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Gold Rush: White Water - Season 9 - Episode 11: Broken and Stranded
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TVTranscript
00:09so you found bedrock today we found bedrock finally sweet that's awesome man we made our
00:18week our year a month after five long months with almost no gold dustin's crew see a bright light
00:27at the end of the dark tunnel for the first time this season 14 and a half feet down Paul
00:39finally
00:40hit bedrock we're looking for the bottom of that if the crew can follow it to the deepest point
00:48there could be a fortune in chunky nuggets that's a big big big win for us
00:57we had a hell of a time getting to this point because this has been a hard damn year for
01:03me
01:04I'm running out of money I'm running out of time snow's on us right now congratulations everybody
01:10this is the start of our gold finding instead of gold digging it's prep prep prep and then the
01:16finish is quick and bountiful what I want to find is all the nugs that are sitting there waiting for
01:22us right now they're up there going where are you guys at let's go on a road trip I'm ready
01:27to see
01:28some fresh air it broke the prop we're just dead in the water right now we've got to do it
01:47today
01:47is it going to be peaches and cream or just freaking god dang noodle soup for the rest of the
01:52winter
01:52Tom's running out we just got to get to the bottom of it
01:58see gold in the pot that's amazing look at that we're back on the gold this is awesome today's
02:05going to be the start
02:18right now it's not looking good guys the snow is further down on that mountain right now too
02:24it's insane I think winter's here we're running out of time who's supposed to be diving today
02:29James is diving today okay all right so this morning we're going to continue on until we hit
02:36bottom we're desperate right now we have not found enough gold with a hundred thousand dollars owed to
02:44his creditors and facing the loss of his nugget creek claim Dustin's mining future will be decided in what
02:52could be less than two weeks all right everybody know what to do yep get out of here all right
03:04if they don't find gold I don't even know what to do we might have to shut the doors on
03:09this place
03:11uh I got some bad news
03:15so this is the end of this can
03:21this is our last barrel of fuel
03:24we're almost out of fuel too just so you know
03:28what fuel we're almost out of fuel
03:32this is the last jug for real there's no more in there
03:38so we're out of gas we're completely out that can is empty I don't know if we'll get through the
03:43whole day with even with one diver in
03:49just my luck we're on bedrock at last all right let's see what we can do
03:56that's another reason to go to town then
03:59this major oversight means they must now waste precious dive time
04:04on a 60 mile round trip to the nearest gas station
04:13piss poor planning on my part
04:15if we get going now we could be back diving this afternoon
04:19this is something we don't need we are running out of time
04:22it's just one more thing adding on to everything else
04:25it's just been going wrong for us right now
04:33so
04:34so we're having to take my boat
04:35James's boat went down
04:38Paul and Wes's boat uh their boat's down
04:42probably me up
04:44clear prop
04:50got another pair of earplugs for him
04:53I got him all right let's get out of here y'all
05:06some hit
05:09get in the rope
05:21it broke the prop
05:24is it totally toast
05:26oh it's done
05:30so what has happened here is
05:32the front beams completely
05:36disintegrated
05:36they just fell apart
05:37what it did was it tilted the engine it up
05:39enough of my props to hit the cage
05:44and the props exploded
05:48on launching the airboat struck a rock
05:52sending a shock wave through the hull
05:55that fractured the welds on the motor mount
06:00causing the spinning propeller blades to hit the safety cage
06:04at over 5,000 RPM
06:12and now it's really gonna cost us
06:14and we're gonna spend a whole bunch of money
06:17money I don't have on some new propellers
06:20there's only so much a human's brain should be able to take
06:26some point you crack
06:31right now we're just
06:32we're stuck
06:33we have no way in or out
06:34but we're gonna have to spend some time
06:36get that boat going
06:36because we have no way to get back in and out of here
06:39do we know what size these are?
06:42there's a number on it
06:45looks like it was 36 inch
06:49yeah just keep that right there
06:50let me take a picture of that
06:52and this will give them an idea
06:55with all three airboats now out of action
06:58the challenge of sourcing a replacement prop
07:01falls to Alaskan Danielle
07:06hey you got me?
