Bering Sea Gold

Now on "bering sea gold"...

Gold fever will make you take risks

you won't normally take.

It'll make you do things you don't normally do.

It's the rush.

Get as much gold in the box as you can.

Nothing's gonna get in my way.

Don't be digging on my holds anymore.

That makeshift bushing is getting ready to give out

in this hard ground.

But I haven't busted my ass all summer to stop now.

I'm gonna keep pushing this old girl

till she falls to pieces or the storm shuts us down.

Pushing it so hard to the limit.

It's definitely rolling the dice.

Man.

You always take chances, and it's all dangerous.

It's these or-get-off-the-pot decisions

are the toughest call for the captain to make.

It's getting super rough out here.

I think we're gonna have to call it.

Oh, no, no, no.

This is the business of expecting the unexpected.

We're gonna push until the very last minute.

Ultimately it is up to the diver,

whether they want to put themselves at risk that day.

Where the are you?

I don't know!

I'm gonna go down there, dig in these trenches,

which is kind of a dumb idea.

Risk is reward.

We risk our life almost every day.

That's the kelly family rule.

He's stuck. He's stuck under the rock.

captions paid for by discovery communications

...Winter a storm advisory in effect.

Wind gusts likely 35 to 40 knots later this afternoon,

with heavy surf and fog.

Freezing temperatures and ice expected overnight.

Conditions will shut down the harbor

and likely persist for the next five days.

With the brutal winter storm fronts

steps away from shutting down summer mining,

the true degree of gold fever throughout the fleet

is about to get tested.

We got a short weather window.

Hopefully we can fend this storm off a little bit.

Marching headfirst into the harsh conditions...

All right. Get this plugged up.

Let's get the hell out of here.

...Captain shawn pomrenke

is hoping a final push will bring in the ounces

he needs to pay off his massive debt

and regain control of his operation.

It's getting cold out there.

Storms are here.

Not the ideal conditions to be out here, but we're out here.

We're gonna hit our goal.

With this debt hanging over our head,

we're definitely pushing it. We're not being cautious.

The last thing I want to do is slow down our momentum

at the end of the season.

If we have to push it further, that's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna stay until hell freezes over.

who's that?

Awfully close.

But shawn has some unexpected company

scrounging for gold just 300 yards away.

Get out here this morning, and who in the hell's here?

Au grabber.

Now here we go.

Some more followers following the christine rose around.

They're close to our spot, but they're in closer to the shore.

They're really not a threat.

Just annoying, like cockroaches.

We got bigger fish to fry right now.

I want to take a couple pans.

Pretty rough. It's cold.

But we're gonna hit our goal.

We're so close to hitting our goal.

We do that, I'll have full ownership of my fleet again.

It'd be a huge win.

Oh, yeah!

We need good, solid pay dirt.

Oh, here. We'll get a good sample here.

No matter if you have a lot of time or a little bit of time,

the test pans are the only way to gauge where the gold's at.

It's all about maximizing every scoop you take

from the bering sea floor.

Big rocks.

Come on, baby.

Come on.

damn it.

You can take 100 test pans and not see what you need to see.

But you can move over 10 feet,

and then all of a sudden it's loaded.

You just got to keep panning and keep panning,

and you keep panning and pan and pan and pan and pan

until you find it.

See what you have to give us.

Ooh.

Let's weigh it.

Not that great, though.

Either it's there or it's not,

and it doesn't look like it's here.

With this storm on the horizon, pressure is on.

We don't have time to be messing around with mediocre pans.

I know it's there, I know it's close,

and I know I'm gonna find it.

No more screwing around.

As shawn scrambles, 12 miles east...

The wind's coming up. Winter's coming.

Always under the gun to beat the weather.

Whoo-ee! Look at that gold.

...His rival's gold fever is already sweltering.

You see the gold in the bucket. That's awesome.

We're back on that same pay streak.

Oh, yeah, man. That's hard, hard material.

Oh, yeah.

Myrtle captain ken kerr's dream

of the single-season record haul may be gone,

but he's still got his eyes on the crown,

and he's not about to slow down,

despite the oncoming storm breathing down his neck.

We may not hit the 4,000 mark

but I can still ground it out and beat old shawn-o.

I'm gonna push myself and my gear to the very last moment.

I haven't busted my ass all summer to stop now.

I'm gonna keep pushing this old girl

till she falls to pieces or the storm shuts us down.

Yee-hoo!

wow!

That's straight digging concrete.

We're definitely in virgin ground.

Nobody's dug this tough.

Man! Harder than --

I mean, you can't believe how hard this thing is.

I got to turn this excavator around full blast

and get every ounce of power out of her I can.

Beating the crap out of this thing.

This is the hardest stuff we've ever dug.

Wow!

man, that boom's loose.

Wow. Look at that thing bouncing around.

Our little fix-it job didn't hold up.

Earlier this season...

We got a problem, houston.

The cylinder on the stick -- the bushing's out of it.

...Ken's excavator arm gave out,

forcing the captain to fabricate a temporary fix...

Repair's looking good.

Hopefully it hangs on enough to get a few cleanups.

...Which was doing the trick -- until now.

Man, I don't know how long we're gonna be able to run

with that cylinder doing that.

That makeshift bushing

is getting ready to give out in this hard ground.

If it does blow out, it's gonna be game over for us.

You have to take some risk

and push the boundaries in this business.

You got to weigh the risks with the rewards.

We're gonna keep digging till she breaks.

We got to make sure we can ride it out

till we can't ride her anymore.

Ken's not only tempting fate

with his equipment.

Earlier this summer...

No storm's killing our season.

We're gonna shut down on our terms.

...He chose to gamble

in the face of 45-mile-an-hour gale-force winds...

Mayday! Mayday!

Myrtle irene is in catastrophic dire failure.

Captain ken got greedy and stayed out way too long.

...And nearly lost it all.

This is what happens when you don't respect the bering sea.

This is what happens.

We got the wind coming,

and the ocean's gonna start swelling.

Oh, yeah.

Well, it's under the gun to beat the wave here.

It's definitely rolling the dice.

We just don't want to hit snake eyes.

Two miles west...

It's cold out here.

it's the final, big push, kris.

We got to get it today or we're not gonna get it at all.

It's fine. This is gonna work out just fine.

It's just getting really cold and it's getting miserable.

Well, let's just go.

I feel like today, though.

...Kris is indeed feeling the fever

and hoping their final push

will help them reach the finish line...

Come on. Let's push off. Let's do it.

...And set his long-term plan into action.

It's our last day of mining.

It's cold as hell this morning. I'm sick. I'm in a bad mood.

We've got to make this final push.

So hopefully today goes good, we don't have any problems,