SEASON 13, EPISODE 18, “BREAKING THE SEAL” EPISODE ANALYSIS BY DANIEL SPINO
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
In this week’s episode, “BREAKING THE SEAL”, the show began in the MONEY PIT AREA, where the Oak Island team has reached the bottom of the Karma I Borehole and into the Solution Channel at 212 Feet. The caisson was lifted allowing the spoils to settle and now the dig bucket retrieved some of the spoils. These selected spoils were searched on site at the caisson, and the rest were sent to the Wash Plant for cleaning, sorting and inspection.
The action then took us to the WASH PLANT AREA, where the Oak Island Team continued to process the spoils from the Karma I Borehole. Aaron Barkhouse, while sifting through material on the conveyor belt, noticed what appeared to be a rosehead spike. Charles Barkhouse mentioned that it was hand forged iron and could be from the 1600’s or earlier. He stated that it would be sent to the Lab for processing. The Compendium asked Charles if he was related to Aaron and he stated that he believes they are distant cousins, but not a close relation. The family’s original name was Berghaus that immigrated to Nova Scotia and the family became widespread throughout the province.
We were then taken back to the MONEY PIT AREA, where the Oak Island Team was exploring the final spoils of the Karma I Borehole. After scanning Gary Drayton did not record any metal hits and the team was disappointed that they hadn’t found any treasure in this location. The remaining spoils would be sent to the Wash Plant to see if anything may have slipped through the scanning process. The team will now shift its focus back to the TPF-1 Borehole which is now ready for exploration using the power oscillator.
We were then taken to LOT 8, where the Oak Island team continued its excavation of the area beneath the boulder. The Archeological team has continued to reveal that the area was laid down by man. Smaller rocks on top of larger rocks have been uncovered. It was stated that some of the rocks had a triangular shape. Archeologist Fiona Steele mentioned that there was blue clay and charcoal found in between some of the stones. This led to speculation that the blue clay was perhaps related to other blue clay that was found on Lot 8 and the Money Pit area. A sample of this material will be sent to the Lab for further analysis.
The scene shifted back to the MONEY PIT AREA, where the Oak Island Team began the drilling operation in the Borehole named Top Pocket Find I, or TPF 1. The team mentioned that the first 150 feet was refilled material and would be quite benign. Once past the 150 feet mark passed, it would be the zone for possibly interesting finds, down to the bottom of the shaft into the Solution Channel at 220 feet. The Pitblado Portuguese coin was cited as being a part of a possible cache that could be down in the Solution Channel. But it should be noted that it is not known if the coin in fact came from the Money Pit area or not. All Steve Saloman knows is that the coin was allegedly found on Oak Island, but he does not know when or where for certain. It is only his theory that it was on the drill auger that Pitblado inspected and then put something in his pocket. Whether it is this coin is pure speculation on his part.
The action shifted to the WAR ROOM, where the Oak Island Team met with my colleague, Charlotte Wheatley regarding her research on three churches on the west coast of France that she found that have an alignment with Oak Island. She mentioned that the first one is The Church of St. Radegonde Talmont sur Gironde which was built in the 11th to 12th Century by Benedictine Monks. It was later a fortified structure which was unusual. She revealed that she found that two other churches, both also dedicated to Sainte Radegonde, and also aligned with Oak Island. Those being The Church of St. Radegonde, Sainte Radegonde, and The Chapel St. Radegonde, Courant. Charlotte found the angular measurements of these churches are roughly 292 Degrees. Why do these Churches appear to have such a relationship with Oak Island? Please see the analysis for more information on this information.
The scene shifted back to the MONEY PIT AREA, where the Oak Island team continued its excavation of Borehole TPF 1. As the team continued its drilling operation, the area began to collapse at around 105 Feet. The surrounding soil around the caisson began to cave in. The team decided to backfill as the caisson is being put down then use a smaller caisson to continue going the rest of the way. This is thought to relieve the tension of the caisson. This would be a 7 ft in diameter caisson. The team would put this plan into action going forward. It should be noted that this area is where many believe the original Money Pit was located, in between the Hedden and Chappell Shafts. This area was completely dug out by Robert Dunfield in the 1960’s, so this area in particular is very unstable.