07:08she is on top of it
07:10that's a good thing about having Danielle here
07:12oh that soon?
07:14that's awesome
07:16bye
07:19the propeller gets into Juno tomorrow
07:23Jesus man, what a nightmare
07:26I need it
07:28but here we are
07:31Dustin's next problem
07:33how to transport the propellers a hundred miles from Juno
07:37I don't know what to do about it
07:39and the solutions for it
07:41but I just haven't figured them out yet
07:43I'm not paying for helicopters
07:45I can't
07:46or broke
07:49but we keep going because we're desperate at this point
07:53let's go find some gold
07:55there's nothing else we can do
08:01stranded at Nugget Creek
08:04Dustin's only option
08:06continue dredging for bedrock nuggets
08:08until the gas runs dry
08:12ready James?
08:14I've been waiting
08:16I'm going to go as deep as I can
08:17and get back on chasing the gold
08:19it takes tough guys like us to get in there
08:22and hopefully we can turn these frowns upside down
08:25we've got bedrock exposed
08:27now we just got to find the gold
08:30you excited?
08:31yeah
08:31yeah
08:32I'm excited for you man
08:33I want to be down there so bad
08:36hopefully by the end of today
08:37with any luck
08:38we'll actually find some gold
08:40pay for all this nonsense
08:43there he goes
08:44she's ready
08:45yeah I think so
08:46I think we're ready for him to be in
08:48we're burning fuel
08:50watch the hair alright?
08:51alright
08:51I'll try not to pull it
08:57you're going to find that gold today James
08:59that's why we call him the gold hound
09:01because he can smell that gold
09:02yeah
09:03we're just all crossing our fingers
09:06I'm going to do what the gold hound does
09:08I'm going to go slip it out
09:21wow
09:23good job on finding the bedrock bruh
09:26it's crazy this late in the season but this is the start of our dig
09:29I hope so
09:31we haven't hit the bottom yet so
09:33we actually have to hit the bottom in order to find gold
09:38the bedrock they've exposed at 14 and a half feet is sloping
09:45James needs to chase it down to its deepest point
09:49where there should be a monster pile of nuggets
09:53big enough to pay off Dustin's debts
09:56and finally a payday to make them all rich
10:03that bedrock definitely looks interesting right there doesn't it
10:06very very interesting
10:09wow this is so deep
10:11I know
10:12dude I hope you find a gold nugget down there
10:14I want to see a gold nugget come out
10:16I want to see a gold nugget come out
10:17can I wipe this sucker
10:24this has turned into a fun dig
10:27James is super excited
10:29we're all at the edge of our seats
10:30he's waiting to hear
10:33waiting to find out
10:34if he sees any gold down there
10:37I'm making pretty good progress right now
10:43this is so fun
10:44alright well
10:47I think
10:49if I can get the pressure washer ready
10:51I can just see if I can open up this spot right here
10:57so we got the power washer up and running
11:00love it
11:01such a small tool
11:02but such a powerful tool
11:04you ready for that pressure washer
11:06yes
11:06coming down
11:11to speed up his progress
11:14James will use the high pressure jet wash
11:16to send what should be gold rich gravel
11:19straight into the dredge hose
11:25oh we're doing some damage
11:34hopefully today is the first real day of gold
11:36we need another big boost
11:38and right now
11:39a good gold nugget
11:40would definitely be the boost we need
11:53what you got going on down there James?
