Excavation at the Money Pit area continues as Marty Lagina operates the backhoe to uncover more of the Hedden shaft, the 12-by-24-foot searcher tunnel dug to 125 feet by treasure hunter Gilbert Hedden in 1937. Dan Henskee confirms the wooden wall found the previous day, and Rick stands in the trench guiding Marty's bucket with hand signals. The team locates a second wall at a right angle to the first, establishing the corner of the shaft and its exact orientation. The discovery is significant: the Hedden shaft was believed to have intersected the original Money Pit, and by establishing its precise position and orientation, the team can triangulate where the Money Pit should lie. The Roper survey data suggests that Craig Tester's borehole from the previous season, which produced vault-like core samples, was drilled right on the edge of the original pit. Marty decides to stop digging for safety reasons, noting the unstable soils and the limitations of the excavator's 22-foot boom.
Rick, Marty, Craig Tester, and Dave Blankenship travel to the seaside town of Overton, Nova Scotia, to examine a stone carving identified by researcher Robert Marcus as a waypoint on an antique treasure map. Local historian Terry Deveau, president of the New England Antiquities Research Association, leads them to a large rock on the highest point in the area. The carving has four elements: a cross within a circle, an eagle feather, a pair of tobacco leaves, and a crescent moon. Deveau estimates it could be up to 500 years old based on the slow-weathering volcanic rock and its thick patina. He interprets the carving as commemorating a friendship treaty between Europeans and the Mi'kmaq people, combining a Christian cross with two of the most important Mi'kmaq symbols. However, he identifies the cross as Portuguese rather than Templar, noting its distinctive flared arms match the style of the Knights of Christ, the Portuguese branch of the Templars. Deveau presents evidence placing Portuguese explorers in Nova Scotia between 1500 and 1580, noting their reputation as master cartographers who mapped the coastline extensively.
Commercial diving company RMI Marine is hired to clear remaining obstructions from 10-X. Diver Jonathan Moyles descends in a custom-built round cage, working in frigid water with virtually zero visibility at the 181-foot level. He has only 30 minutes at depth before decompression requirements force his ascent. The team successfully removes most debris, but a six-foot section of steel casing lining the upper portion of the 27-inch hole proves impossible to extract. Diver Dave Cousins attempts to attach steel clamps to the corroded casing, but one clamp slips free when the crane pulls upward, leaving the casing stuck in place.
Rick and Marty review the results with the RMI team at the surface. The dropped riser pipe from the previous week has curled at its end from the impact force of its fall, and anhydrite has gummed up around the casing, making extraction even more difficult. The team realizes that widening the 27-inch hole to 32 inches, their original plan, would destabilize the anhydrite layer and is no longer a viable option. Instead, they will need to find a diver capable of fitting through the existing 27-inch opening, just as Dan Blankenship did a dozen times in the 1970s.
Safety diver John Tapper meets with the team to discuss the extreme technical challenges of a 235-foot descent. Beyond 100 feet, nitrogen narcosis becomes a serious risk, effectively making a diver feel intoxicated and unable to process information or respond to emergencies. At 200 feet, the effect doubles. Tapper recommends switching from compressed air to a trimix breathing system that blends oxygen, nitrogen, and helium, which minimizes narcosis. Finding a diver qualified in trimix at these depths will be difficult, as the pool of candidates is extremely small. The team commits to finding the right person.
