In this week’s episode of The Curse of Oak Island, we found the guys scrambling to uncover more of the island’s secrets before a fierce storm barreled down on them. With the team making significant progress at the swamp and being so close to finding the original Money Pit, it seemed unthinkable that this storm could destroy everything.
At the start of the episode, we learned that the guys were nervously following the progress of hurricane Dorian on weather forecasts. They had only days before winds of up to 100 mph hit the island threatening to undo their work.
“It could be catastrophic,” said Rick Lagina. “In a few days, we could be back to square one,” said Marty Lagina.
The guys focused their efforts on the recently drained swamp. They were determined to find what they hoped was the ancient paved area just below the muck of the swamp, but they had to do it quickly.
To paraphrase English writer Dr. Samuel Johnson – ‘nothing concentrates the mind quite like an approaching storm,’ and with this in mind, Marty rushed to get the second digger to speed things up. “Because, um, you know? The hurricane? That’s gonna make things a mess,” he sarcastically said to the guys in an effort to get things moving more quickly.
Unfortunately, there was disappointment as the team realized they wouldn’t be able to dig the swamp before the storm hit, so they hurriedly began the process of hunkering down.
“Anything that could become a sail has to be tied down or put away,” said Rick showing great calmness as the crisis loomed.
The usually level-headed Marty said he felt a “foreboding… I’ve never been a believer in the curse, but… here comes the storm, right on time, amazing.”
It was hard not to feel sorry for the team at this point, it felt like they have never before been closer to discovering the Money Pit and revealing the island’s secrets, and now this storm threatened everything. Perhaps the curse is real.
The hurricane damaged is assessed
Two days after the storm had passed, Rick and project manager Scott Barlow plucked up the courage to go assess the damage.
The first thing they noticed was the causeway linking the island to the mainland had taken quite a beating, and this ruled out the possibility of moving anymore heavy machinery onto the island for the foreseeable future.
As it turned out, it wasn’t a complete disaster, and thankfully work will continue on the island.
The biggest disappointment came when they pulled up at the swamp. Their hard work had, indeed, been undone. Having recently spent so much time and expense draining the marshy land, Hurricane Dorian had filled it up with water again.
This swamp really doesn’t want to give up its secrets.
The team never quits
However, these guys don’t stay discouraged for long, and they definitely don’t quit easily. To paraphrase German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche – ‘what doesn’t kill them will only make them stronger.’
Undaunted, Billy Gerhardt immediately jumped in his digger and started clearing fallen trees as Rick and the others started setting up the pumps to begin draining the swamp once again.
Rick Lagina says, “I will never give up… never believing in Oak Island.”
He added, “the search continues until the answers are absolutely known.”
Fingers crossed, they’ll have the swamp drained again by next week.
The Curse Of Oak Island airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on History.