11:56I'm gonna open up some real estate
11:58and we'll see some gold today
12:02yes
12:04finally we got some good news
12:06things are starting to go our way
12:07this is awesome
12:09I
12:12I've been waiting for this
12:14today's gonna be the start
12:17up ahead
12:18I'm running out
12:19we're gonna be in real real real real trouble
12:21Paul is gone
12:22one step forward three steps back
12:24stress is getting to me
12:26wonder if there's people out there that have had the
12:29level
12:31of failure that I've had
12:54I think it's going good so far
12:57James is moving a lot of material
12:59so hopefully at the end of the day there'll be some gold
13:03three hours into his dive
13:05James is dredged down one and a half feet
13:08he could be just inches from the deepest part of bedrock
13:13and it's monster nuggets
13:16and I'm starting to open it up
13:19nice
13:24running low on fuel
13:28but down to the last gallon of fuel
13:31he will lose his air supply
13:33if the tank runs dry
13:36I think we still have a chance to try to get something
13:48I really opened up this hole a good time
13:53sounds like you had a good plan of attack
13:57yeah
13:57it's working
13:58it's working great
14:06he's been moving a lot of rocks you can definitely tell
14:13I'm out of gas
14:15we're done
14:16you kidding me
14:17James
14:18James up
14:19Niver up
14:20Niver up
14:28go get warmed up
14:31we don't have any more fuel
14:35that's it dude
14:37so we just ran out of gas
14:40I gotta make a gas run
14:41otherwise
14:42we're just
14:43we're just dead in the water right now
14:48this is uh
14:49the most frustrating
14:50I've ever done
14:53I'm kinda checking out
14:55yeah
14:56we gotta go check the box
14:58completely out of gas
15:00Dustin is desperate for the sluice to deliver a glimmer of hope
15:19there's one piece
15:25there's probably a little bit more
15:30got one piece right here
15:32that's not a bad little piece of gold
15:34there's got to be some more gold in here somewhere
15:38another little piece
15:40that's a good sign
15:41it's definitely getting better
15:43we're back on the gold
15:44I think the deeper we go the more bedrock we find the better it's gonna get
15:48that makes me happy
15:52now we gotta get down to bedrock bottom
15:54and hope we can find a bunch of six ounce nuggets or bigger now
15:57well damn good job man
15:59we just
16:01gotta get to the bottom of it man
16:04despite finding pickers
16:06the crew still haven't hit bedrock bottom
16:09and the chunky nuggets which could save Dustin's claim
16:14it's gonna be close huh
16:15we just need to get in town pick up fuel
16:36morning everybody
16:37morning
16:38morning
16:39we need to fix my boat
16:46to get the fuel to keep dredging
16:49Dustin must fit new propellers to his airboat
16:53so we're having to take a helicopter cause all of the boats are down
16:58he had no option but go another $2300 in debt on an emergency flight
17:07we got our props
17:11now we should be able to get
17:13Dustin's boat back together and
17:16we can run down and go get fuel
17:18I think you only have today to do this
17:20yeah no I think we can get it done
17:23okay so you guys know what to do
17:24yeah
17:26but before they can fit the new props
17:28they must repair the smashed motor mount
17:32so right now Paul and Wes are gonna go and do some welding
17:35and they're gonna try to patch it together
17:37as best they can to make sure we can run up and down this river
17:40until the end of the season
17:41we have to keep our boats running
17:47yeah I'm curious to get this open up and see how bad this actually is
17:50Wes got material welding supplies
17:53so he should be able to get Dustin's boat back to a condition that
17:56it's worthy enough to put a propeller back on it
17:59Wes will fit aluminum cross beams to strengthen the hull
18:04and prevent another set of props being destroyed
18:08wow that rib failed
18:10oh that sank down and allowed the prop to hit the cage
18:14what's happened with all the rocks and things that we go over
18:17it's let the center of this thing push way up
18:21because the engine is so heavy it's just pushed right through the bottom
18:24half of the welds across where this engine is mounted are broke
18:27so that's our plan we're gonna start taking these things apart
18:30see if we can jack this up
18:31put it some kind of a bracing across here
18:34and beef it up a little bit
18:44they're fixing the boat
18:46I'm just stressed out so I'm just trying to clear my head
