Life Aboard the North Pacific 49 Euro Pilothouse: Rick and Mary’s Story

How Rick Ginsburg and Mary Silverstein of Fort Myers, Florida, came to own North Pacific’s newest trawler model is a tale of trial, preference and plenty of customization. Rick grew up boating on Lake Erie in Ohio, spending time aboard several Carvers, while Mary learned the water from her fisherman father in Alaska. They met in California, married, and moved to Florida, where their first joint purchase was a 2015 28-foot center console with twin 250-hp outboards. Both Mary and their Maltese poodle Maddie Sue found the center console uncomfortable, exposed and too fast; Maddie Sue made her displeasure known by getting sick aboard. Within six months they sold it, explored trawler options, and bought a 2016 North Pacific 49 Pilothouse. After cruising the Keys, the Bahamas and portions of the Great Loop, they embraced trawler life.

In December 2020 they took delivery of a new North Pacific 49 Euro Pilothouse—contemporary in style—and by April 2021 they were heading north for Maine. When I met them at the top of Mount Desert Island’s Somes Sound, fog lay heavy over the water and their boat, Exhale, showed through the mist at her mooring. It was their first cruise in Maine. Though Rick wasn’t thrilled with bright lobster buoys and an unusually cold July, the couple enjoyed friendly Mainers, rendezvoused with club friends from Florida, and found the big tides manageable thanks to their cruising experience.

Design Collaboration and a Modern Interior

Rick recounts how the Euro model came to be. Trevor Brice, president of North Pacific Yachts, recognized a new generation of buyers who preferred contemporary interiors over traditional teak-heavy finishes. He asked Rick and Mary whether they would order a 49 Euro if they could provide design input. The couple agreed and worked closely with Trevor, who sources major components in the U.S., ships them to the builder in China and has them installed—engines from Cummins, electronics from Garmin—giving owners broad warranty support and easier service worldwide.

The 49 Euro shares the same semi-displacement hull as North Pacific’s classic teak-laden 49 Pilothouse, but in most other respects Exhale is substantially different. Rick and Mary made more than 150 changes to the base design. The Euro’s pilothouse windows now rake aft instead of the reverse rake of the traditional model, salon windows are much larger, and cabin hull windows have been increased. Their boat features a nearly nine-foot double sliding glass door aft, allowing light to flood the interior even when fog rolls in.

Inside, the finish departs from dark teak and holly soles. Exhale features a light ash interior with wenge accents and natural solid oak floors that brighten the living spaces and can be refinished as needed. The galley has moved all the way aft, becoming the social hub between cockpit and salon. Mary insisted on a practical layout—no stovetop by the port window, a single larger sink rather than two small ones, and simplified counters without awkward levels. The couple also installed household appliances for cost and service advantages: a large refrigerator to starboard, two freezers and a microwave.

Smart Details and Entertaining Space

Rick demonstrates a clever coffee station tucked into the L-shaped counter, where a plumbed espresso machine rises and retracts at the touch of a button. A centrally located liquor cabinet sits at the end of the counter, placed deliberately within the galley’s work triangle. The boat’s electrical needs—driven by appliances—are supported by a robust alternator, 450 watts of solar panels and 800 amp-hours of battery capacity, allowing the couple to go extended periods—Rick has logged stretches of eight days—without running the generator or plugging in.

The cockpit was customized for entertaining: the transom was opened up and a bench seat permanently mounted and set back onto the swim platform, retaining ample space for line handling and dinghy access. Gates flank either side of the bench instead of a single center gate, and an expandable teak table makes dining comfortable—Mary recalls seating eight guests without crowding.

The flybridge received Flexiteek for a more luxurious feel, and a powered, rotating extendable davit by Nick Jackson Co. allows them to launch the dinghy to port, starboard or aft. For propulsion they opted for an optional single 600-hp 8.3-liter Cummins rather than the standard 6.2-liter. The larger engine turns at lower rpm for more efficient cruising near hull speed and offers reserve power for challenging passages such as inlets, rivers or tidal runs.

Layout Changes and Seakeeper Stability

North Pacific builds multiple layouts, and Rick and Mary strongly preferred a midship master. To achieve that they moved the companionway from the salon to the pilothouse. The forward cabin now serves as the guest stateroom with an island queen and ample storage, while the midship full-beam master features a true queen mattress, hull windows to port and starboard, an en suite head, and a washer/dryer tucked behind cabinetry.

Relocating the companionway means accessing the staterooms requires traveling through the pilothouse, and the helm is offset to starboard, but neither change bothers them. They removed the convertible pilothouse berth, upgraded the bench seating to a more relaxed angle, and installed double-wide Stidd helm chairs both at the pilothouse and on the flybridge. Electronics were lowered to make them reachable for Mary, who regularly runs the boat herself.

Optional equipment includes a variable-speed bow thruster for quieter, more precise maneuvering, a remote fuel-transfer system operable from the helm, and a Vesper Cortex-M1 hub with an H1P portable handset delivering AIS, VHF, GPS and WiFi connectivity plus alarm notifications. Most transformative for onboard comfort, however, has been their Seakeeper 9 gyro stabilizer. “We love, love, love our Seakeeper,” Rick says. The couple no longer rolls in beam seas and experiences much calmer behavior at anchor or on moorings.

As fog lifted and the morning brightened, Rick and Mary started the engine and slipped off their mooring. In a nearly glass-calm Somes Sound we motored at about 5 knots, Mary pointing out seals while Maddie Sue relaxed on the pilothouse floor. It was a cool, serene Maine summer morning that suited the European-inspired trawler and the couple who helped shape it to their needs.

Rick doesn’t regret moving on from the center console he once owned—“It was great for day cruising and getting offshore quickly,” he says—but the trawler lifestyle better suits their tastes and comfort. “My dream was always to buy a trawler,” he adds, and with Exhale they found a contemporary, well-equipped one that fits their cruising life.

This article was originally published in the October 2021 issue.