- 2 days ago
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
09:30we 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
10:31waiting 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
10:57we got the power washer up and running
11:00love it
11:01such a small tool but 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 would definitely be the boost we need
11:53what you got going on down there James?
11:56I'm going to 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 going to be the start
12:17up ahead
12:18I'm running out
12:19we're going to 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
12:27that have had the
12:29level
12:31of failure that I've had
12:39perfect
12:39hay
12:43well this is exciting man
12:46uh just in the background
12:51it's going 16 feet deep
12:52I think it's going good so far
12:57James is moving a lot of material
12:59so hopefully at the end of the day
13:00there will be some gold
13:03Three hours into his dive, James is dredged down one and a half feet.
13:09He could be just inches from the deepest part of bedrock and its monster nuggets.
13:16And I'm starting to open it up.
13:19Nice.
13:24We're running low on fuel.
13:28But down to the last gallon of fuel, he will lose his air supply if the tank runs dry.
13:36I think we still have a chance to try to get something.
13:48I really opened up this hole this time.
13:54Sounds like he had a good plan of attack.
13:57He's been moving a lot of rocks, you can definitely tell.
14:13I'm out of gas.
14:15We're done.
14:16Are you kidding me?
14:17James, James up.
14:19Diver up.
14:20Diver up.
14:27Diver up.
14:28You okay?
14:29Go get warmed up.
14:31We don't have any more fuel.
14:35That's it, dude.
14:36So we just ran out of gas.
14:39I gotta make a gas run.
14:41Otherwise, we're just dead in the water right now.
14:48This is the most frustrating I've ever done.
14:53I'm kind of checking out.
14:55Yeah, we gotta go check the box.
14:58Completely out of gas, Dustin 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.
15:45I think the deeper we go, the more bedrock we find, the better it's gonna get.
15:49That makes me happy.
15:52Now we gotta get down to bedrock bottom and hope we can find a bunch of six-ounce nuggets or
15:56bigger now.
15:57Well, damn good job, man.
15:59We just gotta get to the bottom of it, man.
16:04Despite finding pickers, the crew still haven't hit bedrock bottom and the chunky nuggets which could save Dustin's claim.
16:14It's gonna be close, huh?
16:16We just need to get in town, pick up fuel.
16:17There's a fun one.
16:19You know, it's gonna be fun.
16:36And I mean, there's a fun day.
16:37All right.
16:37Good morning.
16:37Good morning, everybody.
16:37Good morning.
16:38Good morning!
16:39We need to fix my boat.
16:46to get the fuel to keep dredging Dustin must fit new propellers to his airboat so we're having to
16:54take a helicopter because all of the boats are down he had no option but go another
17:00$2,300 in debt on an emergency flight we got our props now we should be able to get Dustin's
17:14boat
17:14back together and we can run down and go get fuel I think you only have today to do this
17:20yeah no I
17:21think we can get it done okay so you guys know what to do yeah but before they can fit
17:27the new
17:28props they must repair the smashed motor mount so right now Paul and Wes are gonna go and do some
17:35welding and they're gonna try to patch it together as best they can to make sure we can run up
17:39and
17:40down this river until the end of the season we have to keep our boats running yeah I'm curious
17:48to get this open up and see how bad this actually is Wes got material welding supplies so he should
17:54be able to get Dustin's boat back to a condition that it's worthy enough to put a propeller back
17:58on it Wes will fit aluminum crossbeams to strengthen the hull and prevent another set of props being
18:06destroyed Wow that rib failed all that sank down it allowed the prop to hit the cage what's happened
18:15with all the rocks and things that we go over it's let the center of this thing push way up
18:21because the
18:22engine is so heavy it's just pushed right through the bottom half of the welds across where this
18:26engine is mounted or broke so that's our plan we're gonna start taking these things apart see if we can
18:31jack this up put some kind of a bracing across here and beef it up a little bit they're fixing
18:44the boat I'm
18:47just stressed out so I'm just trying to clear my head so I need that boat running it's priority I
18:53need gold to pay for this
19:00that's way stronger than it was wow man that bar looks amazing I think this is going to solve the
19:08problems for the engine you know trying to break through the bottom of the frame and the prop hitting
19:13the cage again for the most part I think we've got it fixed as well as we can all we
19:16need now is the
19:17prop and we'll have this boat back online if we get this on and then we can make a fuel
19:21run this
19:21afternoon that right now is major priority okay the propeller has been designed to operate from 10 to 30
19:31degrees for optimum performance it's recommended to start at 15 degree pitch we've definitely got to
19:44make sure we're not gonna hit the cage the angle of the blades is critical too shallow a pitch and
19:54they
19:54won't generate enough air flow to push the airboat forward to steep a pitch will put more strain on
20:03the engine and the added thrust will make it difficult to maneuver and dangerous
20:15I think everything is set and we got the old prop off got those blades out but the new blades