18:49so I need that boat running
18:51it's priority I need gold to pay for this
19:01yes
19:01that's way stronger than it was
19:03wow man that bar looks amazing
19:06I think this is gonna solve the problems for the engine
19:10you know trying to break through the bottom of the frame
19:12and the prop hitting the cage again
19:13for the most part I think we've got it fixed as well as we can
19:16all we need now is the prop and we'll have this boat back on line
19:18if we get this on then we can make a fuel run this afternoon
19:22that right now is major priority
19:24okay the propeller has been designed to operate from
19:3010 to 30 degrees for optimum performance
19:33it's recommended to start at 15 degree pitch
19:44we've definitely got to make sure we're not going to hit the cage
19:48the angle of the blades is critical
19:52too shallow a pitch and they won't generate enough air flow to push the airboat forward
20:00too steep a pitch will put more strain on the engine
20:03and the added thrust will make it difficult to maneuver and dangerous
20:15I think everything is set
20:18well we got the old prop off
20:20got those blades out put the new blades in
20:23I think Wes got the pitch set just right
20:25I think we're ready for uh
20:27Dustin to warm this thing up
20:29see what he does when he gets full power
20:32all right oil's checked
20:33yep oil's good
20:35let's get this thing fired up see if it runs
20:38go! fire it up
20:47it's still too cold
20:48yeah it's gotta warm up a bit
20:49it's still too cold
20:55you hear that little whistle sound instead of that loud popping noise
21:01that is smooth
21:03really smooth
21:05they're quiet I like that
21:07yeah
21:08they're quiet in the last ones
21:19look at that
21:21that's got some power now
21:23yeah
21:24yeah
21:25that's definitely a win
21:27that's the best it's been
21:29congratulations
21:30we got a boat
21:31I love it
21:33we have an escape plan
21:35everything is good
21:35now we can go get fuel
21:36thank you guys for that
21:37that worked out
21:38nice work guys
21:40all right let's get going
21:42we need fuel and we need it bad
22:05we need
22:08this is our supply run
22:16I'm glad we finally arrived.
22:18The fuel is enough to keep us going and go for the gold.
22:24Needing $100,000 to save his claim,
22:28this fuel is Dustin's key to unlocking the monster nuggets on bedrock.
22:36Let's get out of here.
22:37And we can get back at it tomorrow.
22:55That's a lot of rain.
22:57Overnight, the first winter storm hit southeast Alaska.
23:02We got some fuel.
23:04If we hit the bottom today, that would make my week.
23:07But the weather is awful.
23:10Dustin and Danielle return with the vital fuel.
23:15Plus, another valuable asset.
23:25Good morning.
23:27Did you fall asleep?
23:29Holy man.
23:33Glad to be back when on my military doctor's appointment.
23:37Finally get me back in the mix of things.
23:39And I couldn't be more freaking grateful.
23:42Gold don't mine itself.
23:44We're running out of time.
23:46I need the barrels out of the boat right now.
23:49Copy that.
23:49Copy that.
23:50So I can get the out of here.
23:55We're putting these fuel barrels on the buggy.
23:58Get them to tap.
24:06That's good.
24:12Now you go on the right side.
24:13It'll sit better.
24:14Go on the right side?
24:15Yeah.
24:15OK.
24:16That's good.
24:16Come down.
24:18How about that?
24:19Good to go.
24:21Look how fast that s*** is going, y'all.
24:26Woo!
24:27Dang, that's a lot of rain.
24:29So this water right here usually comes from Nugget Creek.
24:33So we've got to go check on the site, see what everything looks like.
24:37And hopefully our whole world doesn't turn upside down.
24:41The increased flow ripping down Nugget Creek is cause for extreme concern.
24:56Wrap my head around what I'm about to see.
24:59I know.
25:00I'm afraid to go up there.
25:05Oh, man!
25:07God damn, look at that.
25:10That's a lot of f***ing water.
25:14Wow!
25:16Hope we still get a dive site.
25:25Oh, my God!
25:26It held up!
25:28That did!
25:30Can you believe it?
25:32Twelve hours of rain have turned the dive site into a death trap.
25:37But the weir has protected their hole from filling in.
25:43The water is outrageous, but the weir held up, and it looks like we have a dig hole still.
25:49The happiest thing for me was the dredge is still sitting there unharmed.
25:53Everything seems to be in good shape right now.
25:56Yeah, I'm impressed with the weir.
