Darrell Miklos at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. (Discovery Communications)
Darrell Miklos seemed to be getting closer in his long quest to find an ancient shipwreck tied to Christopher Columbus.
On Tuesday's episode of "Cooper's Treasure" on Discovery Channel, adventurer Miklos finally hit the high seas after days struggling to put together a reliable crew and get a search permit.
But while Miklos felt on the verge of exciting discoveries, his former adventurer father Roger hit him up for money to pay his electric bill!
As show viewers know, Miklos, who befriended the late Gordon "Gordo" Cooper, one of NASA's seven original Mercury astronauts, said that Cooper had observed what he believed were shipwrecks from low Earth orbit.
Cooper left Miklos maps and other information about possible sites and the adventurer decided to use it to find long-lost treasure.
On the new episode, Miklos met the minister of foreign affairs for Turks and Caicos to request a permit to sail to possible treasure wreck sites.
Earlier, Miklos had confirmed that the Pinzon brothers, who had sailed with Columbus, had indeed traveled through Turks and Caicos in 1501.
Miklos also visited Eric Schmitt, an experienced treasure hunter who has recovered shipwreck coins worth millions.
Miklos needed to recruit a crew but noted that it could be dangerous: "Nobody trusts anybody in this business. There are modern day pirates….your best friend will steal from you. Gold fever sets in.
"People would do anything for this info," Miklos told the cameras about Cooper's charts.
Miklos said, "I need a crew I can trust with Gordon's secret."
Schmitt relieved Miklos' mind with his independent attitude.
Miklos liked that Schmitt was a proven discoverer and a lone wolf type and he later agreed to join the hunt.
But then, Miklos was dragged down by his dad Roger, who was once a successful treasure hunter himself.
Roger needed $222 dollars so his electricity wouldn't get shut down; his son Miklos gave him $260 and fumed afterwards that he had his own family to take care of.
"There was time my dad was on top of the world…he had gold and jewelry…then he lost it all. I don't want to wind up like that," Miklos told the cameras.
And so he pressed on, crunching Cooper's numbers and charting where ancient Spanish ships might have sank.
In the Turks and Caicos islands, Miklos recalled Cooper was there for Mercury splash down tests in the early '60s; he vowed not to let his old pal down.
He assembled a crew of six people and sonar equipment on his ship.
"Let's do it for Gordon," Miklos said, emotional as they sailed off.
Miklos had 13 target locations, and used a magnetometer to find metal-based shipwreck material.
The first area came up empty, but at the next target, Miklos and Schmitt dived again.
Suddenly, they found something!
Schmitt started shouting, "I see it! I have located it!" as the episode ended.
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