In tonight's episode of “Bering Sea Gold” titled "Point of No Return," the dredgers have returned to dive and dredge for the gold at the bottom of the Bering Sea.
This is season 2 and as this episode opens, The "Christine Rose" is back, so is the "Wild Ranger," but new dredges; "The Edge," replacing "The Clark" and "Anchor Management" complete the four dredgers.
Nome, Alaska has been frozen over for nine months, now it is June and the summer gold dredging season is kicking into high gear. The summer is only three months long, and time keeps moving.
Steve Pomrenke is already annoyed at his son Shawn, who is late. Finally, Shawn arrives and Steve gives him an attitude. Shawn then gets back in his truck and peels out of the harbor. Past the breakwater, they are out to sea. Steve digs nothing but rocks. At the family compound, Scott is stirring about a bill he received for $25,000. They manage to get $9,100 for their first haul, but it is over $15,000 short of their bill that is due.
Zeke is ready to get this season started. He is commanding "The Edge" with Emily Reidel and his lifelong friend, John Bunce. *John passed away on September 1, 2012, see his obituary here. Zeke and his crew are ready to roll, with a bigger dredge and larger suction hose. The hose must be treated with caution because if your hand gets stuck in it; it can kill you. John is a no-show and Zeke and Emily go without him. The anchor is dropped, and the season starts as Zeke goes below. John calls Emily and asks if they are still at the shore, he asks if he can swim there, but it is too far, and he has no wet suit. Emily is next to go below. She is a bit apprehensive about the 10-inch hose. While under, Emily got tangled in the hose and had to drop her weight belt and come up. She went back down after knowing what to expect. Two minutes later, she panicked and came up again. Now Zeke has to go down once more.
On the "Wild Ranger," Vernon Adkison is running his dredge. Last year, he left it to Scott Meisterheim, who Vern swears stole from him. Now he is at the helm and plans to capitalize on his fleet of dredges. His 21-year-old daughter, Elaine is staying on deck to keep control of the fleet. Steve is ready to dive and goes down below to find gold. Steve's mask gets filled with water, and has to come back up but does not go back down.
"Anchor Management" is being run by Scott Meisterheim. Scott has a vendetta and went to jail for not paying child support. He built this dredge by making deals with bad people who will come calling if he does not pay up. His friend Todd is helping him along with another diver, Dan Larsen. As Todd is fixing the boat, the foot valve falls straight down and into the sea and has to be retrieved.
News that somebody nearly drowned reaches the fleet. Rescuers find out that it is John Bunce, who tried to swim to meet his crew. He is in the hospital, and he has hypothermia and a core body temperature of 90 degrees. The Bering Sea refuses to give up her "Bering Sea Gold" without a fight.
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