25:59That makes me extremely happy.
26:01I can't believe that held up.
26:06Listen.
26:10Dude, that fell.
26:11That fell.
26:12That fell.
26:13That came from up there.
26:15All right, everybody out.
26:16Everybody out!
26:20See, we know there's landslides here.
26:23The walls are too saturated.
26:28The waterlogged cliffs are crumbling, unleashing death from above.
26:37Holy s***, dude.
26:45We need to get out of here.
26:47This is not the right place to be.
26:50Let's just go back to camp.
26:51Let's get warmed up.
26:52Let's try to dry up a little bit.
26:53Copy that.
27:00I'm not exactly sure what we're supposed to do here.
27:03Waiting for the rain to quit before the season's out.
27:06We finally got somewhere, and we're in trouble now.
27:13We can only hope and pray that the weir holds up to its name.
27:17We still got hours upon hours of this.
27:21Tomorrow's another day.
27:22It's another story.
27:23We'll see.
27:42Wow, that rain is something else, man.
27:45Listen to that.
27:46That's crazy.
27:48A new day dawns, and the winter rains continue to power.
27:53Pound, Nugget Creek.
27:55That was more rain than we've seen in a long, long time, right?
27:59Yeah.
27:59And it's still going.
28:00Yeah, it hasn't stopped since we looked at it yesterday.
28:02And it was already up so hard.
28:05As far as that weir goes, that might be going today.
28:08Yeah, that's a good point.
28:09Yeah.
28:10Anybody feel like going to check on this?
28:11Yeah, I will.
28:12My brain can't do it.
28:22Unable to absorb another blow, Dustin hangs back as his crew race to assess the state of the weir.
28:31The dredge is still in the air.
28:35That's good.
28:36oh that's moving yeah it is good coming down hard yeah no diving that
28:53oh hole is gone
28:58hole is gone starting over again
29:04kitty litter kitty litter kitty litter kitty litter
29:09see you gotta get a picture of that i will
29:15the storm surge has breached the weir pushing tons of rocks and gravel into the dive hole
29:23and onto the exposed bedrock who's gonna tell dustin
29:32so
29:33day two of flood watch hole is gone this is the same rodeo we deal with all the time
29:39operation salvage our hole start from the beginning
29:53hi there hi there how'd it go well it wasn't the best um i did take some videos
30:02and pictures so you can see it oh that's the hole there's a bunch of logs wow that's a lot
30:11of water
30:12all right so the weir is still intact for the most part the dredge is fine well we got another
30:18flood
30:19we knew it was coming
30:23i have to wrap my head around that we can't work today
30:30starting over is never easy no especially this late in the season just gotta wait for the water to
30:37come down now yeah
30:44at 16 feet deep dustin's crew were moments away from hitting the gold rich bedrock bottom
30:54but now to remove the storm infill could take days time they may not have
31:03i thought we were there a couple days ago which is hard to stomach it's gonna take some work to
31:09find some gold finally for the damn before the season's out we are literally on borrowed time
31:18summer came summer went and we're back into a freaking alaska winter not a good freaking position to be in
31:47not
31:48holy moly look at that water's dropped should be a good dive today look how clear that water is
31:55yeah that's nice good dive day
32:00i think we're ready to get the divers in the water with the amount of kitty litter down there
32:03it's gonna take two divers to get this hole back down to where we were at so let's get to
32:08dredging
32:11let's get ready to dredge
32:18hey why don't you go get suited up okay got it man sounds like a plan okay we got a
32:23lot of work to do
32:26we got to get after it the days are getting shorter hopefully we can get right back into the groove
32:32and
32:32right back to where we left off at bedrock bottom because we're running out of time we've got to do
32:38it today this is over real soon and what we take home and what we got is what's going to
32:43buy dinner
32:44is it going to be peaches and cream or just freaking god dang noodle soup for the rest of the
32:48winter
32:49all right get him in copy that that tight enough yeah that's good call check got you now clear
32:57yep that'll do it all right now we're going in good luck
33:06all right man i've got a lot of kitty litter man i see no freaking bedrock none i got my
33:13work cut
33:14out for me guys hey college how bad is it oh man i think it's about 10 feet
