Mississippi native Vernon Adkison, a boat pilot for major cruise lines and oil tankers, put together The Wild Ranger over the 2010-11 winter with help from veteran dredgers including The Clark's Zeke Tenhoff.
Vern spent $100,000 converting a 25-foot Stiletto sailing catamaran into the Wild Ranger, but the dredge and its suction assembly spend the first season malfunctioning horribly. The vessel is a lesson in the abject difficulty of gold dredging in Nome: what can seem like a perfectly sound design often comes up short in the cruel world of Bering Sea gold mining.
SEE MORE CREW BIOS
VERNON ADKISON, 65 — OWNER
Vernon has owned and operated boats on the Mississippi River for decades, and now he's trying his hand at gold dredging. He's invested $100,000 into The Wild Ranger, and he expects results. He's a fomer military man who gives orders and expects them to be followed through. Vernon wants to build up a stockpile of gold, betting that the price will keep surging upwards, as he sees hard economic times ahead.
SCOTT MEISTERHEIM, 44 — CAPTAIN
Scott borrowed $17,000 to come to Nome and dredge for gold — but currently owes over $100,000 in back child support payments. A rough-edged Michigan man, Scott claims to have no anger management problems, just "idiot problems." A greenhorn captain, he's got a lot of obstacles to overcome: he's overseeing two inexperienced divers, a mechanically suspect dredge and an owner who demands results. His first season as a boat captain is not only explosive, it will test every skill he has.
STEVE RIEDEL, 57 — DECKHAND
In a place filled with quirky characters, Steve may be one of the quirkiest. Father to Emily on The Clark, he left jobs as a construction surveyor and substitute teacher to come to Nome to look after her and find work as a greenhorn gold dredger. Eccentric with a carefree existence, Steve and Scott's personalities mesh like oil and water.
JASON WALKER, 38 — DECKHAND
Jason is another gold-dredging greenhorn on The Wild Ranger. He had a career as a truck driver, and then got into land mining in northern California. He's an experienced gulf coast diver, but floundered in his first attempt to dive in the icy Bering Sea. Jason wants to find gold to support his wife, infant daughter and mother-in-law — and move to the Philippines. Scott says he hired Jason as an insurance policy in case Steve didn't work out.
More: The Clark »
