Once they were out there, these Gulf pioneers approached drilling the same way they did land drilling, carrying equipment and parts to the site where they built the derrick and drilled their well. They then dismantled the rig, floated their boats and parts to a new location, and started all over again. All supplies and workers were stowed on support boats anchored next to the rigs.

It was a costly, time-consuming process and it wasn't much fun. All the Gulf's men agreed there must be a better way to drill a well offshore. They just didn't know what that better way was.

He came up with a plan to put the entire drilling operation on a transportable barge that could be floated to any location. Water would be pumped into the barge to sink it. When it was resting on the bottom, the barge became a stable platform from which to drill. When they were finished drilling, the barge could be pumped out, re-floated, and transported to the next location.

Transportable drilling rigs are commonplace now, but back then Doc's ideas were regarded with suspicion. The Doc's boss at Kerr-McGee thought the idea "looked good on paper," but told him, "there are too many unknowns. You have ocean currents,shifting bottoms, hurricanes and many other factors that just would not allow this idea to work as planned."

LaBorde was a man of integrity and conviction. He believed in his rig and wanted to build it. But he didn't feel right about trying to sell his idea to another company while continuing with Kerr McGee, so he resigned and for the next six months went "wild catting" for a company to invest in his design. Unfortunately every major oil company doing business in the Gulf agreed with Kerr McGee.