The Curse of Oak Island saw a massive amount of heavy machinery arrive on the island as the team began the big treasure hunt at the Money Pit.
This week’s episode was all about preparing for the ‘big dig’ at the Money Pit and saw the arrival on Oak Island of some serious equipment, including a 220-ton crane, a 22-ton hammer grab, and of course, the ten-foot steel caissons.
First off, the guys all met up in the War Room to discuss what had to be done and to divvy up all the individual jobs. To say the mood was buoyant would be an understatement; the guys were really excited about what lies ahead. Marty Lagina was beaming from ear to ear, and he was wearing his lucky toonie (a Canadian two-dollar coin) around his neck.
The first major task fell to Billy Gerhardt and his Gerhardt Home Improvement crew, who would have to stabilize the ground at the Money Pit. Years of drilling, digging, and blasting in the area has left the ground prone to cave-ins, which would only be exacerbated with heavy machinery placed on top.
Thankfully, Billy set to bringing in and spreading out tons of gravel, which will help prevent the ground from collapsing under the big drills. And he was put in charge of making sure the whole area was safe, in general.
Massive Drill will dig up Oak Island Money Pit
Metal detectorist Gary Drayton was told to brace himself for the upcoming amount of metal detecting he’d have to do shortly. The giant 22-ton hammer grab will be pulling about five cubic yards of dirt out of the ten-foot caissons each time, and Gary will be expected to cover every inch of it, looking for any stray artifacts.
Marty Lagina: ‘There is definitely… gold down there’
As more and more machinery arrived throughout last night’s episode, the excitement levels kept rising. When Vanessa Lucido, ROC Equipment, and Irving Equipment turned up, everyone was gathered at the Money Pit to welcome them. Marty told the gathered treasure hunters, “there is definitely, for sure, completely, without a doubt, based on science, with no possibility of error, gold down there.”
All indicators seem to suggest that Marty is 100% correct. The water testing from last year revealed that there is gold and silver buried down there, and the sonic drill program has indicated the presence of tunnels and chambers. There’s definitely something down there.
Drilling will commence next week, and the guys are hopeful that the hammer grab might pull up the treasure all in one go.
The Curse of Oak Island airs 9/8c on History.