Just watched The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down with William Shatner meets Oak Island. Shatner delivers one of the greatest interviews of the Oak Island "Fellowship of Dig" team members. He was brilliant, funny and charming. His interview skills and topics of discussion with the Oak Island team was extremely insightful and in-depth on the team's motivations and their personalities. A must watch for fans of William Shatner and (my favorite show) The Curse of Oak Island. Thoughts?
Agreed. I love Curse of Oak Island, and I think Shatner did a masterful job on that Drilling Down episode. I've been really busy, and traveling for work for the past few weeks, so I haven't seen his show that aired Saturday night (Unexplained?) about Oak Island, but I plan on getting caught up on a lot of stuff over the next few days. I thought the Oak Island team came across really well, and was very professional and respectful about the whole treasure hunt. We used to have an Oak Island thread around here, which was fun, but I think a lot of people got burned out on the show.
Even after seven years of finding nothing, I'm still fascinated. This last year has shown the greatest "gains" not about treasure, but of knowledge and history. The show is in my top five.
I agree. I think at this point its more about the history of the island and figuring out what the heck actually went on there. If there ever was any treasure buried there, I'm sure it's been obliterated by the 200+ years of digging, collapsing, and exploding. I'm starting to come around to the idea that it was maybe just a ship repair yard, which makes since because it's so close to the mainland, and they could unload the crew and cargo and send them over while the ship is being repaired. That doesn't explain things like all the coconut fiber on the beach in Smith's cove, but it's still a fun show.
I thought the most convincing new evidence is the dating of the early works in Smith's cove at 1740's, and the similarities to the French fortifications north of Oak Island. I'm convinced that Oak Island was a French fortification with cannon batteries in Smith's Cove supported with a slipway for loading/unloading equipment (cannons and shot) and other supplies. The swamp was possibly a ship repair yard with supporting building structures built on a paved base. I still don't have any clue about the underground pits, etc. except maybe it was for treasure storage by the French. When the French abandoned the site (perhaps hit by a hurricane) or due to military necessity, they removed all the equipment and razed the buildings/docks to deny their use by the British. YMMV .
It also doesn't explain the nature of the original Money Pit itself and why it was dug so deep. When my wife and I were there on the island last year, we were able to view both Smith's Cove and the Money Pit area, which at that point had only one can remaining that hadn't been pulled, C-1. This was on June 1, and at that point, there was water that had accumulated in the cove extending outward from the coffer-dam and the swamp had yet to be drained. In the last few years, I've come around to the idea that the swamp is far more important than I had originally thought, especially in light of the artifacts that had been pulled out of their since we were up there. Whether there's a direct connection to the Money Pit and the purpose for it, I can't say, but I think that Fred Nolan was right all along; the swamp is a man-made construct and there may very well be something buried there. Perhaps the Money Pit itself was nothing but a decoy, but a booby-trapped shafted well over one hundred feet deep is one hell of a decoy.
That episode of 'In Search Of' was the first time I learned about Oak Island, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. And while Leonard's show covered the topic long before 'The UnXplained', according to D'Arcy O'Connor, Leonard never actually set foot on the island. His on-camera scenes were done in California.
I was fooled by the deception! (The next thing they'd be telling me was that Star Trek was never shot in outer space. )
^ That aside, In Search Of was a great show, covering a lot of interesting topics, and Nimoy was a great host/narrator. As I've jokingly said over the years, I blame Mr. Spock for my Oak Island obsession!
And now Quinto is doing In Search Of . Someone please tell me that Chris Pine is on board for a T.J. Hooker remake!
Back to topic, as of this evening there are four episodes left to Season 7, with a 'special' segment on April 28, following Episode 23 (which is still untitled at this point). While it will be interesting to see the final events from October and November of last year, sadly it likely is the last we'll see of Oak Island for some time. As Nova Scotia is locked down because of the corona-virus, nothing at all is happening now when normally, preparations for work would have already begun on the island. My friend in Chester has pretty much confirmed that it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do anything this year - which puts the proposed 'Big Dig' off until this time next year and Season 8 premiering in November of 2021 at the earliest. So, I intend to fully enjoy these last four shows, even if nothing of huge value came out of that 8 foot can last fall. OTOH, there might be something that will be worth our continued conversation.