# information wanted; Northsea 26 aft cabin trawler



## siberian (Mar 16, 2008)

I can't find any info about a particular boat builder from Richmond B.C. Can.
Company name was Beaver Glass Works. The boat in particular is a long keel pocket cruiser called the 'Northsea 26 aft cabin trawler' built in and around '70-'79. Dimensions; 26'x10'x2'10"Any construction info or prior owner opinions would be appreciated. The hull looks similar the old Albin 25. Thanks!


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

This is a rugged, solid little cruiser (but the sail area is a bit low...)
Seriously we've known a couple of people with them and they liked them a lot for what they are, compact, economical to run, seaworthy power cruisers. Of course, one of them upgraded after a few years, and another got back into sailing. It's noteworthy that both boats sold easily and quickly.

Beaver Glass Works also built the NorthSea 34, a pilothouse sailboat and for a time produced the 24' Hinterhoeller Shark under licence. 

A member of this board, jrd22, can tell you about his Northsea 34 - presumably building practices and quality should be similar.


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## siberian (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: 1974 Northsea 26 Pilothse w/aft cabin info (Beaver Glass Works)*

Thanks 'faster'. Even Richmond city archives has no info. Beaver Glass Works appears to have evaporated w/o a trace. I'm also interested in the origin of the hull design. Was it a universal long keel hull plug with established sea keeping characteristics? This particular boat (not to be confused with the flybridge model) has a lot of sheer and looks like it 'could handle' a small rig making it maybe a 60/40 motorsailer... 70/30? Comes with a diesel sippin' 50 hp Nissan. Apart from the wider than normal beam to length, 10' vs. the Albin's 8.5' (performance characteristics?) Albin offered the optional sailing rig. But, how did the 25 sail?
One more thing. Does GRP get brittle and lose strength as it ages? '74 was right about the time of the first energy crunch. I keep hearing about the strength of earlier built fg boats. 
I have to admit, a nicely layed out little eco-chugger w/sail assist appeals to my european roots.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

I believe I heard somewhere that the original design (or concept) was based on a European design.

I've never seen any sort of rig on one, but perhaps it's possible.


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## siberian (Mar 16, 2008)

What's in a name? Absolutely nothing! But, Northsea does 'sound' capable. I suppose European could imply economy and capability. If it is considered to be a well built seaworthy design, I'm interested. Here's hoping that somebody out there owned one, added a small sail rig, used one or even built them!


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## timelesss (Dec 18, 2008)

*Beaver Glass*

We also own a Beaver Glass hull. In this case it is a 34 ft trawler. I know that they built quite a number of 43 and 42 ft trawler hulls of for the fishing industry. The boat preforms very well in heavy weather but due to a round bilge design it is a bit rolly.


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## siberian (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Beaver Glass Boats info wanted...specifically, 26' aft-cabin model.*

Beaver Glass Boats never left any kind of a paper trail so to speak. Even my heavy full displacement wood trawler is a roller. I'm more interested in finding hands-on info from an owner of a NS 26' aft-cabin or someone who was involved in building them. Was it considered a well built boat? Maybe 'North sea' is just a generic name.. there's simply no info. They could have even been sold as a bare hull/deck stage to be owner finished. I'm still in the dark.. hopefully someone knows something. Thanks!


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## RAB (May 5, 2017)

In the early 70's I worked for Dave Palmer at Beaver Glass in Richmond, B.C. He was a right bastard as a boss, so consequently there was quite a turn-over in his 6 to 8 man crew. We had a running pool about how long the next hire would last....at about two years I wa s the longest employed there before I quit...but he did know how to build strong hulls. I think he folded his tent and retired to Gabriola Island about 1980 and then died at no more than 60, perhaps as a consequence of all the toxic chemical fumes he had inhaled over the years.

The North Sea 26 was patterned after an Albin motor-sailer, but with its beam considerably increased. I don't recall any that were sold rigged to sail, but I suppose that would be possible, although it would be a real pig as a sailboat. I do remember one grossly over-powered example that could be driven up to 16 knots or so, with a rail-high bow wave and dragging half the bay behind it.

Rick Boylan, Astoria, OR ([email protected])


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