33:22three days ago the crew were on bedrock and finding gold at 16 feet now carlos and james need to
33:33remove
33:33around 10 feet of gravel and rock infill before they can start chasing the bedrock down to the nugget pile
33:46how's your hair james pretty good okay
33:56james is in the water carlos welcome james water's good come on in bro it's good to be
34:03trudging with you again there carlos yeah man it's great having two divers again there's so much work
34:10to be done down there with one diver we're never going to get there we've got to have two divers
34:17the hole's still here
34:21just got a lot of kitty litter with any luck we'll get back down to it today
34:26maybe find some gold too that would be awesome
34:42so i'm finishing up the repair on dustin's airboat the propeller hit this muffler and i guess that
34:48started a crack in it so i'm just uh doing a quick patch on to it sewed it back together
34:55per se and uh
34:57you know it'll be good to go everything we do out here is rough on all of our equipment we
35:02break
35:02everything it never stops i just like i like building stuff if i go sit down then i get stiff
35:09so
35:10i stay try to stay active it's the only way you can stay young man you go sit down you
35:16get old
35:30good to be trudging with you again there carlos yeah man at the golden straits carlos and james are
35:38attempting to get back to the bedrock and find a pile of nuggets at the creek's deepest point
35:53you okay james
35:57hey james
36:00i'm all right guys
36:02you guys had a huge cave in
36:05yeah a whole bunch of rocks over their heads like that it's no good i could see what was gonna
36:09happen
36:09yeah let's just keep going
36:15oh so much kitty litter
36:20last time i dove i got rid of all this holy
36:28this is the kind of gravel that i need in my driveway
36:34over the next four hours
36:37how's it looking down there james
36:39you found that uh is that wrong yet
36:42oh man just gotta be getting close to it
36:47james and carlos dredge 5 000 pounds of rocks and gravel
36:52how deep are you 12 feet
37:01but they are barely halfway through the kitty litter covering bedrock
37:09ah this sucks if we're losing time i don't know what to say man
37:15mother nature's winning i'm getting sick of it one step forward three steps back
37:21he's gonna do kitty litter and basket rocks for a very very long time guys
37:27there has to be a better way to do this
37:31so dustin he's feeling the pressure end of the season closing in
37:36flood after flood re-digging the same hole several times
37:45tom's running out man this is killing me we don't get any gold in this hole we're gonna be in
37:51real
37:51real real real trouble we're on borrowed time i need a break
38:00but almost out of time and money dustin faces failure and what could be the end of his gold mining
38:08career
38:09i decided to come work on the boat a little bit
38:28my franken
38:33muffler just got to get out of out of my own head sometimes
38:40sitting there hoping that we're gonna find gold every day
38:44just to wear on you after a couple months
38:47i'm hopeful
38:50that before the snow flies
38:53get enough gold to make this all worth it
38:59honestly i just i get tired of thinking about what ifs what if we couldn't find a bad rock too
39:04much debris
39:07what if you can't afford to come back next season
39:13there's just no gold in this creek
39:19stress is getting to me because i'm failing
39:23maybe i just wasn't cut out for this maybe i should have been one of the laborers and that's it
39:28i wonder if there's people out there that have put this much effort in
39:33ever actually had the
39:40level
39:43a failure that i've had
39:45i'd like to know if there's anybody out there that's done 14 years of this
39:49without a real payday
39:54without hitting big gold
40:12on the season finale of gold rush whitewater running out of time here we're about to get buried in snow
40:20game on man find some gold
40:24we're trying to hoard us right now to get everything out of this dig that we can get
40:35water drop we're about to get a damn flash flood
40:38here it comes
40:42do it another day like this i don't think we can survive it one of us is going to die
40:51this is real or am i dreaming
40:59oh my god
41:03that's amazing look at that
41:06i can see gold in the box dude james dude it's about a nick of time man
41:16wow damn time my plan is to keep going do it this is just a start
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