The skylounge option on our North Pacific 590 is easy to misunderstand from a profile photograph. It doesn’t enclose the whole flybridge, and it doesn’t simply add another room while leaving both standard helm stations untouched.
The standard 590 has an enclosed helm in the pilothouse and an open helm on the flybridge. Choose the skylounge and the enclosed helm moves upstairs; the lower pilothouse helm goes away. Only the forward helm and entertaining area on the flybridge are enclosed. A sliding stainless-steel and glass door opens to the aft flybridge, which remains outdoors.
That one change sets the character of the boat. Do you want enclosed steering on the main deck with an open-air helm above, or do you want the enclosed helm upstairs beside a room where people can gather? Everything else follows from that answer.
The real choice is where you steer under cover
On the standard North Pacific 590, the two helms have separate jobs. The pilothouse is the enclosed steering position. The flybridge is the outdoor one. A change in rain, wind, temperature, or mood can send the helmsperson from one level to the other without changing the nature of either space.
The skylounge makes a firmer choice. Enclosed steering belongs upstairs, in the forward part of the flybridge, and there is no helm in the pilothouse below. The outdoor part of the upper deck begins beyond the sliding door.
That difference sounds simple, but it affects long stretches of a cruising day. Think about the first cup of coffee before departure, several hours underway, guests coming up to sit near the helm, and the time after the anchor drops or the lines are secure. The best arrangement is the one that puts the enclosed helm where you already expect the center of the day to be.
Our general pilothouse and flybridge comparison looks at the two helm types across a broader range of boats. On the 590, the decision is more exact because choosing the skylounge removes the lower helm.
Let your worst regular weather answer first
Blue-sky steering asks little of either arrangement. The more revealing day starts gray, with wet rails, jackets near the door, and several hours to run. Where would you naturally go to take the helm?
With the standard flybridge arrangement, enclosed steering happens in the pilothouse. When the weather clears, the open helm above is available for the part of the trip you want to spend outdoors. That separation appeals to people who like the pilothouse as their protected working position but don’t want to give up open-air steering.
With the skylounge, the protected working position is already upstairs. The helm and enclosed entertaining area share the forward flybridge space, while the outdoor aft section stays close at hand through the door. There is no need to choose between an enclosed helm and being on the upper level because those two preferences have been combined.
Season matters more than an idealized cruising plan. Spring departures, autumn rain, strong sun, and cold mornings all change how often the enclosed helm gets used. Write down the conditions you actually accept rather than the weather you hope to have. Then ask where you would want to spend four hours in those conditions.
This doesn’t require a scorecard. If your first instinct is, “I’d go straight to the pilothouse,” the standard arrangement is already telling you something. If you naturally head for an enclosed upper room, the skylounge is answering a different preference.
Decide who belongs near the helm
Helm choice rarely concerns only the person at the wheel. On longer runs, someone may bring coffee, sit down with a book, check the view, or stay for a conversation. The space around the helm often becomes one of the places where the cruising day is shared.
The standard flybridge keeps that upper experience completely outdoors. Steering, fresh air, and anyone gathered nearby remain in one open setting. When conditions make that less appealing, the helmsperson can use the enclosed pilothouse below.
The skylounge changes the way people divide the upper deck. Companions can stay inside with the helm, step through the stainless-steel and glass door, or move between the enclosed forward area and the outdoor aft flybridge. The door is a real threshold: a jacket, plate of food, or damp towel crosses between two different environments even though both are on the same level.
After arrival, the distinction remains. The wheel may be quiet, but the enclosed entertaining area and outdoor aft deck still sit beside one another. Some people will use that connection well into the evening. Others know they would rather have the entire flybridge open and use the interior spaces below when they want to be inside.
Guest count alone won’t settle this. Four people who stay near the helm use the boat differently from four people who scatter between the salon and open deck. Think about where your regular companions choose to sit without being directed. Their habits often expose whether the upper level should feel like one open area or two connected areas.
Be honest about the lower helm
The lower helm is the part of the skylounge decision that deserves the clearest answer. It isn’t retained as a backup steering position in the pilothouse. Selecting the skylounge eliminates it.
That makes the comparison sharper:
| If this sounds like your day | Arrangement to examine first |
|---|---|
| You want an enclosed helm on the main deck and an open helm above | Standard flybridge |
| You expect to change between enclosed steering below and outdoor steering above | Standard flybridge |
| You want enclosed steering to happen on the upper level | Skylounge |
| You want an enclosed upper gathering area connected to an outdoor aft flybridge | Skylounge |
The table isn’t a verdict. One line may matter much more than the others. Someone who uses the pilothouse helm on nearly every departure probably won’t be persuaded by a longer list of skylounge attractions. Someone who wants the helm upstairs whenever the weather turns may view the missing lower station as an acceptable exchange rather than a loss.
Try describing the lower helm without using the word “nice.” What would you do there, and how often? Would it be the first steering position you choose on a wet morning? Would you use it while other people settle into the main-deck interior? Would you miss it if every enclosed hour at the wheel happened upstairs? Specific answers are much more dependable than a general liking for extra helm stations.
Walk the boat in the order of a real day
Side profiles show the enclosure, but they don’t tell you where your body will go by habit. An onboard visit should follow the day rather than a list of features.
Begin at the helm you would use for an early departure in poor weather. Stay there long enough to notice where companions would sit and whether that level feels like the place you want to remain. Next, move to the outdoor flybridge area. On the skylounge version, pass through the sliding door and notice the change between the enclosed forward room and the open aft deck. On the standard version, take in the flybridge as one outdoor space.
Then return to the main deck. In the standard arrangement, stop at the pilothouse helm and test the opposite weather choice for later in the day. In the skylounge arrangement, look at that part of the interior without a lower helm and remind yourself that all enclosed steering will happen above.
Run the same walk after pretending the boat has arrived. Where will people gather while lines are put away? Where will someone sit with a drink as the temperature falls? Which door or level will they cross to move between inside and outside? Those ordinary movements reveal far more than comparing the exterior silhouettes alone.
Bring the people who regularly cruise with you into this part of the visit. Let one person stay at the helm while the others choose seats without prompting, then open or close the skylounge door as the weather would require. The point isn’t to stage a perfect afternoon. It is to see whether everyone naturally gathers where you hoped, or whether the arrangement asks someone to keep moving between levels just to remain part of the day.
If the 590 is still one of several models under consideration, first compare the 45, 49, and 590 by cruising use. Once the 590 is the boat, return to the helm question without letting the broader model search muddy it.
Choose the arrangement you won’t work around
The standard flybridge gives the 590 an enclosed pilothouse helm below and an open helm above. The skylounge puts the enclosed helm and entertaining area forward on the flybridge, keeps the aft flybridge outdoors, and removes the lower helm.
One of those arrangements will ask less compromise from the way you already cruise. Talk with our team about the weather you run in, where your companions gather, and whether the lower helm has a real job. Those answers usually make the right 590 arrangement much easier to see.