Without his financial or moral support, it allowed me to build my own company on my own merits, and it was mine to win or lose. It was truly a sweet moment." He wrote out a business plan at his kitchen table and presented it to the Whitney National Bank. The bank liked the plan and agreed to move forward with a loan allowing the purchase of two 180' OSVs from Seacor Marine and then managed to secure two long-term contracts. He bought two more vessels and a partially submerged 195' OSV from Otto Candies Jr., which he refurbished. While the OSV was in the shipyard, he secured a five-year contract from a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas company. Then, in 1997, Trico Offshore offered to buy the company, and Laborde agreed to sell: "I decided it was the correct decision because the vessels were mostly 15-20 years old, and I recognized that the major oil companies were going into deep water. They wanted new equipment with the latest technology.