20:22in I
20:23think West got the pitch set just right I think we're ready for Dustin to warm this thing up see
20:30what
20:30he does when he gets full power all right oil is checked yep oil is good let's get this thing
20:35fired up
20:36see if you're on all right go fire it up
20:47still too cold yeah it got to warm up a bit he's still too cold
20:55you hear that little whistle sound instead of that loud popping noise
21:01that is smooth really smooth they're quiet I like that yeah they quieted in the last ones
21:18look at that that's got some power now yeah yeah that's definitely a win that's the best it's been
21:30congratulations we got a boat I love it we have an escape plan everything is good now we go get
21:36fuel thank you guys for that that worked out nice work guys all right let's get going we need fuel
21:43and
21:43we need it bad
22:13this is a supply run I'm glad we finally arrived the fuel is enough to keep us going and go
22:22for the gold
22:24needing a hundred thousand dollars to save his claim this fuel is Dustin's key to unlocking the
22:31monster nuggets on bedrock let's get out of here and we can get back at it tomorrow
22:55that's a lot of rain overnight the first winter storm hit southeast Alaska we got some fuel if we hit
23:04the bottom
23:05today that would make my week but the weather is awful Dustin and Danielle return with the
23:13vital fuel plus another valuable asset
23:25good morning did you fall asleep holy man glad to be back when on my military doctor's appointment
23:37finally get me back in the mix of things and I couldn't be more freaking grateful gold don't mine
23:43itself we're running out of time I need the barrels out of the boat right now copy that copy that
23:50get the
23:50out of here
23:54well we're putting these fuel barrels on the buggy get them to tap
24:06that's good
24:11I got on the right side it'll sit right side yeah okay that's good come down how about that good
24:19to go
24:21look how fast that going y'all
24:26whoo dang that's a lot of rain so this water right here usually comes from nugget creek
24:32so we 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 I know I'm afraid to go up there
25:05oh man god damn look at that that's a lot of water
25:16wow hope we still get a dive site
25:25oh my god it held up
25:27can you believe it
25:3212 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 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 that fell
26:11that fell
26:12that came from up there
26:14all right everybody out
26:16everybody out
26:19see we know there's landslides here
26:24the walls are too saturated
26:28the waterlogged cliffs are crumbling
26:31unleashing death from above
26:37holy
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
27:04before the season's out
27:05we finally got somewhere and
27:09we're in trouble now
27:10so
27:13we can only hope and pray
27:14that the weir holds up to its name
27:17we still got hours upon hours of this
27:20tomorrow's another day
27:22it's another story
27:23we'll see
27:42wow that rain is something else man
27:44listen to that
27:46that's crazy
27:48a new day dawns
27:50and the winter rains continue
27:52to pound nugget creek
27:55that was more rain than we've seen
27:57in a long long time right
27:58yeah
27:59it'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
28:06that might be going today
28:08yeah that's a good point
28:09yeah
28:10anybody feel like going check on this
28:11yeah I will
28:12my brain can't do it
28:14yeah
28:22I will
28:23unable to absorb another blow
28:25Dustin 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
28:39that is good
28:40coming down hard
28:42yeah
28:43no diving that
28:52oh
28:54hole is gone
28:57hole is gone
29:01starting over
29:02now again
29:04kitty litter
29:05kitty litter
29:07kitty litter
29:07kitty litter
29:08kitty litter
29:09you gotta get a picture of that
29:11I will
29:15the storm surge has breached the weir
29:17pushing tons of rocks and gravel
29:20into the dive hole
29:22and onto the exposed bedrock
29:26who's gonna tell Dustin
29:32day two
29:33of flood watch
29:35hole is gone
29:36this is the same rodeo we deal with all the time
29:39operation salvage our hole
29:41start from the beginning
29:53hi there
29:54hi there how'd it go
29:56well it wasn't the best
29:59um I did take some videos
30:02pictures
30:03and pictures
30:04so you can see it
30:06oh wow
30:07that's the hole
30:08there's a bunch of logs
30:09wow
30:10that's a lot of water
30:12all right
30:13so the weir is still intact for the most part
30:15the dredge is fine
30:17well we got another flood
30:19we knew it was coming
30:23I have to wrap my head around that
30:25we can't work today
30:30starting over is never easy
30:32no
30:34especially this late in the season
30:36we just gotta wait for the water
30:37to come down now
30:38yeah
30:44at 16 feet deep
30:46Dustin's crew were moments away
30:49from hitting the gold rich bedrock bottom
30:54but now
30:55to remove the storm infill
30:57could take days
30:59time
31:00they may not have
31:03I thought we were there
31:04a couple days ago
31:06which is hard to stomach
31:08it's gonna take some work
31:09to find some gold
31:10finally for the
31:11damn
31:13before the season's out
31:15we are literally
31:17on borrowed time
31:18summer came
31:19summer went
31:20and we're back into
31:22our freaking Alaska winter
31:22not a good
31:24freaking position to be in
31:26not
31:47holy moly
31:48look at that
31:51water's dropped
31:52should be a good dive today
31:53look how clear that water is
31:55yeah that's nice
