Boat builder launches catamaran

Bad weather kept them from launching it last week but on Monday the first catamaran to be built in Belize was launched into the Haulover Creek. Alfredo Aldana has been building boats for 30 years and is excited that the 42 foot long, 18 foot wide vessel is ready, after three months of work to be turned over to its owners Caye Chapel Resort.

Alfredo Aldana, boat builder

“Well really I talk to my friend Jim Black, he was the guy that introduced fiberglass to Belize, I learned from him. And usually tell me about the ocean runners dem that they used to use in California, they used to take the cigarettes and split them down the middle and make two boat, two pontoon out of that. So we all decide to do the same thing here. So I went over when I got the job and I bought a boat from “Bugs”. We built the boat over there. We brought the hull here in one, cut it straight down the middle, moved it apart, fiberglass the two inner hull like you see here and came and put in all the frameworks and thing on the inside.”

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

What is so great about the catamaran?

Alfredo Aldana

“Well, the boat like this, is a drier, more comfortable ride, because you can see the width of it. So you won’t have all that shaking in the wave, moving up and down, no its a much sturdier ride.”

If you are interested in getting Alfredo Aldana and his crew to build a catamaran for you, his boatyard is located on Tranquil Lane in Belize City.