Oak Island mystery.
-Exactly.
So, you know, we got to get busy
and start putting pieces
into the right places.
- Amen.
- Amen.
- All right.
- Okay, Dan.
Okay, off we go.
We'll get back to work.
Yeah. Hey, remember,
you're not going anywhere.
Okay.
See you, Daniel.
-See you later, Dad.
-Okay, Dave.
Well, all I can say is,
you know,
it's a partial passing
of the old guard,
and I'm gonna miss him.
Okay,
but we got to move forward.
We got to move forward.
Siempre avante.
My mom would always say
"siempre avante"--
always forward, keep going.
How many years' work
is this map represent?
40, 50 years.
-Wow.
Fred's passing
affected me in two ways.
One, it was the fact
that he is now gone
and I'll never
shake his hand again.
I'll never know
what he knew, and
it's impactful with Dan because
now there's but one remaining.
And I want to refocus
and re-energize and recommit.
Because out of respect
for both of them,
I want answers.
For Rick, Marty
and their partners,
Fred's passing is a reminder
that life is short,
progress must continue,
and that the time to solve
the Oak Island mystery
is now.
Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island
It's the actual start
of this Money Pit dig.
The story of Oak Island
revolves around this spot.
You're a part of history now.
So, these are the interesting
targets in the swamp.
Let's get out there
and get some answers.
The easiest thing is
to put a diver back in there.
- I've got something!
- What is that?
- Wow, it's huge.
- What is this?
- What does that look like?
- It looks like an X,
with a hook.
Is that symbol the Templars?