31:56good dive day
32:00I think we're ready to get the divers in the water
32:01with the amount of kitty litter down there
32:03it's gonna take two divers to get this hole
32:05back down to where we were at
32:07so let's get to dredging
32:11let's get ready to dredge
32:18hey why don't you go get suited up
32:20okay
32:20got it man
32:21sounds like a plan
32:22good
32:22we got a lot of work to do
32:26we gotta get after it
32:27the days are getting shorter
32:30hopefully we can get right back into the groove
32:32and right back to where we left off at bedrock bottom
32:35because we're running out of time
32:38we've got to do it today
32:39this is over real soon
32:40and what we take home and what we got
32:42is what's going to buy dinner
32:44is it going to be peaches and cream
32:46or just freaking god dang noodle soup
32:48for the rest of the winter
32:49all right get him in
32:50copy that
32:53that tight enough
32:53yeah that's good
32:54call check
32:55gotcha that'll clear
32:57yep that'll do it
32:59all right
33:00now we're going in
33:01good luck
33:06all right man
33:07i've got a lot of kitty litter man
33:09i see no freaking bedrock
33:11none
33:12i got my work cut out for me guys
33:16hey college
33:17how bad is it
33:18oh man i think it's about 10 feet
33:22three days ago
33:24the crew were on bedrock
33:26and finding gold at 16 feet
33:30now
33:31carlos and james need to remove
33:33around 10 feet of gravel
33:35and rock infill
33:37before they can start chasing
33:39the bedrock
33:40down to the nugget pile
33:46how's your hair james
34:06it's great having two divers again
34:09there's so much work to be done down there with one diver we're never going to get there we've got
34:13to have two divers
34:17the hole's still here
34:20just got a lot of kitty litter
34:23with any luck we'll get back down to it today
34:26maybe find some gold too
34:28that would be awesome
34:42so i'm finishing up the repair on dustin's airbus
34:44but the propeller hit this muffler
34:47and uh... i guess that started a crack in it
34:49so i'm just uh...
34:52doing a quick patch on to it
34:54sewed it back together per se and uh...
34:57you know it'll be good to go
34:58everything we do out here is rough on all of our equipment we break everything
35:02it never stops
35:05i just like i like building stuff
35:07if i go sit down then i get stiff so
35:10i stay try to stay active
35:12it's the only way you can stay young man
35:14you go sit down you get old
35:31good to be trudging with you again there carlos
35:34at the golden straits carlos and james are attempting to get back to the bedrock and find a pile of
35:42nuggets at the creek's deepest point
35:53you okay james?
35:57hey james?
36:00what am i all right guys?
36:02guy's had a huge cave in
36:05yeah a whole bunch of rocks over their heads like that is no good
36:08i could see what was going to happen
36:10let's just keep going
36:15Oh.
36:16There's so much kitty litter.
36:20The last time I dove, I got rid of all this, all this .
36:29This is the kind of gravel that I need in my driveway.
36:34Over the next four hours.
36:37How's it looking down there, Jane?
36:38Have you found that rung yet?
36:42No, man.
36:43Just got to be getting close to it.
36:46James and Carlos dredge 5,000 pounds of rocks and gravel.
36:53How deep are you?
36:5412 feet.
37:01But they are barely halfway through the kitty litter,
37:04covering bedrock.
37:09This sucks because we're losing time.
37:12I don't know what to say, man.
37:15Mother Nature's winning.
37:16I'm getting sick of it.
37:18One step forward, three steps back.
37:21He's going to 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.
37:34End of the season closing in.
37:36Flood after flood.
37:38Redigging the same hole several times.
37:43Whew.
37:45Tom's running out.
37:47Man, this is killing me.
37:49If we don't get any gold in this hole, we're going to be in real, real, real, real trouble.
37:54We're on borrowed time.
37:56I 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.
38:18I decided to come work on the boat a little bit.
38:31My Frankenmuffler.
38:34Just got to get it out of my own head sometimes.
38:40Sitting there hoping that we're going to find gold every day.
38:44It's supposed to wear on you after a couple months.
38:48I'm hopeful that before the snow flies, we get enough gold to make this all worth it.
38:59Honestly, I just get tired of thinking about what ifs.
39:02What if we couldn't find a bad rock, too much 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.
39:25Maybe 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...
39:41Level...
39:43Of failure that I've had.
39:45I'd like to know if there's anybody out there that's done 14 years of this.
39:50Without a real payday.
39:54Without hitting big gold.
39:59Whew.
40:12On the season finale of Gold Rush Whitewater.
40:17Running out of time here.
40:18We're about to get buried in snow.
40:20Game on, man.
40:21Find some gold.
40:24We're trying to hoard us right now to get everything out of this dig that we can get.
40:32Woo-hoo!
40:35Water drop!
40:36We're about to get a damn flash flood.
40:38Here it comes!
40:42Let's do it!
40:42Another day like this, I don't think we can survive it.
40:45One of us is gonna die.
40:51Is this real?
40:52Or am I dreaming?
40:56Oh!
40:59Oh, my God!
41:03That's amazing!
41:04Look at that!
41:06I can see gold in the box, too.
41:09James!
41:10Dude!
41:10It's about a nick of time, man!
41:16Wow, damn Tom.
41:18My plan is to keep going.
41:21Do it.
41:23This is just a start.
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