The action then took us back to the LAB, where the Oak Island team met with Blacksmith Carmen Legge to get his opinion on the rose head spike recently found in the Money Pit Area. Archeometallurgist Emma Culligan mentioned the iron was unusual with a high phosphorus content and was cold brittle and consisted of manganese. She placed the date of the artifact to around the mid 1700’s. Carmen then looked at the artifact and stated he believed it was 5 to 6 inches originally and the head of the spike was crude. He mentioned that the head was driven down and appeared to be mushroomed and it had been re-used. He stated he believed that it may have been used to build a large box or wooden vault to keep something inside of it. perhaps valuables to keep them safe. Emma was asked if the date could be 1746. She said yes, and then the Duc d’Anville theory was cited as a possible connection.
The episode concluded on LOT 8 where the Oak Island team continued its excavation of the area under the boulder. Archeologist Laird Niven mentioned that they had lifted some of the rocks and found organics underneath them. It was stated that all these stones seemed to be placed by man firmly affixed. Rick Lagina tried to move some and could not. He then found what appeared to be a clay substance in between the rocks. He added water to the substance and it appeared to make some sort of cement type material, believed to be manmade mortar. They took a sample of the material and would send it to the Lab for testing and analysis. Until Next Week…
DANIEL’S ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY:
During this week’s episode, my research partner and co-owner of the Compendium, Charlotte Wheatley, presented her theory regarding an alignment of Oak Island with the Radegonde Churches in Western France. First, I’d like to congratulate her on a very intriguing presentation. I’ve been aware of her research for some time so I was happy to see her recognized for her work by “The Curse of Oak Island” Television show. Charlotte is a very kind and unassuming person. She’s incredibly humble and caring. She found something in her research that she thought was special but could not explain its existence. She decided to share this information with us all with the hope that it could be used to help find the answers that could potentially connect to the Oak Island Mystery. I would like to thank her for having the confidence to do so, with the idea that others might not understand or agree with her conclusions. It took a lot of courage for her to do so, and for that I respect her immensely.
As far as her presentation, it is very intriguing. Admittedly, both of us are still trying to explain and fully understand the implications. There was something about one of the numbers Charlotte found that I recognized from somewhere else that I wanted to share. Charlotte mentioned the angles of measure of the three churches as approximately 292°. What’s interesting is that these numbers come into very close proximity to the measurement of the distance from Cones D to E of Nolan’s Cross and the associated Tree of Life construction of Petter Amundsen. This range is from 288 to 294 Feet depending on the researcher and where they took their measurement from. These numbers cited by Charlotte fall within this range. Is it just a coincidence? Possibly, but it could also be another way that the designers of the cross used numbers in association with measurements on Oak Island. More research is needed, but one should not discount the possibility without knowing all the information and conducting proper research.
The last aspect of Charlotte’s presentation that I wanted to mention was the inclusion of the Map of Oak Island that was put forth by the late Zena Halpern. Charlotte and I wrote an investigation consisting of five parts regarding the map and the other documents associated with the alleged Dr. Bill Jackson. These parts can be accessed at the following links:
Based on our extremely thorough research, detailed analysis, and information/documents sent to us, we can say with 100% certainty that the maps associated with Dr. Bill Jackson were fabricated, and the existence of Dr. Bill Jackson, the spy, is fictional. The Oak Island map itself presents so many problems and issues that it could not have been made when it was suggested, and it certainly was not a copy of another map. The person who possessed the map, Don Ruh, admitted it was a fake, and there’s nothing we found that contradicts that statement. That being said Charlotte has investigated the map for some time and looked into the Talmont reference. That is what motivated her research into Talmont. On the episode, it was intimated that Charlotte’s findings supported the map’s authenticity, which is not the case. Charlotte will be releasing a separate statement/report that goes into more detail about the things that weren’t shown in last night’s episode to help explain the exact findings of her research. This will be available tomorrow. March 20, 2026, on this website and on our other media platforms.
Please follow our weekly episode analyses during Season 13, along with articles from the original “Compendium/Blockhouse Blog”, and special investigations and features involving Oak Island. Feel free to reach out to us for questions, comments, information and any theories to our email, theoakislandcompendium@gmail.com
Good day from Daniel of the Compendium!
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