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An owner expands his 205-foot yacht’s capacity for fun by adding a 186-foot support vessel to his fleet.
by Louisa Rudeen Beckett
photography by Brad Hagadone
11/01/2004
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Serious toys can pose serious challenges for yacht owners. “I have owned
a helicopter for some time. There
is no better way to see the world,” said Duane
Hagadone, owner of 205-foot Oceanco Lady Lola. The Idahoan
real estate
developer
and publisher built his yacht, which
launched last year, to
circumnavigate the
globe (see SBI, May
2003). “I thought it would be an
unbelievable experience not
only to be aboard Lady Lola, but to take it
to a new level by
taking the
helicopter along,” he said. (Click
image to
enlarge)
The only problem was Hagadone deliberately left a
landing pad for a helicopter off the yacht’s specifications. “It
doesn’t add to
the boat to have an aircraft on the back deck.
The sun
deck is very important to
us. That’s the most special
place for sunning
and viewing, and that’s where we
have our
golf course,” he said,
referring to the carpeted tee that rises out of
Lady Lola’s
deck.
Even if he had put a helipad on Lady
Lola, it would not
have resolved the issue of ocean crossings,
which are notoriously
corrosive to
deck-stored aircraft.
“Major ports,” he added, “are not
letting helicopters land
and
take off in the harbor.” In places such as
Monaco, Lady Lola would have
to
leave her berth and run out to sea each
time guests arrived
or left.
 Owner Duane Hagadone at the wheel of his
135-mph Eliminator,
which is garaged on Lady Lola Shadow. (Click on image to enlarge)
Hagadone’s solution was to find a “shadow boat” that could
accompany the
mother ship on her voyages and house the
helicopter on
passages. Capt. Stan
Antrim, Lady Lola’s
skipper, made worldwide
inquiries searching for a suitable
platform. Last Christmas, he located
in Louisiana a 1980
Halter Marine-built
steel offshore supply vessel.
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