The Steamboating Forum

I was wondering - How many Steamboating enthusiasts are there? I see about 6-8 sites for different associations, but I was wondering how many folks that actually represents. If any of the lead organizers of these sites are on this forum (which I really like), can you share with us - how many are in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc......... I'd really like to know!

Thanks,
Mack

At least in the USA, the membership in steamboat organizations is probably less than half the number of people who have steamboats. Their steamboats are not registered on the innernet or in steamboat organizations. Many of us are older folk who know little about communicating beyond the telephone and "snail mail".

Of the several steamers I see at the Lake Noximixon PA meet every month, only one or two can be found at youtube, personal websites, or the websites of the steamboat organizations.

Interesting Fred, good to know. But would you care to speculate on a #?

The reason I ask is because of recent conversations I had with a member of our local Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Bureau about how many "steamboaters" there were in the boating culture and how many might be enticed to perhaps come to the Western part of Texas (perhaps during colder months up north or during Spring or Fall) to attend a relaxing weekend of steamboating and visiting San Angelo, Texas; especially if there was a significant vessel already located on our local lake.

For our meet here in Michigan. I don't put it on, but the guy that does has mentioned how attendance works. It's essentially folks that he has gotten to know over the years and he contacts them before the meet and tries to get a solid commitment on whether they are coming or not. He needs to know, so they can determine how many docks they need, as they have to be put in and taken out - and they are expensive at over $2k a piece. Our little group or the steam and gas club only owns three of them. So that is enough for six boats, if we have more they have to raft along side or just pull in to shore. So far the most they've ever had is nine boats in total and that is after nine years of cultivating the group through emails and phone calls.

From my experience there are not many steamboaters in the south and southwest. I could be wrong, but the only way you'll really know is locate these people and contact them and inquire if they will attend or not. If one were to simply post an announcement about an upcoming meet, I doubt the turnout would be very good. And of course with fuel prices these days it has curtailed a lot of the long distance travel for many.

Most Steamboaters subscribe to the Steamboating magazine and they publish email addresses for other members occasionally(How the Michigan group learned about me), get that and try to contact everyone within a 200 mile radius. That is the only way to get a solid number.

For active Steamboaters in the US, I would guesstimate it at 150 - 200. I may be way off on that though, as I am basing it on the internet exposure, as Fred mentions, many don't post anything on the internet.

-Ron

DetroiTug wrote:From my experience there are not many steamboaters in the south and southwest. I could be wrong, but the only way you'll really know is locate these people and contact them and inquire if they will attend or not. If one were to simply post an announcement about an upcoming meet, I doubt the turnout would be very good. And of course with fuel prices these days it has curtailed a lot of the long distance travel for many.

Most Steamboaters subscribe to the Steamboating magazine and they publish email addresses for other members occasionally(How the Michigan group learned about me), get that and try to contact everyone within a 200 mile radius. That is the only way to get a solid number.

For active Steamboaters in the US, I would guesstimate it at 150 - 200. I may be way off on that though, as I am basing it on the internet exposure, as Fred mentions, many don't post anything on the internet.

-Ron

Northwest Steam Society has approx. 200 members; Steamboating Magazine has over 150 subscribers within the US (50+ overseas); North American Steam Boat Association probably has around 250(?); There are many who do not belong to an organization and many who belong to two or more. In the USA alone I'd say probably about 600. The SBA has well over 1,000 worldwide.

There is a group that puts on a meet on Shadow Lake at Uncertain, Texas every year. And the B & W Sacramento Delta Meet takes place the last weekend in September and draws boats from all over the SW.

The Northwest Steam Society had over twenty boats show up at Anacortes, WA (USA) last Summer and there were several I know of that couldn't make it for various reasons.

Our annual meet is coming up in a week or so. We'll see how many make it.

Mike

Here in the states there appears to be several hot beds of steam boat activity.

The New England States and the Pacific Northwest sure come to mind, there are several others in smaller concentrations.

Here in Pennsylvania, Lake Nockamixon in Bucks County has a fairly active contingent. There are about 6 or 7 boats within 1-1/2 hours drive of the lake, and probably another 6 to 7 boats within a 3 to 4 hour drive. Most regulars attending the Lake Nockamixon Steamboat Meets (4 per summer) come from PA & NJ, but we do get attendees from nearby NY, DE and MD.

Don Fenstermacher, Sr.

Hi Folks

A bit late I know, but if one looks at the SBA Steamboat Register, vessels by country, an interesting picture emerges. The UK is clearly a major player with 460 boats. There are probably 700 odd boats under the SBA 'banner', if one assumes that there are still quite a few building but not in the register. So, perhaps 1000 boats worldwide?

Rainer might be someone to give us an estimate as he has been logging steamboats worldwide too.

Happy New Year all!

Pete

The SBA register is the largest record I have seen, and does favour boats in the UK, however as I am based in England and the SBA is a UK based association neither of these facts is surprising or perhaps relevant!

It would be good if there was a global register, but as said, it somewhat relies on members coming forwards.



Daniel

Dhutch wrote:It would be good if there was a global register, but as said, it somewhat relies on members coming forwards.
Daniel

In 1991 the International Steamboat Society put together, copyrighted and printed a comprehensive Steamboat Directory listing 133 boats (mostly US) that were around. It has been updated some since then, but is no longer current. It could be updated and reprinted and is about the most comprehensive listing of US boats that I know of.

I try to maintain a listing of boats for the NW Steam Society. Well, try is the word. I don't go actively looking for members who have boats that are not listed. On the section of the website that deals with member projects (appropriately named "Projects"), there is available, on each page, a downloadable form that is nothing more than a "fill in the blanks". Of the 70+ boats listed, I have only gotten five listings through this method. The one that works best is to call people on the membership list that are noted as having boats but are not on the website and get the info over the phone. When I first put the "Projects" area together (back in 1999 - 2000) The primary purpose was to provided a source of information on the technical information (LOA, Beam, Draft, Engine size, boiler size, propeller, etc) about the individual boats to serve as a data base for what works and how well. Secondary was "stoking" the individual owner's vanity. Since about 2006 I have received about 7 unsolicited vessel descriptions and 7 that I have actively solicited. It's like tryinhg to get people interested in a Meet. But we keep trying.